Pizzeria Melrose’s New Plateau Location Goes Hyper-Local with Ingredients

NDG’s family-friendly Pizzeria Melrose has expanded to a second location on the Plateau, now fully open for business.

Owner Paolo Oliviera says the new space is close to home for him — literally. At the corner of Duluth Avenue and St-Laurent Boulevard, the new restaurant is just blocks away from where he grew up.

“I lived all my life at the corner of Duluth and Coloniale,” Oliviera explains. “For me it was important that I open up a business in my neighbourhood where I was born ... so when I saw the spot going up for rent … I couldn’t let this opportunity pass.”

Oliviera says he and his team re-crafted the menu in order to better meet the needs of their new Plateau clientele. He’s incorporated more touches of Portuguese cuisine into their entree list, including a meatball pizza with Portuguese chorizo, to pay homage to the neighbourhood’s cultural roots.

Oliviera also says he’s introduced more “eclectic” items to the menu, like vegetarian pizza with eggplant, mint, almonds, and ricotta cheese — to appeal to the Plateau’s younger crowd (a different demographic than the family-heavy patronage at their NDG location).

Co-owner Genevieve Tremblay has also updated the wine and cocktail list at the new location to incorporate a wider variety of organic and natural wines (including an orange wine) and to feature Quebec liquor producers.

Sourcing ingredients locally is top of mind for Oliviera, who says he goes on daily market runs to neighbouring small businesses to find materials for that day’s service. He stops by La Vieille Europe for his cheese, Segal’s grocery store for his produce, and Soares et Fils for Portuguese ingredients — all of which are within a single block radius of Melrose.

“We want to support our local neighbours’ businesses, because it’s so important to have the micro-economy healthy — that’s only good for the neighbourhood,” Oliviera says. “So, I buy local, directly on the street. I want to support my neighbours, because they’ve been there forever, and if they’re strong, my business becomes strong, and it becomes a better neighbourhood.”

As Spring inches closer, the restaurant is looking forward to debuting the new location’s terrasse, which seats 15, in addition to the 40 that the indoor space can fit. And even further down the line, Oliviera looks forward to opening even more new locations in the Pizzeria Melrose chain.

“In the next few months, if everything goes right with this one, I’ll be scouting for another spot,” Oliviera says.

STATUS: Pizzeria Melrose is now open at 4040 St-Laurent Boulevard from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on weekdays and from 5 - 11:30 p.m. on Saturdays. The restaurant is closed on Sundays.

• Pizzeria Melrose [Official]
• Hit NDG Pizzeria Plans Plateau Location [EMTL]
• Pizzéria Melrose: une sympathique nouvelle pizzéria sur le Plateau [Tastet]
• Dining review: Melrose — this pizzeria delivers [Montreal Gazette]