The premises of the former Korean restaurant Bab Sang will not have remained unoccupied for long, on Avenue Maguire in Sillery. It is La Pizzaio, a fine pizza establishment, which will soon take its place, leaving at the same time the Old Port, where it has been located for 35 years.
• Also read: Avenue Maguire: Korean restaurant Bab Sang closes its doors a year and a half after the controversy over English service
Plunged into a linguistic controversy two years ago, due to the difficulty of being served in French in its early days, Bab Sang quietly closed its doors last May.
La Pizzaio co-owner Marco-Christian Gallegos admits to being saddened by the news, as he knew the place from having been there a few times with his wife.
Major decoration and development work is underway. The opening is expected before the end of September. Photo Dominique Lelièvre
“It’s a shame for them. It was good,” he said, adding that “it’s not nice to see a player fall.”
The idea of moving his own restaurant there then germinated during the summer.
Bigger
Although he was a proud merchant on Saint-Paul Street, he was looking for a new location due to a disagreement over the renewal of his lease, he explains.
The move will allow the restaurant to expand and add a new terrace. The new location is nearly four times larger, but the increase in indoor seating will remain modest, going from 24 to about forty, a matter according to Mr. Gallegos in order to maintain the quality of service.
The new premises on Maguire have their own terrace. This was not the case on rue Saint-Paul where La Pizzaio had in recent years given up on its terrace due to the high costs of renting a space on the sidewalk. Photo Dominique Lelièvre
“It’s an expansion, but the essence of what we do won’t change,” says the restaurateur, emphasizing the personalized and family welcome that characterizes his concept.
“What we don’t want is to create volume and mass,” says the man who has been at the helm of La Pizzaio for 12 years.
The kitchen, much more spacious, will allow new possibilities according to him.
“People who know us will rediscover what we were doing and perhaps find a new source of inspiration.”
The Pizzaio will be able to enjoy a much more spacious kitchen. Photo Dominique Lelièvre
New neighborhood
The restaurant, which specializes in thin-crust pizzas with cheesy crusts, describes itself on its website as a “small, unpretentious neighborhood restaurant” and boasts a top-rated TripAdvisor ranking.
The presence of three other restaurants offering pizzas in the Maguire area does not worry Marco-Christian Gallegos, who believes he is offering a complementary and different product.
Photo Dominique Lelièvre
The move “greatly motivates” his team, although it is a heartache to leave the Old Port, he says.
“It’s certain that it’s a new local clientele, a new neighborhood clientele that we’re going to have to charm, and that’s the challenge,” he says, estimating that he has also developed a “loyal customer base” over the years.
The restaurateur hopes to open at the new location on Maguire by the end of September.
