Beauty's Luncheonette
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Beauty's Luncheonette | |
|---|---|
 Beauty’s in February 2024 | |
 Interactive map of Beauty's Luncheonette | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1942 |
| Owner | Sckolnick family |
| Previous owner(s) | Hyman "Hymie" Sckolnick and Freda Sckolnick |
| Food type | Breakfast, brunch and lunch |
| Location | 93 Avenue du Mont-Royal Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, H2T 2S5, Canada |
| Coordinates | 45°31′11″N 73°35′08″W / 45.51965908401252°N 73.58543756352603°W |
| Reservations | No |
| Website | www |
Beauty’s Luncheonette (often simply Beauty’s) is a long-running, kosher-style diner in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1942 by Hyman ("Hymie") and Freda Sckolnick, the restaurant is known for classic breakfasts and brunches, notably the Mish-Mash omelette and the Beauty’s Special (lox and cream cheese on a Montreal-style bagel).[1][2] It occupies the same corner of Mont-Royal Avenue West and Saint-Urbain Street that it has since opening and is widely regarded as a Montreal culinary landmark.[3]
Beauty’s began when newlyweds Hymie and Freda Sckolnick bought a small snack bar at Mont-Royal and Saint-Urbain and started serving quick hot lunches to workers in the nearby garment district of the former Jewish quarter.[1] Demand for Sunday breakfasts soon followed, and the counter evolved into a brunch destination. The place was initially known as Bancroft Coffee Shop but regulars nicknamed it "Beauty’s" after Hymie’s bowling nickname; the name later stuck officially.[2]
Over time the Sckolnicks expanded into an adjacent space and developed several signature items. Co-founder Freda is credited with creating both the Mish-Mash omelette and the Beauty’s Special bagel and lox plate, dishes that would come to define the diner’s menu.[2] Beauty’s remained a family-run business; their son Larry joined in the 1960s and later took over day-to-day operations, with subsequent generations also working at the diner.[2]
Founder Hymie Sckolnick died in 2017 at age 96.[4]
Menu and signature dishes
Beauty’s is not a kosher restaurant, but it is often described as a kosher-style diner reflecting Montreal’s Jewish foodways, mixing Jewish comfort foods with classic North American diner fare.[1] Two dishes are especially associated with the diner:
- Mish-Mash omelette — a three-egg omelette with hot dog, salami, green pepper and fried onions, typically served with home fries and a bagel. Beauty’s registered Mish-Mash as a Canadian trademark decades ago and has occasionally asserted the mark publicly.[5]
- Beauty’s Special — a Montreal-style sesame bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon (lox), tomato and onion, highlighted frequently in guides to Jewish food in Montreal.[1][6]
Other long-standing items include banana pancakes, challah French toast, blintzes and classic breakfast plates.[1]
Renovation and reopening
Beauty’s closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and underwent a substantial renovation. It reopened in June 2021 with refreshed interiors that preserved the classic lunch-counter aesthetic while modernizing infrastructure.[7]
Cultural reception and legacy
Beauty’s is frequently cited as a Montreal institution and a fixture of the city’s Jewish culinary heritage, often grouped with other historic eateries such as Wilensky's Light Lunch and Schwartz's.[8][9] The diner’s multigenerational, family-run character and unchanged location are frequently noted in profiles and travel writing.[1]
