On the front lines of Mile End s chicken war WEEKEND READ | In a neighbourhood that has changed a lot, the impending opening of two new restaurants has ruffled feathers.
Author of the article: T Cha Dunlevy • Montreal Gazette
Publishing date: Apr 17, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 5 minute read • “I know everyone is looking to make money, but this will affect us,” says Elizabeth Saavedra, co-owner of Rôtisserie Serrano Bar-B-Q, which has been serving the neighbourhood faithful for over 40 years. It’s worrying. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Why did the chicken restaurant open across the road?
The question is being asked on St-Viateur St., in Mile End, where two new additions will soon bring the total number of chicken eateries to five, along four short blocks. Which begs another question: how much bird can one street eat?
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There’s a sandwich I’ve been dreaming about for years. Spicy Hungarian salami on a fresh, soft cheese bun, with lettuce, tomatoes, extra pickles the whole thing fairly dripping with mayonnaise and yellow mustard. That was my sandwich at Boulangerie Clarke, the beloved Mile End shop that closed in 2015. How exactly this came to be my sandwich, I couldn’t tell you. In the regular course of things, it never occurs to me to eat spicy salami. But that’s what I chose off the board the first time I was there, and I don’t believe in messing with a good thing. Even with extra pickles, the whole sammie only cost about $5 an extraordinary bargain for a made-to-order lunch on a freshly baked bun roughly half the size of your head. Between the liberal toppings and the lavish saucing, it was a five-star and five-napkin sandwich.