Popular Indian eatery being pushed out of Pointe-claire
Notice to vacate means owner must start over just as he was hoping to slow down
Rajiv Chopra has been serving up curry and naan for Montrealers for nearly two decades, but the owner of the popular Sahib Indian Restaurant in Pointe-claire could soon be pulling up stakes and moving to Dorval.
Chopra was asked over a year ago to vacate the premises at 225 Hymus Blvd., just west of St. Jean Blvd. Although he has a lease, it is not registered.
“I've had a lease for 20 years. It expires in October of 2023. I've been paying rent every month. Every increment I've been honouring,” he said. “I want to talk to the landlord and see how long he'll keep us there.”
Chopra said many other tenants in the building, including the Carrefour jeunesse-emploi de l'ouestde-l'île, have already left. “The other businesses are gone. The upper floor is empty. It's a ghost building.”
Groupe Shapiro lists 225 Hymus Blvd. on its website as one its real estate properties.
In 2018, Pointe-claire council voted to approve a zoning change for the property. The motion was proposed by councillor Kelly Thorstad-cullen and adopted unanimously.
The site is now zoned for service and retail commercial businesses. While conditional usage could allow for multi-family dwellings on the site, Pointe-claire is holding off on new projects over 36 units until a new urban planning bylaw is approved.
Pointe-claire Mayor Tim Thomas, who was elected on a platform to slow development, is hoping to convince Chopra to stay put.
“Sahib adds to the cultural variety of our city,” Thomas said. “It adds a different flavour, not just in food, but flavour in culture and style.”
“Rajiv is also a good businessman,” the mayor added. “He's run a good, successful business and we want to keep good, successful businesses, and not have vacancies and multi-level residential complexes because businesses bring us more tax revenue. Multi-level residential cost us a fortune in infrastructure, whereas this restaurant is sitting there generating tax revenue.”
Chopra welcomed the mayor's support. “He was very welcoming and he loves the restaurant, too. He wants a business like ours to stay here, rather than have big buildings going up. “
Chopra says he is committed to opening a new Dorval location on Lakeshore Drive in March, but his biggest challenge is finding more staff during the pandemic.
“It's extremely tough,” he said. “You can't find a dishwasher, you can't find a busboy. With the pandemic and the CERB going out, the restaurant business was hit very hard.”
He presently employs more than 20 staff, including delivery drivers and part-timers.
He said being forced out of his location means starting over at an age when he was hoping to slow down.
“I would never have even thought about buying a new building (in Dorval). I'm 62 and was thinking of retiring. But then I realized after 20 years of hard work, it was going to blow up in smoke. We want to have a legacy and we have a lot of wonderful clients. We feel like we owe it to them to stay as close as possible.”
Chopra said there are other Indian restaurants on Sources Blvd., but some of them are takeout counters.
He said he looked around Pointeclaire to relocate his restaurant, but couldn't find a suitable location. He could possibly operate two restaurants.
“If we are welcome to stay there (in Pointe-claire) we will.”
Sahib adds to the cultural variety of our city. It adds a different flavour, not just in food, but flavour in culture and style.