Snowdown Delicatessen Ltd

Seated in a grey-cushioned booth sipping at a glass of water, Ian Morantz glances around Snowdon Deli. On a Sunday afternoon well after the hectic lunch hour rush, the deli is quiet but about a third of the tables are still full with young families, couples, friends and solitary diners. Ian says, “If I look around I can see four or five people right now who are here once a week.”

Ian adds that the Jewish-style deli does benefit from tourists seeking out Montreal smoked meat, but its clientele still skews toward regular patrons who have been coming here for years.

And the customers aren’t the only ones sticking around – most of the 40-plus staff members and the entire four-person management team have been around years, even decades.

“We have good staff, friendly people. Customers have their favourite server that they like to wait for,” Ian says. “It’s like a very large family for many of us.”