For many Montrealers, a meal at Romados has long been worth the drive.
Now, the Portuguese chicken institution is hoping that trip will become a little shorter for many of its customers.
After opening a second location in Laval in March, Romados plans to launch a third restaurant in Pointe-Claire in mid-September, bringing the brand to the West Island for the first time. But for owners and couple Vicki Eliopoulos and George Karaglanis, who took over the restaurant after it reopened under new management in 2021, the growth is about more than adding another address. It’s about preserving the reputation that made generations of Montrealers willing to cross the city for charcoal-grilled chicken.
“It’s not only about expansion,” Eliopoulos said. “It’s about bringing the Romados tradition to the communities that are there for us.”
The move is also deeply personal. Eliopoulos grew up in the West Island, where her family still lives, and estimates about 30 per cent of customers at the original Rachel St. restaurant already make the trip from there.
“I feel like I’m coming home,” she said.
George Karaglanis, co-owner of Romados, garnishes a plate of chicken poutine at his restaurant. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette
While opening additional locations is a milestone for any independent restaurant, experts say growth can be one of the biggest tests of a business built on consistency.
“The first thing would be to understand what makes them successful in the first place,” said Marie-Claire Louillet, an associate professor of management at UQAM’s School of Management. “Some elements are not reproducible. Personality is difficult to duplicate.”
Instead, she said, restaurant owners need to identify the “two, three or four non-negotiable core elements” that define their business and ensure they remain consistent as they grow.
The expansion comes as Quebec’s restaurant industry continues to face financial pressures. According to the Association Restauration Québec’s 2025 annual report, restaurants operate on average profit margins of about 3.5 per cent. The association also says 244 Quebec restaurants declared bankruptcy in 2024, following 268 insolvencies in 2023, one of the highest totals in recent years.
Whether those efforts succeed will ultimately be judged by customers, said Lesley Chesterman, a longtime Montreal food writer and former Gazette restaurant critic.
“The problem when people expand is that they’re not offering the same level of quality that they were serving in the original restaurant,” she said. “Anything that works is because it’s delicious.”
That expectation is something Eliopoulos said she and Karaglanis think about every day.
Karaglanis still prepares every sauce and dressing, the restaurant’s longtime pastry chef continues to make every dessert, and the menu has deliberately remained small to help maintain consistency across locations.
“We don’t have that many items,” Eliopoulos said. “But what we do have we do properly.”
For her, success will not be measured by how many restaurants carry the Romados name, but by whether customers feel they have walked into the same place each time they visit.
“I want customers to walk into a Romados and say it smells and tastes and feels like a Romados.”