The combination of fries, cheese curds, and gravy first appeared in Quebec snack bars in the late 1950s. Who invented them is controversial. One source reports that  Fernand Lachance of Café Ideal  added cheese curds to french fries at the request of a customer. Jean-Paul Roy claims that he invented poutine at his drive-in restaurant Le Roy Jucep in 1964. He had been serving fries in a special sauce and saw that his customers were topping them with cheese curds and added this combo to his menu.