This Montreal pasta restaurant has racked up nearly $20K in MAPAQ fines

Quebec's Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ) has fined a Montreal pasta spot six times since 2023, and the penalties now add up to $19,400.

The restaurant is El Pastaman, on Rue Saint-Denis.

According to MAPAQ's public database of food safety convictions, five of the six fines are standard food safety violations:

• A violation dated September 26, 2023 led to a $1,300 fine, judged December 13, 2024, for failing to keep the premises, equipment and utensils used to prepare and store food clean.
• A violation dated December 5, 2023 led to a $1,600 fine, judged November 28, 2024, for the same type of issue.
• A violation dated January 19, 2024 led to a $2,500 fine, judged March 21, 2025, again for cleanliness.
• A violation dated September 23, 2024 led to a $1,000 fine, judged March 19, 2025, for failing to cool a heat-sensitive perishable product without delay and keep it at or below 4°C.
• A violation dated January 27, 2025 led to a $3,000 fine, judged March 11, 2026, once more for cleanliness.

That's five fines in under a year and a half, all registered to the numbered company 10795330 Canada Inc., and four of them tied to the same recurring issue. Then there's the $10,000 one

The last entry on El Pastaman's record isn't like the others. It's a $10,000 fine, tied to a violation dated July 15, 2025 and judged August 31, 2026, and it has nothing to do with cleanliness or food temperature. According to MAPAQ, the business violated an order under the Food Products Act, specifically, operating while a permit was already suspended or cancelled, an offence that carries a fine of $10,000 to $100,000.

In plainer terms, it looks like El Pastaman kept running last summer despite already being under a permit suspension or cancellation, and that alone cost more than all five of its other fines put together.

Despite all that, El Pastaman, which has a second location in Laval and another on Rue Bélanger, seems to be holding up well with the public. The restaurant currently sits at a 4.6-star average on Google, based on more than 1,700 reviews.

The restaurant also appears to still be open, with recent reviews and an active website suggesting the July 2025 permit issue is no longer going on.

MAPAQ fines are issued by the Montreal Municipal Court and published in the provincial food safety registry. As for whether it's safe to eat there, the violations listed do not necessarily reflect the current conditions at the establishment, as issues are often corrected before a case is resolved in court.

AI tools may have been used to support the creation or distribution of this content; however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of MTL Blog's Editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards page.