The Gibeau Orange Julep restaurant (also known colloquially as OJ or The Big Orange) is a roadside attraction and fast food restaurant in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[1][2] The building is in the shape of a giant orange, three stories high with a diameter of forty feet.
Contents |
The restaurant was started by Hermas Gibeau in the 1932 to serve his trademark orange drink, Gibeau Orange Julep, similar but not identical to that of Orange Julius.[2][3] In 1945, Gibeau built an orange concrete sphere two stories high to house his restaurant.[4] It is believed Gibeau intended to live in there with his wife and children.[5]
The restaurant and its orange sphere was rebuilt larger and further back from the roadway when it was widened as the Décarie Expressway in 1966.[6] Its shell consists of plastic segments which were ordered from a local pool manufacturer, and the whole building could light up.[4]
For a time, the Julep was noted for rollerskating waitresses but customers today order food in the more conventional fashion of a fast food restaurant. Rollerblading waiters and waitresses were available as recently as the 2000's. Food can then be taken away or eaten at one of a number of provided picnic tables.[7] The restaurant operates 24 hours a day during summer and reduced hours in winter.[8]
Today, it also hosts classic car and motorbike enthusiasts on Wednesday nights from May–August.[5]
The drink, Gibeau Orange Julep, is now also sold via retail stores.[9] The company, Gibeau Orange Julep, has had restaurants and drink bottling. The Big Orange was one of several Gibeau Orange Julep restaurants in the Montreal area, many shaped like a giant orange, but it is the only one remaining.[10] The original restaurant, established in 1928 and located on Sherbrooke street, was closed and torn down in 2009. It was not shaped like a giant orange.[11][9]