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    The Main

    Montreal's Cultural Directory

    Help us improve! Share your thoughts on how we can make your experience better.

    Leave feedback

    For partnerships and collaborations:

    partnerships@themain.com

    Content

    • Articles
    • Food & Drink
    • Arts & Culture
    • History Lesson
    • Bulletin
    • Events

    Guides

    • All Guides
    • Best Restaurants
    • Best Cafés
    • Best Bars
    • Best Brunch
    • Best Bakeries

    Explore Montreal

    • Browse Directory
    • Restaurants
    • Bars
    • Cafés
    • Bookstores
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    About

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    Legal

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    The Main Media Inc. 2026

    ✦ Built By Field Office

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      --°C|Thursday, May 21, 2026|
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      --°C|Thursday, May 21, 2026|
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      EN/FR
      The Main Logo
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      Sections
      • Arts & Culture
      • Beyond Montreal
      • Design
      • Food & Drink
      • History Lessons
      • The Bulletin
      Explore
      Popular Guides
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      • Best Cafés
      • Unique Boutiques
      • Romantic Restaurants
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      • Le Plateau-Mont-Royal
      • Mile End
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      May 21, 2026 · 4 min read

      The Plateau Restaurant That Feeds the City on Its Own Dime
      Photograph: Supplied

      The Main is reader-supported. Subscriptions are what keep us independent. Five dollars a month — the restaurants, the guides, the weekly bulletin, and what to do each weekend. Support us today.

      Discover the places mentioned in this story

      Mama Khan

      There's a wall inside the small Pakistani restaurant Mama Khan, where meal vouchers hang for anyone who needs one, no questions asked. Abdul Raziq Khan would like that wall to stay full. Meanwhile, five dollars buys a meal for a stranger.

      Khan is 30 years old, a Park-Ex kid, and constitutionally incapable of running a restaurant that only serves food in a transactional fashion. Since opening Mama Khan with his mother and brothers as a ghost kitchen in 2021— during what he cheerfully describes as "probably a suicide attempt" of a moment to start a business—he has built both a community institution and simple a place to eat.

      There's the halal soup kitchen that runs Tuesday through Friday from noon to two. The weekly Friday meal run to the Old Brewery Mission, where his team distributes around 140 meals a week. The warming centre he opened on a -35°C morning in January where he handed out free chai, and inspired twelve other Montreal restaurants to follow suit.

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      Related Classics

      From our archive.

      Food & Drink

      The Plateau Restaurant That Feeds the City on Its Own Dime

      Mama Khan's Abdul Raziq Khan wouldn't have it any other way.

      ByJ.P. Karwacki

      May 21, 2026 · 4 min read

      The Plateau Restaurant That Feeds the City on Its Own Dime
      Photograph: Supplied

      The Main is reader-supported. Subscriptions are what keep us independent. Five dollars a month — the restaurants, the guides, the weekly bulletin, and what to do each weekend. Support us today.

      Discover the places mentioned in this story

      Mama Khan

      There's a wall inside the small Pakistani restaurant Mama Khan, where meal vouchers hang for anyone who needs one, no questions asked. Abdul Raziq Khan would like that wall to stay full. Meanwhile, five dollars buys a meal for a stranger.

      Khan is 30 years old, a Park-Ex kid, and constitutionally incapable of running a restaurant that only serves food in a transactional fashion. Since opening Mama Khan with his mother and brothers as a ghost kitchen in 2021— during what he cheerfully describes as "probably a suicide attempt" of a moment to start a business—he has built both a community institution and simple a place to eat.

      There's the halal soup kitchen that runs Tuesday through Friday from noon to two. The weekly Friday meal run to the Old Brewery Mission, where his team distributes around 140 meals a week. The warming centre he opened on a -35°C morning in January where he handed out free chai, and inspired twelve other Montreal restaurants to follow suit.

      Free account required

      For readers who care about Montreal

      Create a free account to read this story and access 3 articles per month, plus our weekly Bulletin.

      Independent. Local. Reader-supported.

      or

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      The Main

      Comments

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      Follow on Google
      The Bulletin: A One-Two Punch of F1 and Hockey, Slushie Beers, Mile End Celebrations, and Filipino Birthday Pancit [Issue #182]

      Previous

      The Bulletin: A One-Two Punch of F1 and Hockey, Slushie Beers, Mile End Celebrations, and Filipino Birthday Pancit [Issue #182]

      The Bulletin: A One-Two Punch of F1 and Hockey, Slushie Beers, Mile End Celebrations, and Filipino Birthday Pancit [Issue #182]

      Previous

      The Bulletin: A One-Two Punch of F1 and Hockey, Slushie Beers, Mile End Celebrations, and Filipino Birthday Pancit [Issue #182]

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