For 57 years, Ashton has been a Quebec City habit. On Monday, Montreal got a taste.
The fast-food chain, founded in 1969 and best known for its poutine, opened its first location on the island at Complexe Desjardins, following a Mirabel opening last year and decades after an earlier, short-lived attempt to crack the Montreal market.
Since buying Ashton from founder Ashton Leblond in 2022, current owners Émily Adam and Jean-Christophe Lirette have increasingly turned to franchising to take the once deeply regional brand beyond its Quebec City base — first to Mirabel in 2025, and now into Montreal itself.
“The model was really geared towards corporate-based restaurants,” said Vincent White, marketing director for Ashton Group.
“It was easier to manage the corporate chain of restaurants from Quebec City, where the head office was,” he said.
Now, White explains, “the fact that it’s a franchisee-based model” and the company has a larger team means Ashton can support restaurants farther from home.
“It’s really what made the difference,” White said.
The Complexe Desjardins restaurant is operated by franchisee Simon Robitaille, and White said it will not be the chain’s last push into the region.
“We are looking at more locations,” he said. “Within the coming months, we should be able to announce something new again for the Greater Montreal area.”
Ashton tried the Montreal market once before, in the 1980s, but the experiment did not last.
“It was very short-lived,” White said. “Looking back, I think maybe it was more on the sourcing front.
“From the ’80s to now, it’s just such a long time ago. It’s a completely different team and a different structure now. It’s very, very solid now.”
The company got a more recent test of the Montreal-area market when it opened at Premium Outlets Montreal in Mirabel in 2025. White said that location is performing particularly well during the summer, when the outlet centre draws tourists and shoppers.
But moving onto the island presents another question: What exactly does Ashton offer in a city where poutine is already everywhere?
White starts with the ingredients.
“We don’t have anything frozen in the restaurant,” he said. “Not many fast-food restaurants can say that.”
Ashton’s potatoes come from Île d’Orléans, he said, its cheese curds are delivered to restaurants every day and its poutine gravies are made in-house.
“You put all those ingredients together,” White said, “and I think that’s what makes for the best poutine.”
Ashton’s owners have also gained an unusually close look at Montreal’s poutine tastes. Their group acquired La Banquise, one of the city’s best-known poutine restaurants, roughly 2 1/2 years ago.
White said the experience has encouraged Ashton not to be overly protective of tradition.
“What we learn is the importance of doing innovation,” he said. “You can really think outside the box when it comes to creating new poutines.”
White said Ashton introduces new poutines each year, including a steak-and-Boursin version earlier this year.
Ambre prepares orders of poutine at Ashton’s Complexe Desjardins location on opening day, Monday, August 10, 2026. This is Ashton’s first entry into the Montreal market since the 1980s. Tim Snow / Montreal Gazette
Announcing the opening on social media Monday, Ashton described its poutine as one that “needs no introduction.”
On its first day in Montreal, however, some customers were still being introduced to the name.
Maria and Sara, students in their 20s, had not heard of the chain at all. They saw the line at the counter and decided to join it — and ended up trying poutine for the first time.
“It’s really good,” they said, adding that the service had been fast and friendly. Maria said she was happy to be “trying the local food.”
For Léo Rivard, who grew up in Quebec City and now lives in Montreal, no introduction was necessary.
He had brought his two children to the new restaurant and was taking photographs of the Ashton counter as they waited.
“I’m excited to have a classic I grew up with,” he said, adding that he was especially excited for his children to try it.
That nostalgia is part of what Ashton is betting will translate into customers. But Complexe Desjardins was also chosen for more practical reasons.
“We for sure think there will be a lot of corporate workers during the weekday at lunchtime,” White said. “But then again, on weeknights and weekends, there are so many festivals.”
On Monday, the restaurant looked every bit like an opening-day operation. Staff packed the counter as employees were trained and orders continued to come in. Families with children mixed with both younger and older customers, while passersby stopped to photograph the newly lit Ashton sign.
Robitaille was among those working behind the counter, packing bags as customers’ numbers were called, then stepping out to introduce himself and shake hands.
“It’s going really well,” the franchisee said.
Still, in a city with no shortage of established poutine loyalties, familiarity may take time.
Elsewhere in the food court Monday, Jean Côté, a Montrealer, said he had vaguely heard of Ashton before its arrival.
“I know people in Quebec City really love it,” he said.
“Honestly, we’ve got a lot of good places here too, so we’ll see what we think of it.”
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I’m a reporting intern at the Montreal Gazette, covering breaking news and the issues affecting communities across Montreal. I believe some of the most interesting stories begin with an ordinary conversation.
amclaughlin@postmedia.com