St-Viateur Bagel on Monkland Avenue serves up last weekend brunch

St-Viateur bagel on Monkland Avenue has been a fixture on the street for nearly 20 years, but on Sunday the institution served up its last round of weekend brunch.

Open since 2001, the shop is shuttering its doors for good after closing time on Monday.

Many locals saw the Monkland Village location as a more accessible place to get authentic Montreal bagels, rather than heading out to the main St-Viateur shop in the city's Mile End.

Nick Morena, owner of St-Viateur Monkland, said he's disappointed to be leaving the area.

He said the location's lease was up this month and they weren't able to negotiate a new one, partly due to a significant jump in rent.

Even though his business won't be here anymore, Morena isn't saying goodbye forever. 

"We're going to take a little bit of a break for now. The idea is to reassess, regroup, you never know, we may open up in the future."

He told CBC on Sunday that he was touched by the response from the community.

"There's been an almost overwhelming outpour of love, for the last few days, people have come to hug me, hug my staff," said Morena.

Sharon King was one of the dozens who came by to thank the staff and say goodbye to the neighbourhood spot.

"It's a community gathering place. We always know people who are here. We've known people that have worked here. Just to come in here, it's like a warm hug in here," said King.