Monsieur Hot Dog Restaurant
Monsieur Hotdog (Sherbrooke St W. and Monkland Ave) was a franchise operation close to Concordia University’s Loyola campus selling hotdogs, fries, and poutine. It closed in 2007 and is now a Dagwoods sandwich franchise
There were two wall-mounted signs, one on the Sherbrooke side of the restaurant, the other on the Monkland side. Each sign comprised two panned and embossed acrylic sheets with interior fluorescent lighting. We estimate that the signs were fabricated in the 1970s. The MSP has one of the four sheets in its collection. In early 2010 this was put on permanent display in the CJ building.
The delightful painting, titled Mr HotDog and Kenny Mosdell 1949 Chevrolet, is by Montrealer Michael Litvack, who describes his style as Pseudo naive cartoon Abstractism. He writes: “A well known fast food joint, Mr. Hot Dog., on Sherbrooke Street West, in Notre Dame de Grace. A few hockey fans, with Tiny in the window. Ex-Canadien Kenny Model has a service station not far away. After a few decades, the hotdog icon became a sub shop.” (M. Litvack also donated the Buywell sign to the MSP.)