Mandy's

In Westmount’s Victoria Village, family-owned and operated Mandy’s offers up gourmet salads (and soups in the winter), focusing on quick take-out meals, fresh ingredients, personalized service, and a sustainable approach to business.

Mandy's is a family-focused affair, owned and operated by two sisters, Mandy and Rebecca. “Rebecca does the marketing, all the interior design in the stores," says Mandy. "She’s given it a real homey feeling, with pictures of our family on the walls. I take care of the food, of the recipes.” Recipes for their dressings, such as the Caesar dressing, come from their mother, with a few tweaks.

Now in a cozy storefront, Mandy's got its start as a salad counter in the back of a clothing boutique. Opening in 2003, looking to New York for inspiration, they found it in the growing trend toward salad bars, and partnered with Rebecca’s future husband, who still owns the clothing store. Ten years of this arrangement gave Mandy and Rebecca lots of time to work out the kinks and perfect their product and their business.

Customers are treated like family, too. Mandy’s keeps a file of customer favourites. “Sandy will call up and ask for two Sandy salads… We also run peoples’ orders out to their cars in the winter, because parking can be an issue,” says Mandy.

Employees leave their mark as well. "The Raegan-Danielle salad is actually named after two girls who worked for us one summer, who literally would eat that salad everyday. We figured it was only natural that it should be named after them,” says Mandy. “We’re really a people business, We treat our staff like family.”