Specialty Beer Shops: Depanneur Lalime

Following our visit to Depanneur A.S. we walked along St-Laurent boulevard, under the overpass separating the Plateau from Rosemont - Petit-Patrie, and towards the shiny, metallic sign indicating Depanneur Lalime. They have been around for a while, though very recently they updated the facade of the building (yelp has an old photo with which you can contrast the new and old facade) and added signs announcing that they now carry microbrews - our reason for the visit. As we entered we were surprised that they not only carried beer and other related products, they also carry canned goods, and have a kitchen where they make pies (meat mostly).

Talk about your split personalities. The diversity of products and services offered actually play to their benefit, and adds a very ecclectic appeal  to the shop. Their ability to adapt and add diversity to their products is a good reason for their success today. However, the general diversity of products means that they are not specialized in any one particular product. Their selection of microbrews was rather small, they carried a few breweries. On offer were some beers from Dieu du Ciel, Pit Caribou, Trou du Diable, and Archibald, if memory serves there may have been others. Their selection of canned foods, edibles, and household products was also pretty small, but that kitchen and those pies made up for it all. The wonderful smell of spiced meat wafting up and around the store gave this place a homey feel.

We spoke briefly with one of the store owners, she explained to me that the shop had been in her family since her father opened it up. Originally it served only as a small scale, local grocery store, and over time it transformed into its current iteration. The addition of the kitchen to the shop is rather interesting. The owners' brothers, and part owners, own and operate a butcher shop. They found that they were losing too much meat to spoilage, so they, along with their sister, thought to start cooking up the meat before it went bad and began selling the pies in the shop. We thought that was a really cool and practical way of reducing waste. That alone is a good reason for us to support them.

The shop is not very big either, but has a nice high ceiling and most everything is pushed against the walls which gives the shop an air of openness. The tables at the front of the shop make the space more welcoming, and say to the customer that they should relax, have a nice, warm pie, and wash it all down with some fresh coffee (they probably do not have a liquor license). Sadly, we did not take any photos of the kitchen itself. We suppose you all will just have to make your way to Depanneur Lalime sometime to check it out for yourselves.

As always, we did not leave empty handed. We bought four cans of Microbrasserie Archibald beer; available were the IPA, Blonde Ale, Belge Wit, and Pilsner. We had the pleasure of trying all of them and not one was disappointing, in fact we recommend them all.

Thanks again, and join us on our next beer run! Where we will end up nobody knows, but we do know that we will leave very happy customers. Make sure to head to Depanneur Lalime, 6436 boulevard St-Laurent, for some meat pie and some good beers!

Cheers!

- Jean