Quebec language watchdog targets Montreal brunch restaurant over word ‘nosh’
Posted June 11, 2026 10:52 am.
Last Updated June 11, 2026 5:08 pm.
A popular brunch spot serving Jewish food in Montreal’s Saint-Henri neighbourhood is the latest target of Quebec’s language watchdog.
Arthurs Nosh Bar received a complaint from the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) because of the word “nosh” in their restaurant window, according to restaurant owner Raegan Steinberg.
Nosh is a Yiddish term that means to snack or enjoy a light meal.
“Living in Quebec, operating as an anglophone means that we got another ‘avertissement’ from the language police about the word nosh, which is not an English word, it’s a Yiddish word that means to bite, to eat,” Steinberg said in an Instagram post Tuesday.
The video was captioned: “This is getting ridiculous.”
Steinberg says “nosh” is a saying – not an actual English word – and she likened it to a popular québécois swear word.
“They’re insisting I remove it from my window,” she continued. “There is a word, it’s probably about three inches wide, that says nosh. Has been for a decade. It’s not an English word.”
Speaking with CityNews on Thursday, Steinberg said the restaurant received a letter from the OQLF informing staff they were no longer compliant with language rules that came into force last year.
“Tuesday my colleague received a letter from the OQLF saying that we were no longer in compliance with the new law that passed in July of 2025,” she said. “It said basically that 75 per cent of signage had to be in French and because there’s three words – Arthurs Nosh Bar – Arthurs they don’t count, which I didn’t know. Nosh, the Yiddish, non-French and Bar, which can be French or English. So because of that, Nosh and Bar were 50 per cent compliant and not 75.”
Steinberg says the restaurant is willing to work with the OQLF but is still waiting for guidance on what comes next.
“I am open to suggestions and of course I want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem,” she said. “Now we’re just trying to figure out with them where do we go from there because there wasn’t really a follow up. There wasn’t instructions on what to do next.”
New regulations under Bill 96 through Quebec’s French-language Charter came into effect last June. They require that French be strongly predominant on all signs and commercial advertising visible to the public, with French text generally occupying at least twice the space of any other language.
Without commenting on Arthurs’ case specifically, a spokesperson for the OQLF tells CityNews the law makes no exceptions.
“The Office’s mission is to ensure compliance with the Charter, guaranteeing the right of Quebecers to live, work, access information, and receive services in French. Therefore, the Office is there to ensure respect for the Charter,” said François Laberge.
“Of course, we are sensitive to the realities faced by businesses, and we are here to support them. However, it’s the law, and it applies to all businesses with a physical presence in Quebec that offer services in Quebec.”
Laberge says once a complaint is made, the OQLF verifies whether it’s “truly justified before taking any action, before intervening.”
“Here, we’re talking about a complaint that has been filed,” Laberge said. “So in this case, we contact the company in question to inform them of the rules. And then, we really support them in complying with them.
“What I can say is that many of the companies that are not yet compliant with the new research requirements are committed to the process and are taking action to achieve compliance. They are collaborating with the Office, and we are supporting them in their efforts.”
Steinberg questions whether complaints like hers are the best use of government resources.
“It just feels like not the best use of our resources,” she said. “I think that a lot of people agree that there are other problems in the city and in the province that could use attention. And I want to preserve French language. I’m just not sure if this is the best way to do it.”
She added that learning the complaint came from someone in the community was particularly disappointing.
“It doesn’t feel good knowing that someone in our community, in our neighborhood, is the one who made the complaint,” she said. “It means that someone in the neighborhood was so offended by that little, maybe four inches of signage. We’ve been here 10 years, so it felt a little bit like a slap on the hand.”
Arthurs opened on Notre-Dame Street in Saint-Henri in 2016.
Before wrapping up the interview, Steinberg left with one final message: “Come have a nosh.”
