Phantom restaurant

Another one seems to have bitten the dust. This time, it was a lebanese joint, Massis, on Monkland near Hampton. It opened some time last year and had another outlet in Laval.

I passed by on my way to the hairdresser and stopped in to get a takeout menu. The food looked good, prices were good, the counter man suggested their sandwiches. It's a tricky location. Businesses on that strip don't seem to last long: an african restaurant, a convenience store, a small bakery, a deli.

I feel sorry for whoever sets up shop there. The corner gets plenty of pedestrian traffic, but rents are very high and if you don't make a go of it, you won't last long. Maybe the African joint was a bit too exotic for the local yuppie clientele; and it's not easy to compete with Starbucks, Pizzedelic and some of the other, more established eateries. The convenience store had good stuff, but nothing you couldn't get further down the road for cheaper. I remember an eastern european deli but was disappointed when I went in- they had almost nothing on their shelves. I called it the Cheeseless Cheese shop. It was gone in less than a year.

During the winter, I called the delivery number but it rang and rang and rang. No answer. A couple of months later, I stopped by to get another takeout menu. None available. I wasn't about to order takeout at 5 pm and have it sit on my counter for two hours, so delivery was a better option. However, without a menu, how can I order a delivery? that would mean asking them for the menu over the phone

Rule number one: always have a delivery menu available.
Rule number two: Answer your phone.

I also noticed the hours posted on the front door. The restaurant closed at 8 pm weekdays, 6 pm weekends. People don't generally eat dinner and leave before 8 pm, not in restaurants in Montreal, unless they have very young kids. I am not attracted to the idea of arriving at 7 and having to be out by 8.

My hairdresser is a few blocks west, so I would pass the restaurant on the way there and back. The next time I passed by the place was closed with a sign on the door saying they would be back the next day. I had given up on ever eating their food by then, since I didn't want rush through dinner, had no idea what I could order over the phone (if anyone ever answered) and it was too far to walk and carry home takeout.

The last time I passed by, the place was dark, closed, and the mailbox was full. Obviously no one had been there for a while. A sign in the side window said FERME.

The other outlet in Laval seems to have closed. I had to wonder what these people are thinking. In this economy investing in a restaurant is risky enough, why make it impossible by setting yourself up for failure? People aren't going to eat your food, no matter how yummy it is or how great the location (the Laval outlet was on Labelle Blvd) if you make it impossible for them to buy the stuff.