Sherbrooke Record · 6 days ago
by Matthew Mccully · News
Louis Restaurants, a Sherbrooke institution, reflects a little history in its new digs
Michael Keegan
The Record – LJI
The Louis Restaurant chain, a Sherbrooke institution, inaugurated a new location in the Rock-Forest area of Sherbrooke on March 30. It’s the business’s fourth restaurant and the first west of Autoroute 410, easy to find beneath the two huge, white water towers that are landmarks on Blvd. Bourque.
In a press release, the chain said the opening in Rock-Forest was long anticipated. The quickly filling parking lot and the growing line inside appeared to confirm this. The organization’s general manager, Christian Frechette, didn’t have time to speak to The Record, busy as he was prepping orders under the heat lamps behind the counter. He only had enough time to smile for a photograph.
Waiting in line to order at 11:45 a.m. just 45 minutes after the restaurant opened its doors for the first time, Émilie Thibault said, “It’s been years” that she’s been waiting for a Louis to open in the Rock-Forest neighbourhood. She said the place brings back fond memories for her of eating there when she was a child.
Indeed, the business has a long history in Sherbrooke. The first Louis Luncheonette opened in 1949. Seated at one of the tables wearing a Louis baseball cap was Normand Bérard, who said he left school at the age of 14 and started working for the company in 1957-58, cleaning windows, counters and bathrooms, for 15 or 20 hours a week, at 55 cents an hour.
In French, Bérard said he worked for the business for 61 years and three months and worked for only three different owners over that time. He said that what kept it successful when other restaurants came and went, was simple: “The quality of the food, and the personnel. Bonjour madame, bonjour monsieur. Always clean, always sharp.”