I visited Schwartz probably between 5-10 times within the past 4-5 years. In older times, my experience would be summarized with dry-tasteless meat and dry bread. After so many disappointments, I finally had a nice smoked meat sandwich last time. I wouldn't go there if my guest didn't insist. I won't go there again unless: a friend visits Montreal and insists of going to Schwartz because you cannot visit and leave Montreal without visiting Schwartz, because there is a line of people in front of the restaurant and so many people cannot fail to appreciate a good restaurant. \n \nLet me try to explain how I see this place. Schwartz reminds me of a hybrid of two types of restaurant.. My hometown for example, is famous for its kebabs. There are kebab restaurants in town that are old & historic and available in tourism books as recommended restaurants.. However locals don`t really to these restaurants. The common sense says that these restaurants generally lack the food quality but compensate it with their historical values. So you generally end up paying for the general experience but not for tasty good. A gastronomical disappointment in general. Locals go to other restaurants for better food experience. A second kind of restaurant is where everyone goes, where it is always crowded, a place that is talk of the town.. And every client who frequent that restaurant knows that there are better restaurants in the same city. They go to that restaurant because it is \"hip\" and \"popular\". Eventually, people move on and they find a new hip restaurant in the city. Just like a pop song, eventually that \"hip\" restaurant becomes old fashioned, thrash and not worth a visit.. \n\nSchwartz reminds me a combination of these two types of restaurants. Yes, it is a historic restaurant.. However, historic restaurants have a certain quality to them. I once took a good look at the drinking glasses at Schwartz. I don't want to know how old they are. You must all have heard about news about people's unexpected generosities on Internet. Like that waitress who got 1000$ tip for a 20$ meal, or that guy who spent 500$ at a coffee shop to give away free coffees to people. If I had the resources to perform such generosities, I'd spend a grand and give a thousand brand new drinking glasses to Schwartz. They need brand new stuff in their shop. Same thing goes for the overall hygiene of the place. I think \"a restaurant having character\" does not mean \"a dirty, chaotic, run-down place\". Well, as long as Montrealers have a common belief that the older, the dirtier, the sketchier it is, the more character it has, I don't expect it any kind of change in this place.. You can drink from a 30 year old drinking glass and feel privileged for doing that so. This place needs a good deal of renovations. \n\nThis next point is something that bothered me more than the drinking glasses.. You can't pay with credit card at Schwartz. Here is my message to to the owners (or investors) of this restaurant. You people have a restaurant on St. Laurent which is frequented by so many people. You have queues in front of your store. People wait for 20-25 minutes just to get in. You are not a family-run convenience store,where profit margins are narrow, which can't afford 3.5% commission on credit card payments. What kind of logical reason do you have for not accepting credit cards? I only hope that their excuse is not \"preserving the traditions and character\" of your restaurant. Not everyone is fool enough to believe that. I believe there is only one reason and it is that they love \"cash\". They just want to to maximize their profits as much as they can and don't bother to offer credit card payments because there is an ending supply of clients thanks to travelling books, magazines, the promotional materials of the city and the Montrealers. You can go and visit a holiday resort in a country, where lots of Canadians would describe as \"3rd world country\" and there is a credit card terminal.. How come a restaurant that -probably- makes millions of dollars in sale in a city like Montreal, on a street like St. Laurent doesn't have a credit card terminal.. I can't believe this.\n\nIn my last visit, I had to watch our waitress struggling when he was about to give me the change. It took a while until he prepares the change. I am not sure why.. I don't know if he really struggled with the calculations or he simply expected me to say \"that's fine, keep the change\". I hope it is the former. \n\nI won't give this restaurant 1 star. 1-star would be too cruel. 1-star means \"hate\". I don't hate it.. I hope they would try to make the place cleaner with better customer service. It is just a restaurant where it receives endless supply of clients and I guess they believe this is what everyone likes. They don't bother to make it better. \n\nI hope that one day a Montrealer will tell me about a restaurant where it is clean, affordable, value their customers with tasty smoked meat.
places reviews