Mesclun Salads – Priscilla Ponce was born in Chile, moved to Canada and settled in the Montreal suburb of Ville St. Laurent, where she still lives with her husband and children. Throughout her life in Montreal, she has worked in retail, in a number of restaurants as a waitress, and as a real estate broker.
However, she wanted to set her sights on another venture with a different purpose: to open a restaurant that would bring together her Ville St. Laurent community, which as a result would make them happy and bring smiles to their faces. So Ms. Ponce took a look around the Decarie Boulevard portion of the Old St. Laurent neighbourhood and realized that something was missing; mainly a restaurant that offered more healthier food options than the usual heavy fare offered by fast food joints.
In October of last year, she found a commercial space on Decarie Boulevard that was available for her proposed restaurant, but found it to be too big. So she went to the people at the gourmet ice cream parlour chain Bilboquet, which has four locations across Montreal. They found the idea of having their brand of ice cream and sorbets sharing space with her restaurant that offered healthier food options on the menu quite appealing. And in November, Bilboquet signed the agreement with Ms. Ponce to have their franchise located in her restaurant.
And Mesclun Salads was born.
Located at 855 Decarie Boulevard, Mesclun Salads opened its doors on June 5, and since then, the response from the community has been tremendous. So far, it has attracted thousands of customers who enjoyed their healthy menu that consists of 15 types of gourmet salads (as well as an option to make your own salad with a selection of 12 vinaigrette dressings), wraps, health bowls, smoothies, empanadas, coffee and 30 flavours of Bilboquet ice cream and sorbets.
And just in time for summer, Mesclun Salads offers two separate outdoor terraces – which are located in front of and beside the building — for customers to spend some quality time with friends or family to enjoy a salad or ice cream “al fresco”.
How popular has Mesclun Salads been during its first week of operations? The line for Bilboquet ice cream was so long one night, the restaurant stayed open for an extra hour, so that all the customers were accommodated.
Mesclun Salads also offers their healthy menu at affordable prices, in which a healthy lunch selection – the salads are available in small and regular sizes – can be purchased for under $15.
Mesclun Salads, located at 855 Decarie Boulevard in Ville St. Laurent, is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Monday to Friday) and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Saturday and Sunday). You can follow them on Instagram (@mesclun_salads).
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