Plenty of fanfare for a new poutinerie in downtown Windsor.
Smoke's Poutinerie opened its first location in the city Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. to a long line of customers.
The poutine shop is located on University Avenue West between Pelissier Street and Ouellette Avenue and is offering free poutine until 4 p.m. to mark the grand opening.
Franchisee Nabil Farag says he was surprised to see people line up at 10 a.m. for the grand opening.
"My mission is to provide the Canadian dishes for the people of Windsor, so I'm so excited to do that for the people of Windsor," says Farag.
He says he can't wait to serve the downtown community.
"I'm so happy to have Smoke's Poutinerie in downtown Windsor to serve the community around the university, St. Clair College, the casino, the borders, Riverside so I'm so excited," he says. "It is a special day today to get the franchise in Windsor and we have the staff here so I'm so excited."
Farag says there are roughly 65 locations across Canada.
The closest Smoke's location in southwestern Ontario is in London.
The company's website states "Smoke’s Poutinerie is the World’s Largest & Original Poutinerie offering a broad menu exclusive to poutine."