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In its heyday, Serre Picasso was a hopping, 24-hour greasy spoon in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce that cracked 150 cases of eggs a week, but the eatery closed its doors rather suddenly in February 2009 after a 30-year run as one of the most popular breakfast joints in Montreal’s west end.

Now, as crews work to clean up and renovate the long-abandoned diner on St-Jacques St., rumours of its resurrection abound, circulating among the many fans that remember lining up on Sunday morning for the restaurant’s cheap breakfast specials or gathering there in the wee hours after a long night of drinking and dancing.

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However, the owner says it’s too early to say what the old Serre Picasso will become.

“We are preparing it for a restaurant,” said Peter Sergakis, a Montreal businessman who owns 45 restaurants and bars. “Either we are going to rent it or operate it ourselves. We haven’t decided on the concept.”

Photo by John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

Sergakis, age 70, was in his early 30s and had about eight other restaurants when he moved Serre Picasso to St-Jacques St. from Montreal’s St-Henri neighbourhood in 1979. It was part of a chain named after the artist. He sold the business in 1995 and eventually evicted the tenant for failing to keep up on rent, he said. His effort to revive it a year later in 2010 never panned out and it has sat vacant since.