3041 Notre-Dame O.
Montreal, Quebec
Metro: Lionel-Groulx
Bus: STM 36, 71, 78, 108, 191, 211, 405, 411, 425, 485, 491, 496, 747
Visit: March 4, 2013
On the second anniversary of Mr. Lew’s Great Burger Search: The Blog, there was only one way to celebrate and that was to eat a burger. Alright, I’ll be honest, for another year, I forgot about it. There’s another thing that I forgot, in a way, that there was a place on Notre-Dame that’s been around for many years, Green Spot.
Just when I thought I covered all the places that have some history or nostalgia, there always seems to be one that comes up from nowhere. Sometimes, they just happen to be right under your nose and you don’t even know it. I’ve stated many times here that the area around the Lionel-Groulx metro station is one that I hold dear. I’ve always wanted to find a burger to have near there, but I guess I wasn’t trying hard enough.
The plan on that particular day wasn’t really to go to Green Spot. I had another place in mind, but I just didn’t feel like going there. That’s the moment I remembered that there was a place on Notre-Dame that I’ve overlooked for way too long. Any time you pass by this place, the iconic signage is one that you can’t miss.
Once you enter the establishment, you’ll notice that it’s very much like a local diner with a great number of booths. What caught my attention was at the end of the table. Each large booth had one of these boxes that, in a way, looked like slot machines. After a little bit of research, those boxes are really miniature jukeboxes. They weren’t in action during my visit, but it would really be interesting to see them going.
The Green Spot is like your neighborhood diner. The menu includes a lot of everything. When I set foot in the restaurant, past 11 a.m., there were people still having breakfast, along with people starting to have lunch. Any way you look at it, it’s rare to find places that serve breakfast that late , though it should be noted that you can’t get it all day here. The last bright note is the fact that some of the items are very generous on the budget, especially if you see the prices for the burgers.
Sometimes, going to restaurants isn’t really about the food or the service, it’s about the atmosphere. Here I was, sitting in this small booth. Next to me, there was this man eating by himself, commenting on just about anything. I tuned this individual out for a little while. It wasn’t until the end, where he mentioned something about the Habs big win the night before that something got my attention. It turns out that he is blind. So, here I was thinking that this person is looking at everything I’m doing and taking pictures of, not knowing that he couldn’t see me. It was weird, but I have to say that the restaurant took very good care of him.
This leads me into service. I have to say that my server was quite cordial with me the entire time. One thing that’s getting to be quite rare in this city is a completely bilingual server. As usual, I started my time there in French and kept at that throughout. There was this one moment where the server came back to check on me and started in English. Within a split second, they realized that they’ve been talking to me in French and they corrected themselves really quickly, which was nice to see.
What bothered me more was an act pulled by another server. There was a table of 3 customers that settled next to me in the same booth where the above picture was taken. Well, they didn’t have enough menus lying around, so their server sprang into action. So, you need to picture this. I have a fork full of potting heading towards my mouth in midair. All of a sudden, I see this quick swipe right above my head, too close for comfort. The other server pulled the menu from next to me all the way across my table and directly to the other table. That server almost hit me. What’s worse is that person knew I was eyeballing them for the remainder of my meal. Just because I’m not in your section, it doesn’t mean you can forget I’m here.
What really impressed me about the menu was the fact that there was a large amount of poutine to be had. The separate menu printed out to show the poutines was a nice touch. Here, you could see that there is a long list of different options that you can choose from. Luckily, there was one that practically had my name on it, as it was calling out at me, wanting to be consumed.
L’Avalanche
This poutine’s special component was a generous helping of bacon strips. Obviously, the first thing that anyone will notice is that the sauce is a lot darker than normal. I’ve never seen another poutine with such a sauce on it. While the sauce is the thing you notice with your eyes, I wouldn’t say that it was so memorable for taste. It was something else that made me stand up and pay attention.
As mentioned before, the complete slices of bacon were a really nice touch for this poutine. It’s quite unusual to have the whole thing on a poutine. Normally, the bacon is cut up to make it easier to eat. I’ll have to admit that having the bacon as a whole made things a little tougher to maneuver, but once you get the hang of that, you’ll notice that it tastes really good.
Overall, the class poutine components don’t disappoint and do a good job helping the special guest star, the bacon. While I won’t rant and rave about this one, I’ll mention that it was more than acceptable.
The Maximus
This burger contains lettuce, tomatoes, Swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, and bacon.
When it comes to places like this, the expectations aren’t so high. The best you can hope for is a burger that would be good enough to conquer your appetite. Also, you would probably not find a very fancy burger here either.
I’m going to say that the majority of the classic burger elements were on par with the type of establishment we have here. It is your average bacon cheeseburger that you can get at every competent restaurant from here to Timbuktu. Unfortunately, not everything can be perfect, as I found a two major issues that are worth mentioning.
The first issue is one that you can find with most double burgers, much like this one. Double burgers are really nice to have on paper, but they are mostly stuck with the same problem. That problem is the fact that they very rarely stay intact. This burger was no exception. I had to rebuild and replace items every few bites to make sure that I didn’t have a mess on my plate.
The second issue was one that really was off-putting. The cheddar on the burger was alright and made for a good element in the whole product. It was the other slice of cheese that really made me wonder. The first thing was that it had a hard time staying in the bun. While the cheddar was melted enough, this slice felt like it just came out of its plastic. The Swiss cheese didn’t really have much of a taste. The worst thing was that once it was away from the rest of the burger, we were rolling.
After all, the burger isn’t half bad. There were just a few bits and pieces that weren’t perfect. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending it to anyone. For the price and the elements involved, it was more of a victory than a disappointment.
Final Verdict
Green Spot is your traditional diner in an area of town that’s now full more expensive places. You will get a decent meal from a variety of choices for a reasonable price. You’ll see that the atmosphere and the service will make you want to come back again.
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