Wilensky’s Light Lunch: 85 Years of Sandwiches and Success in the Mile End
Entering its 85th year, Wilensky’s Light Lunch has become one of Montreal’s most iconic restaurants. The Wilensky Special, a grilled all-beef salami and all-beef bologna sandwich on a delicious roll with a hint of mustard, has been served to loyal customers since its founding in 1932.
Now, tourists frequent the shop and listen to guides explaining how Wilensky’s was first made famous by Montreal novelist Mordecai Richler. The sandwich inventor extraordinaire and cherished family man, Moe Wilensky, would have frequent chats with the novelist. A picture of the pair now hangs on the establishment’s vintage walls, next to hundreds of photographs that capture the joy Wilensky’s has brought to the Mile-End.
It was only the second time I’d walked into Wilensky’s Light Lunch. I held the pride of a young reporter eager to schedule her first interview and the casual stride of a wannabe regular at a restaurant four times my age. It didn’t mix.
I approached the counter with a cringe-worthy air of self-importance, as if I was about to give this place its first big break, introducing myself and mentioning, casually, “I’d like to write about you.”
Sharon Wilensky was the person I needed to speak with, but she was on vacation. Fine, I said, I’ll just have a bologna sandwich. Like a perfectly timed clap of thunder in a poorly written play, the man behind the counter sounded the words dramatically:
“It’s. Not. Bologna.”
The gig was up — they knew I was a fraud!
“You writers! You never get it right! It’s bologna and salami. You just write what you want. No one listens. It’s bologna AND SALAMI.”
Ok, bologna and salami. Check. Starting to sweat, I tried to steer the conversation towards something positive. “So, do you guys have interviews often?” This will work, I thought, it’s something exciting for them.
“Every day.”
“No way.”
“Every day. Seriously. Every. Day.”
Not only was I a phony, I was a typical phony. An everyday, run-of-the-muck, lowly writer who doesn’t recognize salami when she sees it. I devoured the sandwich in self-loathing before turning to the man next to me. He has been a regular customer for decades and had brought his grandson, who was experiencing Wilensky’s for the first time. Here I was, in a tête-à-tête about salami, sitting next to three generations of my story.
When I came back to meet Moe Wilensky’s daughter, Sharon, the close family history and dedication towards the sandwich shop never distracted from the fact that this is a fully operating and successful modern business.
During the Depression, when her father’s family needed additional income, he began working for his uncle, who was running a barber and cigar shop in the Plateau. Sharon recounts how customers would ask him to make them “something special,” which later would become Moe’s special, and is now the mouth-watering Wilensky’s Special. At 12 cents a sandwich, the place became popular enough to help the Wilensky family and its customers through the hard economic times.
After moving to their current location on Fairmount, industry in the Mile-End, combined with the filming of the Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz in the restaurant, brought a flood of customers and success. It also led to the cementing of two rules that have never since been broken. In black marker, Sharon’s handwritten sign hangs above the counter: “When ordering a Special, you should know a thing or two. It is always served with mustard; it is never cut in two.”
When Wilensky’s was at its high point, the family formed a “lightening fast” assembly line to serve the sandwiches, and it became impossible to accommodate individual customers. It hasn’t changed since. Except for the occasional disgruntled customer who — no surprise here — takes a sandwich (unsliced) anyway, the rules keep things running smoothly.
“Other restaurant owners love our business model!” says Sharon, who returned to the family business after a successful career teaching English as a second language (part of the reason the rules are written in rhyming couplets), “They would love to tell their customers exactly what to eat.”
Moe Wilensky’s cheesy, salty, sliced meat sandwich is a specialty that no one should miss. While there may be few vegan options, the sandwich is perfectly delicious with a large sour pickle or some of their homemade soda (which is a tightly held family recipe). After having my first sandwich a few months ago, even the slightest thought of Wilensky’s turns into a ravenous craving. But Moe Wilensky’s legacy is much greater than his specialty. The admirable family and family friends who continue to run Wilensky’s, while they may sometimes seem stubborn, offer one of the most pleasant lunch experiences in Montreal. In a location where being diverse is a common crux to a successful business, the simple authenticity of Wilensky’s gives customers beauty without pretense. Visiting Wilensky’s makes anyone feel like someone, and a run-of-the-muck typical phony feel like a regular.
For more information on Wilensky’s, check out their website or visit them in person at 34 Avenue Fairmount Ouest.
