Ashton eyes Montreal area for next poutine restaurant

A cook prepares a poutine at La Banquise restaurant in Montreal on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. The restaurant has been sold to Chez Ashton owners. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

Ashton owner Jean-Christophe Lirette says he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to open a restaurant at Premium Outlets Montreal in Mirabel, about 40 minutes from the city.

“It’s such a popular site among young people, already very well-known and busy,” he told Noovo Info. “I think it will be wonderful to increase Ashton’s visibility on a provincial scale.”

Lirette, and partner Emily Adam, took over the Ashton chain in 2022.

They also own a popular snack bar called Ti-Oui in their hometown of Saint-Raymond.

This isn’t the first time Ashton has tried to infiltrate the Montreal-area market.

In the 1980s, the chain attempted to open a location in the city, but without great success.

READ MORE: Iconic Montreal poutine spot La Banquise has been sold

Things changed a year and a half ago, when the company purchased La Banquise, one of Montreal’s most well-known poutine restaurants.

At the time, La Banquise co-owners Annie Barsalou and Marc Latendresse said they made the decision to sell because “we’re not getting any younger.”

Despite its venture to Mirabel, Ashton says it currently has no plans to open any locations on the Island of Montreal.