Qui Suis-Je?
Montreal's Historical Landmarks
Immerse yourself into your city's past.
Stand at the corner of De Maisonneuve and Metfcalfe and you’ll see the St. Martin Hotel. It was only just 8 years ago that you’d find Bens Restaurant, a place once known as “the” place to get smoked meat in Montreal.
Bens was founded by Ben Kravitz in 1908 when he opened a sweet shop at the corner of St. Laurent and Duluth and started selling smoked meat sandwiches, using his mother’s recipe, to workers in the neighborhood. In 1929, the restaurant was moved to de Maisonneuve and Metcalfe.
From about 1950 to the late 1980s Bens was in its prime. It had lineups everyday for lunch that stretched around the block. It was a place where you could find celebrities and movie stars to politicians such as Pierre Trudeau and Rene Levesque to hockey stars like Gordie Howe and Jean Beliveau. The walls were adorned with pictures of famous clientele.
What marked the end for Bens were labour disputes and a decline in the quality of its food. On July 20th 2006 workers voted to go on strike and the restaurant closed for good.