The Montreal Pool Room is a well-known and well-regarded

greasy spoon A greasy spoon is a small, cheap restaurant typically specializing in Short order cooking, short order fare. The term is also used in the UK–along with the informal term "caff" for café–to refer to a small privately-owned eatery that tradi ...

restaurant, located in the city's former

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex industry, sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light district ...

Saint Laurent Boulevard Saint Laurent Boulevard, also known as Saint Lawrence Boulevard (officially in ), is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A commercial artery and cultural heritage site, the street runs north west–south east through the near-centre of ...

, in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The restaurant has been open since 1912 (registered 1921) and is known for its "underground allure", described by some as being a "seedy goodness". Though called a "

pool room A billiard room (also billiards room, or more specifically pool room, snooker room) is a recreation room, such as in a house or recreation center, with a billiards, pool or snooker table (The term "billiard room" or "pool room" may also be use ...

" by name, it no longer has a

pool table A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that ...

Offerings

The restaurant's primary offerings are: *

Montreal hot dog The Montreal hot dog (), also known as a steamie, is one of several variations of hot dogs served as a fast food staple at restaurants and diners in Montreal and other parts of Quebec. In Montreal (and elsewhere in the province of Quebec), the ...

: Steamé (steamed bun with steamed hot dog) or toasté (toasted bun with grilled hot dog) *

French fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

: plain or as a

poutine Poutine () is a dish of french fries and cheese curds topped with a hot brown gravy. It emerged in Quebec in the late 1950s in the Centre-du-Québec region, though its exact origins are uncertain, and there are several competing claims regar ...

Gallery

Montreal steamie hotdog.jpg, Two hot dog steamé

History

The Montreal Pool Room, founded in 1912 by Dako Filipov, a Bulgarian immigrant, is reputed to serve some of the best steamed hot dogs and "patates frites" in the city. Despite its name, it is no longer a functioning

, with the restaurant's

pool tables A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that i ...

long gone:

The only remaining evidence of its former billard hall status, aside from the name, are two boarded up tables now used for counterspace in the otherwise table-free eatery.

The Montreal Pool Room was burned down by a fire in 1989, which according to some destroyed its original interior and had to be rebuilt. The establishment was one of several businesses on the strip resisting attempts to redevelop and gentrify the area, which is located within the new Quartier des Spectacles. In March 2010, the restaurant announced that it was moving nearby to make room for new developments in the district. Since then, it has moved across the street.

References

1912 establishments in Quebec Hot dog restaurants in Canada Restaurants established in 1912 Restaurants in Montreal Downtown Montreal Quartier des spectacles {{Canada-restaurant-stub

Offerings

Gallery

History

See also

References