Guide to Montreal

Food

Kazu, 1862 Ste-Catherine Ouest

MUST GO - by my reckoning, the best quality to price ratio I’ve ever found in a restaurant
Weird, tiny restaurant run by a cheerful, tiny Japanese man in a bright yellow shirt (the eponymous Kazu)
Time your arrival right - try to show up at the beginning of service (or near the end), or you will wait on a long line -- you may still have to wait on a short line, but it's 100% worth it
Limit yourself to groups of 4 or fewer
Enjoy the envious stares of people still waiting in the cold while you're stuffing your face full of delicious flavor
Try the plum wine or homemade ice cream for dessert -- I recommend Green Tea or Sparkling Maple
About $13-25CAD/dish

Au Pied de Cochon, 536 Ave. Duluth E.

Very Montréal gustatory adventure from Québec chef Martin Picard
Over-the-top decadant takes on traditional Québecois dishes. Huge portions. This place is infamous.
Pretty expensive @ $15-40 CAD/dish

Toque, 900 Jean Paul Riopelle

Long-considered one of Montreal’s finest restaurants
Very expensive, but also very good.

Fung Shing, 1102 Boul. St Laurent

Chinese restaurant "hole in the wall"
Recommend the treasure bean curd, hot and sour soup, and crispy chicken (1/2 can be ordered)

Larrys, 9 Fairmount Ave Est

Nice little cafe/bar in the plateau that serves great food

Rotisseri Romados, 115 rue Rachel Est

The plateau is full of Portuguese restaurants, especially chicken places. This is the best one
Very cheap, fast service

Tri Express, 1650 Laurier Est

Delicious, affordable sushi and a funky vibe

Cucina Antica, 7064 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal

Favourite Italian restaurant in Little Italy. Decent prices, beautiful decor, great food.

Marconi, 45 Avenue Mozart O

Swanky & hip tapas-style modern european cuisine in Little Italy with an extensive cocktail selection.
Expensive, and you probably need a reservation.

l'Orignal, 479 Rue St-Alexis

A more expensive, vibey place with a nice bar in the Old Port, the kind of place you might take a business associate or go on a nice date.

Patati Patata, 4177 Boul St-Laurent

Cheap & delicious tiny hole-in-the-wall that serves traditional quebec junk food. Expect to wait in line during peak hours

Ganadara, 1862 de Maisonneuve Ouest

Korean restaurant in the Concordia University area. Cheap and really good.
They also have a more expensive, vibey bar around the corner on st-catherine (also has fantastic food)

Antep Kebab, 1626 de Maisonneuve Ouest

Quick, cheap & good Turkish sandwich shop in the Concordia/Guy metro area.

Nulifar, 1923 Ste-Catherine Ouest

Another quick, cheap & delicious Guy/Concordia area option. Lebanese food.

Garage Beirut, 1238 Mackay

Excellent, affordable lebanese food prepared by two sisters in a cozy little place in the Concorida area.

My Cahn, 1086 Boul St. Laurent

Fantastic Pho place in chinatown

The Main, 3864 Boul. St. Laurent

A Montreal cultural experience!
Taste the famous Montreal smoked meat (in sandwich form or on its own) at Schwartz's (the famous and tourist-filled one) or The Main (the less famous but equally delicious one with no line)
Get a Medium smoked meat sandwich (medium refers to the amount of fattiness)
$10-15CAD/dish

Schwartz's, 3895 Boul. St. Laurent

This is a tourist stop and a fantastic smoked meat deli but our family prefers The Main which is across the street.

Joe Beef, 2491 rue Notre Dame Ouest, 514-935-6504

Located in "Little Burgundy", this restaurant serves wonderful food, though my experiences have been a bit inconsistent.
Broad acclaim but it is rather pricey. You will need reservations.
Liverpool House is next-door, with the same owners and a very similar restaurant overall.

