The former Les Frères Toc restaurant in Charlesbourg will make way for a sushi restaurant

The building formerly housing the Les Frères Toc restaurant is preparing to come back to life, as a sushi restaurant will open its doors there after the holiday season.

It is in fact a second banner of the Kimono Sushi Bar restaurant, located on Route de l’Église in Sainte-Foy for 13 years now, which will be set up there.

Like in Sainte-Foy

Renovations estimated at nearly $250,000 are underway to “revamp” and furnish the emblematic Charlesbourg restaurant, which closed its doors last July, after more than 25 years of existence.

Frédéric Petit, also owner of the Kimono restaurant and co-owner of the Archibald microbreweries in Quebec and the Au Petit Chalet restaurants.

The menu and decor will be essentially the same as what is currently offered in the Sainte-Foy establishment, he adds. “It’s practically a copy and paste. There will be several benches in a cozy atmosphere,” explains the restaurateur.

A “running-in” period should take place at the end of December, to allow an official opening in January 2025, specifies Mr. Petit.

Difficult recruitment

Even if Mr. Petit confirms that at least four Brothers Toc employees will work in the future establishment, hiring staff remains “the biggest downside” for him.

“We would need a dozen employees to operate, but recruitment is difficult,” says the restaurateur.

Last spring, Mr. Petit purchased the restaurant building for the sum of $835,000.

The restaurant’s former owner declared bankruptcy at the end of July.

In recent years, the well-known brand on Boulevard Henri-Bourassa had made the headlines on at least four occasions when vehicles, including an RV, collided with the facade of the establishment, each time causing damage of several thousand dollars.