The Main Deli Steak House, also known simply as Main Deli or The Main, was a delicatessen and steakhouse located on Saint Laurent Boulevard in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[1]
History
Main Deli was established in 1974 by Peter Varvaro Sr. Varvaro was Italian in background, but grew up immersed in the Jewish language and culture.[2] The deli remained a family business, and two of Varvaro's children have opened their own deli restaurants in the suburbs of Montreal using their father's secret recipe for smoked meat, with Philip operating Delibee's, and Peter Jr. running Smoke Meat Pete which won the Montreal Gazette’s annual ‘Best Montreal Sandwich Award’ in 2001.[3]
Main Deli was right across the street from their main business rival, the famed Schwartz's Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen. The two restaurants were often compared against each other in their patronage and the flavours of their Montreal-style smoked meat.[4]