McKiernan Luncheonette, 5524 St-Patrick (suite 200)

Way out in the southwest along the Lachine Canal, this remarkable breakfast/lunch spot (open for early dinners on Thursday and Friday only) is associated with the Joe Beef crew.
Interesting, delicious food served on the second floor of a large warehouse on the Canal. Out of the way and kind of hard to find, but it's worth it!

Stash Cafe, 200 St-Paul Ouest

Delicious traditional Polish food in Old Montreal

Pamika, 901 Sherbrooke

Great thai food in the "lower plateau" with outdoor seating. Hip vibe. Warning: "thai spicy" is no joke here.

Sammi Soup & Dumplings, 1909 St Catherine Ouest

Chinese soup dumplings place located downtown, a good choice for tasty, cheap meal

Yokato Yokabai Ramen, 4185 Drolet

Great ramen place in the plateau. Karaage chicken is also delicious
$11-15CAD for a giant bowl of warm, comforting deliciousness

KazaMaza, 4629 du Parc

Good middle-eastern food near Parc Jeanne-Mance. Vegetarian friendly.

ChuChai, 4088 St Denis

I would normally never recommend a vegetarian-only restaurant, but this nice (not cheap) Thai restaurant with soy-based immitation meat is worth a visit regardless of your dietary persuasion!

Le Quartier Général, 1251 rue Gilford

Area sourced food Québécois cuisine. Good, but not cheap--medium to expensive.

Desserts / Cafés:

Juliette & Chocolat, 3600 Boul. St Laurent, and other locations

I love this place, there are several locations in Montreal and, if you're in the mood for a dessert, this is a great choice.

Cacao 70, 2087 Sainte-Catherine Ouest

This has a warm, rustic urban café ambiance, the desserts are amazing tasting and amazing looking. I would definitely encourage you to stop here. It is downtown near the Guy metro area.

Crew Collective, 360 St Jacques St

Incredible cafe + coworking space in a repurposed 19th century bank preview. Gorgeous setting, good coffee, good wifi, excellent place to catch up on email or do a few commits.

Humble Lion, 904 Sherbrooke W

Great coffee, good quality produces, nice atmosphere

Bagels:

Many Montrealers believe that their bagels are superior to NY bagels. They are very different (denser and sweeter) and I recommend you try them fresh out of the oven with sesame seeds.

Don't expect to eat them piled high with toppings, like its NY cousin. The Montreal Bagel is a different beast altogether
Best eaten straight out of the bag, just as they are. Toasted with a little butter or cream cheese and lox is acceptable for day-olds
Freeze the extras for future nomming
1 dozen for $7

There are basically two places near each other that compete for the "best Montreal bagel" crown:

Fairmount Bagels, 74 Ave Fairmount Ouest, open 24 hours

St-Viateur, 263 rue St-Viateur, open 24 hours

Markets:

Marché Jean Talon, 7070 Ave Henri Julien

This is a large open air market where you'll find meats, vegetables, fruit, maple syrup, cheeses etc.

Marché Atwater, 138 Atwater Ave

This is similar to the Jean-Talon Market, but at the opposite end of the city.

Wine bars

Le Vin Papillon, 2519 rue Notre Dame Ouest

Same owner as Joe Beef, and also somewhat pricey. Just down the street.

La Buvette chez Simone 4859 Parc Ave

Great atmosphere
Can get very busy

Pullman 3424 Park Ave

pricy but good ambiance, staff and tapas

Philemon 111 St Paul W

in beautiful old montreal

Furco 425 Mayor Street

popular spot for yuppies

Breweries/Craft Beers

Dieu Du Ciel, 29 Laurier Avenue

A must for micro-brew-lovers -- delicious seasonal beers in a homey pub atmosphere.
Considered one of the best breweries in the world, they often experiment with recipes and test them out here at their home bar, so you can try things that aren’t available anywhere else in the world!
Their Moralité IPA, Aphrodisiaque black ale, and Péché Mortel (Mortal Sin) stout are all rated 100 on ratebeer, and plus the names are super cool!
The food isn’t great. The beer is the star.

