Nonprofit Restaurant Robin des Bois Gets Boarded Up Following Fire

Fifteen-year-old nonprofit, volunteer-run restaurant Robin des Bois is boarded up and temporarily out of commission after flames burned through its St-Laurent Boulevard locale last night.

The two-alarm fire broke out in the restaurant, located on the ground floor of a three-storey mixed-use commercial-and-residential building, at around 8:15 p.m. on Monday.

The building’s residents were evacuated and temporarily relocated; everyone is “safe and sound,” the restaurant said on Facebook this morning.

There is no news yet on what caused the fire in the first place, though the restaurant is typically closed to the public on Monday evenings.

A YouTube video posted to the Robin des Bois’ Facebook page this morning shows the building shrouded in thick black smoke and firefighters shattering through glass windows to enter the space. The restaurant said on Facebook that firefighters had to rip through walls and the ceiling to ensure the fire hadn’t spread, suggesting that damages to its indoor space are likely to also be significant.

Asked about the extent of the damages and the cause of the fire, Robin des Bois tells Eater, “These questions are left unanswered.”

Shortly after the fire began, the restaurant posted that its culinary summer day camp program for passionate young cooks aged 9 to 12 would be cancelled for the foreseeable future.

Robin des Bois (French for “Robin Hood”), which channels profits back to local charities and organizations like Le Chaînon, Sun Youth, and Meals on Wheels, was initially based out of another St-Laurent Boulevard location. In need of a bigger space, it moved to its current spot in 2008.