Time slows down when I enter a Montreal diner. It slows down because the menu is so long, and it takes forever to read through and decide, for certain, what to order. It slows down because the plates are so big that it takes forever to eat a meal. And it slows down because conversations with friends, family, or simply the same waiters as last time are so enjoyable, and the jukebox soundtrack even more so.
Mister Steer is one such diner. It opened in 1958, with nine seats on the corner of Ste Catherine and Bleury. Working-class and immigrant populations flocked to it for the popular Steerburger, a kosher hockey-puck patty with lettuce, tomato, and onion.