The Commensal experience

At Commensal, we offer an uncommon gastronomic experience.

Presented as a self serve buffet, our guests can treat themselves to a wide array of dishes prepared with the highest quality ingredients, without preservatives or added coloring additives.

First of all, there is the soup bar. Did you know we offer ten soups, each as delicious as the other?

Our salad bar is an experience in itself. If offers a wide variety of nutritional and tasty salads. The main kinds of vegetables, legumes and whole grains are part of the salad bar. Our salads are made on the spot and are always fresh. In addition, our dressings, unique to Commensal, allow you the pleasure of eating a delicious salad in many different ways.

Our cooked dishes

A renewed pleasure with each bite, enjoy the experience of world cuisine through our bar of prepared dishes. Taste the best of Italy and other Mediterranean countries, Asia and India. Our dishes will take you around the world without even leaving the restaurant. We also offer the popular Commensal classics like the chili, the tofu fricassee, the famous meatless pie and much more. All these delectable culinary treats are accompanied by rice, wheat semolina or sautéed vegetables prepared on site by our experienced chefs.

As for the sweets, Commensal has to rank right up with the top restaurants. Our exclusive recipes include only top quality ingredients that contain no fine granulated sugar or hydrogenated oils. Mouth watering cakes, succulent squares and pies galore will make everyone smile. Add some fresh fruit and… voilà!

The pleasure of eating well and eating healthy never ends.

For breakfast

Commensal does not neglect the most important meal of the day with a brunch-type service no one can resist. With its omelettes, pancakes, yogurt bar and pastries, Commensal thinks of everything.

Something to drink!

Commensal knows quality hydration is important. Our restaurants offer the drink bar and the renowned À boire! products. These unique drinks have been developed to satisfy your specific needs every day.

Unique! The water tower

At Commensal, we don’t want to sell water. Instead, we want to offer to our guests.

Thus, we have introduced to filtered water tower. Thanks to a sophisticated filtration system, we produce high quality water, free of impurities and chemical elements. Whether plain or carbonated, our water is free and available to everyone.

Every day, the teams in each and every Commensal restaurant and production centers work very hard to satisfy every guest’s wishes.

Simple and pleasant operations

One of the main challenges in the restaurant business is to develop an operations system that is simple enough that kitchen employees do not need thorough knowledge while their productivity is maximized.

Each Commensal restaurant has its own assembly kitchen. Since many products made in our production centers arrive all ready for use, it is in these kitchens that we prepare and complete the recipe set up. This way of doing things allows you to save time for preparation and insures constant and equal quality throughout all the restaurants.

Thus, with a minimal number of employees, our franchisees can easily insure the production of our delicious meals.

From a service standpoint, Commensal stands out. With our self serve buffets, the need for service personnel is reduced to a bare minimum, as are their abilities and competences. Our best employees are people who love life and whose smile comes easily, who are meticulous and resourceful.

For our guests, every visit is special because each experience is a chance to prepare a different meal. This formula is extremely popular is proud to have a highly faithful clientele that returns often. All they want is to...Taste life! at Commensal

Commensal… an urban, warm and convivial design.

In 2007, Commensal launched its new restaurant concept at the same its new brand was unveiled. Boisbriand was home for the new Commensal of its generation. Two more have already been added, one in Trois-Rivières and another will soon follow in Boucherville. Every restaurant in the chain will follow suit with the new image as soon as all the agreements are completed.

The purpose of this rebirth is to communicate the positioning of a new brand that is modern, dynamic, warm and accessible to all. It draws a diverse and active clientele and our guests confirm this. They are looking for healthy food in an atmosphere that is conducive to relaxation and good times with friends.

See for yourself and Taste life!

Photos 360

Our guest is our priority

Here are a few statistics about our clientele:

Average age: 42

Family income: $50,000 and over
Occupation:
White collar workers: 50%
Students: 10%
Artists: 7%
Retired people: 11%

Frequency of visits: on average, once a week

Our clients love the Commensal’s food
(reason for coming)
34% for healthy eating
34% because they love the food we prepare
30% for the vegetarian food

In the restaurant business, one of the greatest challenges we have to face is to make sure our regular client base keeps increasing. At Commensal, we have been developing our market for the past 30 years. Today’s great eating trends offer a great deal of abundance.

Indeed, at all age levels, in every market and with all nationalities, better eating habits have become a major priority. In addition, vegetarian cuisine has shed its “granola” image and got closer to the general population. In fact, among all our guests, only 5% of them claim to be vegetarian.

