beautys luncheonette || montreal's famous deli

93, avenue du Mont-Royal Ouest (rue St-Urbain), Montreal, QC
Beautys


Around mid-December, I told my colleague that I will be spending my winter holiday in Montreal and he recommended this place called "Beautys" to me. He was raised there and he would go to Montreal once in awhile, I asked him, what is Beautys? Never heard of it. He told me: "It's the best breakfast place I have ever been to".

So I gave it a try. Here it is!

look at all its' recognition!

beauty's is always jam-packed!

the short order counter

beauty's mish mash

cheese & bacon melt

beauty's menu

service || very friendly, the waitress who served me interacted with all the customers and would always ask if we liked coffee in our cups (free of charge if you ordered a drink beforehand). I read somewhere on the Beautys' menu that it is a tradition the owner of the diner would personally greet every customer that comes into their store. It is true, the owner (who is now in his 80s) seated everyone who came in, he had a great sense of humour, I noticed that for every customer who was waiting in line, he told them (including me) that it would be a 5 minute wait. I waited for around 20 minutes and I gave him a dirty stare when he told his incoming customers that it was "a 5 minute wait" because obviously for me, it was way longer. Then he looked at me and said "never discourage a customer, right? And by 5 minutes, I meant 5 Jewish minutes". LOL. This man made my day and I could no longer be mad at him.

food || if you are use to eating high class food, this place is not the place for you. this is the kind-of food you can cook at home but since i'm not the best cooker, I can't make this kind of food. I decided to order the most basic dish on their menu because I had the mentality that if they can't perfect a thing like "cheese and bacon melt", then the rest of the stuff on the menu wouldn't be that great either. But boy, was I wrong, their cheese and bacon melt was DELICIOUS. They used a generous amount of butter spread to grill the bread and the cheese was melted perfectly, not too hard and not too soft. And not to mention, my sandwich was golden brown, how can you make a grilled sandwich without have any burnt sides? I guess I just suck at making grilled sandwiches! But anyways, I do admit, my mentality was wrong. My boyfriend said "that's like walking into a bar and calling a beer, and if you don't like the beer, you assume that all their cocktails don't taste great either, it doesn't make sense". Fine, you win this time (like all the other times lol!).

price || drinks start at $4+ (i think it's a bit expensive for the price of drinks) and my dish was around $5. i would say it's affordable.

decor || once you walk in, you will feel like you went back to the 1960s with the old, yet classic diner decors - the metal stools with cushions, the open diner counter and not to mention the classic two-people seatings. I personally thought that the diner was too small. I know they must make alot of money because this diner is well-known to tourists around North America (I noticed a few couples from New York and even one who travelled all the way from Japan to come here), so why don't they ever expand the place? Keeping the tradition is why. It has always been small and I assume the owner wants to keep it small. Not to mention, they always have customers coming in so the tiny diner's capacity could only take so much people and it would make the diner have line-ups most of the time. That's a good marketing strategy, people who pass by the diner would wonder "why does this place always have line-ups??" and BOOM! you get curious customers coming in and that means more sale. ok, sorry, I'm a little bit off topic. :) Long story short, if you like the 1960s diner decor and want to travel back in time, give this diner a look. 

what I ordered || cappuccino & cheese and bacon melt. Apparently, Beautys' is famous for their "mish-mash" (which by the way, they have a patent on this dish, lol) and also famous for their smoothies. I will go there again if I crave for diner food! :)

note || Beauty's has been operating since 1942! And if you want to buy your relatives a little souvenir, Beauty's also offers a range of souvenirs - the classic tomato canned soup, Beauty's maple syrup, postcards and much more, explore them for yourself!

Just recently, in 2011, Beauty's has been rated by Zagat (a well-known international restaurant guide with reviews and ratings) as one of the best breakfast place to go to in Montreal.