Founded in 1972 by a Gazette journalist of Polish origin. Since 1978, Polish women have been running the house.
Stanislaw “Stash” Pruszynski, a journalist at the Gazette, opened a flea market on Notre-Dame Est in 1969 where artists and artisans gathered. It gradually became a café-bazaar where Stash began serving soups. In 1972, it officially became Stash Café, named for his diminutive. When the room grew too cramped, the restaurant moved to rue Saint-Sulpice in the shadow of Notre-Dame Basilica; after a fire razed the neighbouring historic building, it moved to its current address on rue Saint-Paul, furnished with church pews and long refectory tables salvaged from a convent.
Since 1978, the house has been run by Polish women; since 2010, Anita Karski, born in Montréal to Polish parents, has owned it. The cuisine has not changed: pierogis, barszcz, bigos, zurek, marinated herrings, kielbasa — the classic Polish table, carried by a live pianist every evening and portraits of Polish artists hanging from the ceiling.