Bye bye Boustan?

Famed and cheap local Lebanese eatery may soon be shuttering its beloved doorsFamed and cheap local Lebanese eatery may soon be shuttering its beloved doors

by ELISABETH FAURE

March 3, 2011

ENDANGERED BOM PERENNIAL: Boustan

Another Montreal landmark may soon be shutting down.

If you’ve ever been a broke student, drunk at 3 a.m. on Crescent, or just been downtown and hungry (or all of the above), you’ve likely eaten at Boustan. The Lebanese fast-food joint has been a perennial Mirror Best of Montreal Best Cheap Eats fave for years, and has been around a quarter-century.

Despite its continued success, the famed late-night eatery’s days are numbered. Owner Imad Smaidi (aka “Mr. Boustan”) has put the resto up for sale, since his sons Fadi and Jamal have decided not to continue the family business.

“My kids, they’re not interested,” says Smaidi, who claims he’s made peace with their decision. “It would be inappropriate for me to force it on them…. If you love somebody, you have to respect their choice.”

After working at Boustan for most of his adult life, eldest son Fadi, 33, decamped to Edmonton three years ago to start his own business, Dahlia’s Mediterranean Bistro. His younger brother Jamal is set to join him shortly—both have decided 70–80-hour weeks at Boustan are too draining. “When you own Boustan, you work, work, work, work, then you go home, get up the next day, and do it again,” says Jamal, 21.

It’s always been a family business. Fadi began working at Boustan—Arabic for “orchard”—when he was eight. “At 6 a.m., we’d be at the Bonaventure train station, passing out flyers, then my dad would drop me at school, and then he’d pick me up from school to go back to the restaurant and peel potatoes,” he recalls.

PISSTANKS AND PRIME MINISTERS, ALL ARE WELCOME: Imad Smaidi
Photo by SHARON DAVIES

From humble beginnings as a young immigrant who arrived here from Lebanon in 1972, Smaidi Sr. fell into the restaurant business by chance. He joined Boustan as a silent partner, but the partnership turned sour. Then an engineer, Smaidi wound up ditching his profession to run Boustan full-time.

The restaurant quickly grew, moving several times until it settled at its current location,2020A Crescent, eight years ago. It serves clients non-stop from 11 a.m. until 4 a.m. Patrons run from the homeless to celebrities.

No matter who you are, you’ll get the same service. “Everyone who walks into my place is respected,” says Smaidi. “No matter what class you are, what ethnicity you are, what level of education, we will respect you.”

Photos displayed by the cash register show famous faces like the cast of Trailer Park Boys, or Alouettes players celebrating a Grey Cup win. The celebs Smaidi has posed with even include the late Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

“On a cold day, I saw an old man walk into my place,” Smaidi recalls. Once he realized who was in front of him, Smaidi had to take a deep breath. “I said, I have to compose myself in order to manage this properly!” he laughs. Trudeau went on to become a regular customer, often inviting university students to join him while he ate.

The last time Trudeau visited, he looked very pale. “I thought, ‘We might not see him again,’” Smaidi says. So he took the photo that is now on display at the restaurant.

Smaidi admits closing the door on Boustan won’t be easy. “The restaurant is like one of my children,” he explains. He hopes whoever buys Boustan will keep the restaurant going, and says he’s proud of the legacy he’s built.

“You can be the best, or you can be second—and I don’t like to be second!” he laughs. ■

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