Isle de Garde, 1039 rue Beaubien Est

Réservoir, 9 Ave Duluth Est

Also serves good vegetarian food

Cheval Blanc, 809 Ontario Est

Vices & Versa, 6631 Boul. St Laurent

Great selection of Quebec beers and other assorted intrigues (alcoholized Kombucha, etc.)
Very nice "classy neighborhood bar" ambiance, with an adorable terrace
Food is solid but not spectacular, around $10-15CAD/dish

Le Saint-Brock, 1749 rue St-Denis

Massive selection of interesting beer (I think they have 50 on tap any given night, plus their "Bible" of bottles)
Mix of their own brews, other Quebec beers and imports
Pints around $8-9CAD

Music Venues

Casa del Popolo, 4873 St-Laurent

La Sala Rossa, 4848 St-Laurent

La Vitriola, 4602 St-Laurent

This set of venues owned by the same family
They all offer pay-to-enter shows and are popular with Montreal's indie music hipsters.
set list for all three

Diese Onze (Bar/Live Jazz), 4115 Rue St Denis

Super cool jazz venue tucked into a basement on the Plateau
Watch the best MTL jazz musicians try to impress each other during jam sessions
set list

Brutopia (Bar/Brew Pub/Live Music) 1219 rue Crescent

Chill downtown bar with live music almost every night
Young-ish college crowd
Brew their own seasonal beers, which is very hit-and-miss (I believe they have two master brewers, and one of them is good and the other not)
set list

Upstairs (Bar/Live Jazz), 1254 rue Mackay

Classy and popular downtown jazz venue--look for the upside-down sign
Check online for their schedule of shows/jam sessions
Cover varies, usually around $15; 3 sets/night, later sets are usually cheaper or free
set list

Bar Le Ritz PDB (Music Venue), 179 rue Jean-Talon

Famous-ish MTL indie music venue
Quirky atmosphere and often interesting bands
set list

Hurley's, 1225 rue Crescent

celtic/folk music on just about any night
Has multiple stages on multiple floors and on busier nights usually has them all in use
set list

Bistro a-Jo-Jo, 1627 St-Denis

has hard rock and blues most nights, sometimes a cover to get in.
set list

Neighborhoods

plateau

mostly younger people. lots of restaurants and bars. hipster vibes. relatively expensive, but you can find shared housing (ie rent one of the bedrooms in a 4+ bedroom apartment) for pretty cheap. Gets cheaper and more french as you move east

mile-end

similar to the plateau but a bit more fringe-culture stuff, a bit less dense, and a bit cheaper

outremont

historically an upper-middle-class french neighborhood, has lots of spillover from mile-end, and also houses the hasidic jewish community. a bit removed from public transport, and similar prices to mile-end.

mcgill ghetto

student housing, cheap, fratty vibes

downtown

central, expensive, busy

the village

gay part of town. very affordable, and crazy nightlife. if you're not comfortable with "interesting characters" roaming the streets at night don't go here

old port

This is where tourists go. Lots of super-swanky apartment buildings, but sometimes you can find relatively cheap converted lofts or old houses. classy/professional/swanky vibes. very little in terms of groceries/amenities.

griffintown

recently-gentrified neighborhood that's kind of in between old port and downtown. tons of new construction. expensive, lots of amenities. young professional vibes

south-west/atwater

borders griffintown, but is much poorer. closer to the atwater market is really nice. parks, groceries, and a quieter restaurant/bar scene. (this is where I live)

st-henri

I think this can best be described as where people who lived in the plateau in the 20s go in their 30s. Quieter and more family-oriented, but still has some scene. Relatively cheap, and a bit removed from the rest of the city

westmount

traditionally jewish, upper-middle-class neighborhood. pretty and expensive housing. more family-oriented, and kind of a public-transport black hole

NDG

more of a working-class, diverse neighborhood. Some nightlife & restaurants, but not a ton. Very affordable, but parts of it are a public-transport black hole and a bit removed from the rest of the city

pt saint-charles