La Belle Province ( en, The Beautiful Province) is a well-known fast food restaurant chain in the province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is also known as ''LBP'', ''LB'', ''BP'', ''La Belle Pro'', ''Belle Pro'', ''La Belle'' or ''Labelle'', as nicknames. Each location is independently franchised; some are open 24 hours a day.

History

Founder Peter Kivetos, a native of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, opened the first La Belle Province on Sherbrooke Street East in 1970. He took the name with permission from a restaurant on

Saint Catherine Street Sainte-Catherine Street (french: rue Sainte-Catherine) () is the primary commercial artery of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It crosses the central business district from west to east, beginning at the corner of Claremont Avenue and de M ...

where he had worked, which had burned down in the 1960s. It became a franchise when the second location was opened in Saint-Hubert in 1976. Kivetos' ownership group had 45 locations in 1997. By 1999 there were 125 locations under the name La Belle Province. It is not strictly a franchise operation, in 1999 there were six different ownership groups, mostly relatives of Kivetos. In 2010, two restaurant owners were fined $22,000 for failure to pay the Goods and Services Tax and were charged an additional $45,000 for the amount that they owed.

Fare

La Belle Province serves breakfast and lunch, including items such as poutine, club sandwiches, hamburgers,

Montreal hot dog The Montreal hot dog (french: steamé), also known as a steamie, is one of several variations of hot dogs served as a fast food staple at restaurants and diners in Montreal and other parts of Quebec. In Montreal (and elsewhere in the province ...

s, smoked meat sandwiches, and

souvlaki Souvlaki ( el, σουβλάκι, , ; plural: , ), is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot. It can be served with o ...

Reason for the various names

judge ruled that the La Belle Province franchise owners could not prevent others from giving a similar name to their restaurants, because " la belle province" is an official nickname for the province of Quebec. This resulted in several knock-off franchises that had menus and prices similar to the original franchise in order to capitalize on its existing image and marketing. Notable knock-offs include Belle Province II, La Plus Belle Province, La Belle Québécoise and La Très Belle Province.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belle Province Fast-food chains of Canada Hot dog restaurants Regional restaurant chains in Canada Restaurants in Montreal Restaurants established in 1970 1970 establishments in Quebec

History

Fare

Reason for the various names

See also

References

External links