Moishes Steakhouse is located on St. Lawrence Blvd., its original location.
Photo Credit : Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives
The Moishes dining room in 2014.
Photo Credit : Moishes Steakhouse
Moishe Lighter, founder of Moishes Steakhouse.
Photo Credit : Moishes Steakhouse
A celebratory reception held at Moishes in 1946.
Photo Credit : Conrad Poirier
1938 -
Moishes Steakhouse
Moishes Steakhouse is an iconic restaurant that sits along The Main in Montreal, Canada.
The restaurant was founded in 1938 by Moishe Lighter, a Romanian Jewish immigrant to Montreal. He started off working at a smaller restaurant, Yankowitz and Julis, and then poured his savings of $300 into the steakhouse that would bear his name. Known to many as “Romanian Paradise,” the restaurant features Kosher-style Old World classics that would have nourished the hearts and stomachs of the Polish and Romanian Jewish immigrants that lived and worked along St. Laurent Boulevard.
A notorious gambler, legend has it that Lighter became the owner of the restaurant over a card game. What began as just a small-scale meat house is now a staple of “The Main” neighborhood. Culturally, Moishes Steakhouse has also been very influential on the development of broader Montreal cuisine, its steak spice becoming eponymous within the kitchens of not just Montrealers, but Canadians at large.
The steakhouse was also famously featured in the writings of Mordechai Richler, who frequented the restaurant throughout his life. It continues to be the go-to spot for celebrities and locals looking for an authentic taste of The Main.
