Bens De Luxe Delicatessen & Restaurant
| Bens De Luxe Delicatessen & Restaurant | |
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Bens storefront (2005)
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1908 |
| Closed | 2006 |
| Food type | Jewish kosher style delicatessen |
| Dress code | Casual |
| Street address | 990 De Maisonneuve Boulevard West |
| City | Montreal |
| State | Quebec |
| Country | Canada |
| Coordinates | 45°30′08″N 73°34′24″W / 45.502091°N 73.573363°WCoordinates: 45°30′08″N 73°34′24″W / 45.502091°N 73.573363°W |
Bens De Luxe Delicatessen and Restaurant was a renowned delicatessen in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The restaurant was famed for its Montreal-style smoked meat sandwich. During its heyday it was a popular late-night dining fixture in the downtown core and a favourite eatery of many celebrities. It was open for nearly a century, from 1908 to 2006. At 98 years it was the oldest deli in the city.
The restaurant was located at 990 De Maisonneuve Boulevard West on the southeast corner of the intersection with Metcalfe Street. A three-storey brown brick building, designed in 1950 by Charles Davis Goodman, who as well designed the Jewish General Hospital and the Laurentian Hotel. Bens had a rounded front corner facing, green awnings, large bay windows and a large illuminated wrap-around sign. The restaurant was on the ground floor and two upper floors were rented. This was Bens third location.
The interior was seemingly unchanged through the years. Its columns and walls were painted in bright greens and yellows with chrome siding, it had a stainless steel edged counter with rows of chrome counter stools, and terrazzo floors, laminate wall covering, and a ceiling with indirect lighting coves. The chairs were bright yellow, orange and green. Walls were covered in photographs of celebrities who had dined at the restaurant; one spot was dubbed "Bens Wall of Fame". Bens employed only waiters, who wore a black bow tie and white buttoned shirt with black dress pants and shoes, along with a white waist apron.
A Lithuanian immigrant Benjamin Kravitz and his Ukrainian-born wife Fanny (née Schwartz) opened a sweet shop on Saint Lawrence Boulevard in Montreal in 1908. They soon added smoked meat sandwiches using his mother's recipe. In 1929 they moved to de Maisonneuve (formerly Burnside) and Mansfield, and to their final location in 1949. The restaurant was open 23 hours daily, closed only for cleaning. The 1001 Burnside location, in the theatre district behind the Sheraton Mount Royal Hotel, was a popular late-night dining haunt for celebrities and movie stars.
Kravitz passed the business on to his sons Irving, Sollie and Al, who would often be seen working at the deli. At the height of its popularity, from the 1950s to the early 1980s, the restaurant had 75 employees. Customers often formed lunchtime line-ups that stretched around the block.
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Wikipedia