Earlier this week, firefighters responded to a neighborhood fire that unfortunately affected a location of Cafe Pista at 1587 Boul. St-Laurent.
On Monday, Firefighters responded around 9 p.m. at the intersection of De Maisonneuve and Saint-Laurent boulevards in the Ville-Marie borough to find a vacant building on fire. Co-owner Alexandre Séguin tells What Now Montreal that the Cafe Pista location was not directly affected by the fire, but has suffered some secondary smoke and water damage. As a result, the cafe will temporarily close while the team cleans up the residual damage. Séguin couldn’t provide an exact reopening date, mainly because inspectors will have to assess the damage, but he tells What Now that this location will be closed for at least three weeks.
Cafe Pista, which is also co-owned by Maxime Richard and Julien Charmillot, is a Montreal-based cafe that began as a mobile bike cafe and now operates three locations. The company can also be found at 500 Rue Beaubien East and 2650 Rue Masson. The company roasts all of its beans from a roastery on Masson Street. The menu includes coffee, tea, fresh juices, breakfast bowls, pastries, and sandwiches. While the team figures out how to recover from this devastating event, they encourage customers to visit the other two locations.
“The neighboring building, the former Bouillon Bilk, caught fire for the second time in a few months,” according to the company’s website. “This time, the smoke completely engulfed our cafe. It’s still smoldering, and we don’t yet know the extent of the damage or the timeframe. What we do know is that we have to close until further notice. It’s a hard blow. Our 8th burglary/smoking out/doors broken down in a few years. Not to mention the thousands of jobs on this street corner. We hope to roll up our sleeves—once again—but we don’t know how yet. In the meantime, we’re waiting for you with open arms in Beaubien or Masson.”
