The purposefully crooked wooden beams that cover the exterior of Afghan restaurant Khyber Pass are its trademark, but now they may soon be gone.
In a Facebook post, the restaurant posted the borough is asking them to remove the quirky facade “because it’s not contemporary enough and to the taste of borough officials.”
“Come and see it while you can,” the restaurant wrote in the post.
Khyber Pass has been a staple of the Plateau–Mont-Royal borough for years.
Located on Duluth Avenue, it was the site of Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau’s first date.
Hundreds of comments have poured in on social media supporting the business.
In an email to Global News, the borough said the restaurant didn’t get the required permit to build the facade.
“Since the illegal construction of the facade in the spring of 2009, the borough has acted in good-faith multiple times, trying to accompany the owner in finding a solution that conforms to the borough’s architectural rules,” the email read. “Unfortunately, the owner never proposed an architectural compromise…”
The borough said it was important to respect the area’s architectural rules that aim to protect its heritage and the landscape of the street and that they apply to everyone, without exception.