Furthermore, some major movements, such as Meatless Monday and TCK, as well as a greater social conscience encourage more and more people to eat less meat more frequently.

Thus, when facing such a large market, satisfying the customer is becoming a daunting challenge and we must be up to the task.

The arrival of the new concept could not have come at a better time as it allows us to move further in this direction. When you arrive at Commensal, you are greeted as a guest. You can reserve a table ahead of time or drop your personal belongings in a security bag so you can move about freely.

The lighting, the music, the tables and comfortable chairs and the booth sections –perfect for gatherings with colleagues, friends or family- everything is in place so our guests can enjoy a quality experience. Even if Commensal offers a self serve buffet, you are now about to experience dining worthy of a fine upscale restaurant!

The expression of our brand

Our brand evokes health, vivacity, human warmth, dynamism typical of life and the pleasure of healthy eating. Thanks to this new positioning, Commensal is now known as the leader in its market and has become a mainstay for those who want to eat healthy food.

Guests Testimonials

Request:
Hello, I live in Valleyfield and I was wondering when we going to have a Commensal in our city. There are many vegetarians living here and I find it unfortunate because we don’t have the opportunity to enjoy your food all that often. I am quite certain your restaurant would be a hit. I look forward to finding out if you plan on opening on soon. Thank you.

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Request :
M. Pierre-Marc Tremblay. I have frequently visited your restaurants since the opening of the first one on Saint-Denis Street. I now live in Gatineau and I lament the fact that no one ever thought of opening one in our area. I am convinced you could draw a lot of clientele from the Gatineau-Ottawa population, since people in the region have a healthy lifestyle and enjoy the great outdoors. I would also like to point out the excellent quality of the food and the service at Pacini in Gatineau, Saint-Eustache and Repentigny. The quality is top notch and I have loved this chain ever since you made changes to the menu and took out all unhealthy products.

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Request:
I ate in two of your restaurants in late August when I visited Québec and found them terrific! I immediately thought, without making a feasibility study, that this concept can be implemented in France, even in Europe. What are your development projects for the future?

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Request:
Hello. I went to Commensal several times and I was pleasantly surprised to see the quality of the food as well as the overall new image given to some restaurants. I am interested in obtaining more information about a Commensal franchise. Thank you for giving serious consideration to my request.

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Request:
Hello! I am a French resident over the past few trips, I was able to experience and appreciate your restaurants, both in Québec and Montreal, and I must say the quality and pleasure I have found there make me wonder if it was possible to open a franchise in France, assuming it hasn’t been done already. The French enjoy the kind of food you offer. I am a naturopathy-oriented pharmacist and this would be a great experience for me. If this possibility does not interest you, that’s unfortunate though I I’d like to thank you for the great food and I hope to return soon. I’m 44 years old, I love Québec, I have many friends there. I respectfully salute you.

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Request:
We visited Montreal last weekend and ate at Commensal. We loved it! We live in northern New Hampshire. Can we find Commensal products in the US and where? Can we mail order products? Thanks

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Request:
any plans to expand to the usa? I LOVE le commensal!

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Request:
I just tried your vegetarian buffet at your restaurant in Montreal (near Mc Gill University) and the food was incredible. Do you have any plans to publish a cookbook? Any chance of opening a restaurant (or store)in San Diego, CA? Great food, keep up the good work!

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Request:
In July, I visited a Le Commensal buffet restaurant in Montreal and was very impressed by the concept. As a vegetarian, it was very exciting to see a 100% vegetarian restaurant with such a wide variety of great-quality and delicious foods. I live in Washington, DC (U.S.). There there are many vegetarians here who would greatly appreciate such a unique and convenient restaurant as a breath of fresh air. Do you have any plans to expand Le Commensal to the U.S.? Could you look into opening one in Washington, DC? Thanks

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Request:
I am originally from Montreal and have loved your resto for years and would love to know if you intend to open up a resto in Calgary, Alberta in the future? I have lived here for 11 years and miss it terribly! Fingers crossed! There is a very popular veg resto here called The Coup and they do an incredible business, I'm sure yours would do just as well out here.

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Request:
We have eaten at your restaurants in Toronto and Montreal, and just love them! Any chance you would share your recipe for vegan pineapple mousse with me?

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Request:
Dear Commensal, Are there any plans for a restaurant in the Gatineau/Ottawa area? This would be a very welcome thing!