Romados spent decades as the kind of Montreal restaurant people crossed the city for. Now the Portuguese chicken institution is heading west. The restaurant is planning a third location in Pointe-Claire in mid-September, following its second location in Laval, which opened March 25. That puts the charcoal-grilled chicken, sandwiches and pastries into the West Island for the first time.
For owners Vicki Eliopoulos and George Karaglanis, who took over Romados when it reopened in 2021, the expansion is about more than putting the name on another storefront. The Laval move came after repeated requests from customers who were already crossing the bridges just to get their Romados fix. Pointe-Claire takes that idea one step further, putting the brand closer to a different part of its Montreal-area customer base.
And honestly, this is the interesting part. Romados has always had that “worth the trip” thing going for it. Now the trip is getting shorter for West Islanders. The question is whether the Rachel Street faithful will follow the brand outward, or whether the new locations can build their own crowd without losing what made Romados an institution in the first place. Either way, Montreal’s Portuguese chicken game just got more interesting.
Sources
- Montreal Gazette — Romados takes on challenge of expanding to the West Island
- Courrier Laval — La rôtisserie Romados ouvre un restaurant à Laval