How Monkland Tavern shaped Montreal's restaurant scene over 30 years

Barbara Irwin spent her first day scrubbing the tile at Monkland Tavern in NDG. It was 1995, and the restaurant had just opened. She was 26 years old, fresh from a horse farm in the Eastern Townships, trying to figure out what she'd gotten herself into. She washed her hands, walked out onto the floor, and started slinging drinks.

30 years later, she's still here—co-owner now, alongside chef Josh Crowe—and the tavern just celebrated that baffling milestone. Making it to 30 in this city is rare enough to warrant raising a glass, but in the years that the tavern's been around, it's made an indelible mark on the city's dining landscape.

"Most restaurants don't make it past one year," says Theo Lerikos, chef-owner of Tuck Shop, who started at Monkland as an 18-year-old busboy. "Five years, you're like, wow, we did it. But there's got to be less than five out of thousands of restaurants in the city to have made it to 30 years while still serving real market cuisine. That's pretty impressive."