Chez Doval

Chez Doval just might be the perfect example of that classic line, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Despite having changed ownership twice, not much else has changed since the beloved Plateau restaurant opened in 1974. The classics, such as chicken, calamari or fish – always fresh from that day – are cooked to perfection the Portuguese way, on a charcoal grill. “We kept the same style, the same cuisine, the same good prices” says Joao Gonçalves, who acquired ownership with partner Carlos Suares in 2003. “We worked here for a long time and we knew it was a winning formula.”

Joao was born in Portugal and moved to Montreal at the age of eighteen, the same year he discovered his love for service. He started working in a French restaurant, then moved on to Italian. “After that, I figured I already knew Portuguese cuisine, so it made sense to be in a Portuguese restaurant,” he says. “I worked in a restaurant where Chez Doval’s previous owners would go to eat. They asked me to come work for them. I did, as a waiter, but I really wanted to own a restaurant. The owner, he was always saying, ‘one day, I will sell the restaurant’. And I said I would be interested, although he didn’t take me very seriously, I think,” he says with a laugh. Three years later, his wish came true.