Montreal Cafés

Montréal is certainly no Paris when it comes to cafés. But good cafés do exist in the city (just don't expect to find Les Deux Magots here!)

For Coffee Geeks

If you consider yourself a coffee geek, you should try these three cafés in Montreal: Veritas in Old Montreal, Café Italia in Little Italy and Café Olimpico in Mile End.

Cafés For Breakast or Brunch

Titanic in Old Montreal and Green Café - Downtown in Quartier International are good breakfast and lunch spots. We also like Nocochi in Downtown Montreal, although it doesn't really conform to the standard vision of a comfortable café. Rather, it's a cookie-oriented place, with clean décor and decent Illy coffee. With that said, our contributors usually go for tea served in a pot to accompany their cookie platter.

Lately, everybody seems to love Olive + Gourmando - a bakery/café in the heart of Old Montreal. On the negative side, this means having to enjoy your coffee in a rather cramped setting.

Le Cartet in Old Montreal serves decent brunch, but the main attraction here is the décor: set up as a high-end "boutique alimentaire" with communal tables for eating, it seems very Paris and very New York at the same time.

Bring Your Laptop, Sip Your Coffee

Many cafés, including chains such as Presse Café (found all over the city), offer free Wi-Fi internet access. If you like to surf in a comfortable and stylish environment, we recommend Veritas in Old Montreal, Caffè ArtJava (837 Ave Mont-Royal in Plateau Mont Royal or 645 Ave du Président-Kennedy in Downtown Montreal) or Laika (4040 Boulevard St-Laurent) in Plateau Mont Royal.

Selected Café Restaurants

• Café Italia — 6840 Boulevard St-Laurent, (514) 495-0059
  Simple, unpretentious café with excellent coffee and traditional Italian pastries.


• Café Olimpico — 124 rue St-Viateur Ouest, (514) 495-0746
  A bona fide institution in Montreal's coffee scene, Café Olimpico (also known locally as "Open Da Night" or "Open D") has been serving what's considered by many to be the best coffee in town for more than 30 years.


• Cluny — 257 rue Prince, (514) 866-1213
  Co-owned by two Montrealers intimately involved in the local artistic community, Patrick Meausette and Rob Hack (the pair also own Titanic), this café/bar/restaurant serves tasty sandwiches, salads and hot dishes. It has been an artist hangout since day one. As of 2008, it is (still) not normally not open for dinner, although this may change in the future.


• Green Café - Downtown — 443 Ave Viger Ouest, (514) 868-0498
  A stylish breakfast and lunch spot.


• Holt Renfrew Café — 1300 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, (514) 282-3749
  Hungry shoppers enjoying the famous sandwiches in a minimalist décor.


• Le Cartet — 106 rue McGill, (514) 871-8887
  Boutique alimentaire + café.


• Le Reservoir — 9 Duluth East, (514) 849-7779
  A micro-brewery which has gradually evolved into a bona fide bistro/brasserie restaurant. Good beer selection. The crowd is fairly typical of Le Plateau (mostly 20- and 30-somethings). Also open for weekend brunch.


• Nocochi — 2156 rue Mackay, (514) 989-7514
  Nocochi specializes in light breakfast/lunch fare and offers something unique in addition to its relatively typical menu of omelettes, sandwiches and salads: the cookies. These tiny multi-coloured Persian treats can be bought "to go" (by the box) or consumed on the spot. The cookies, the food, the coffee (Illy), as well as Nocochi's clean and airy light-toned interior design attract an appropriately mixed crowd: museum goers, old ladies chatting after shopping, visiting Europeans and Concordia students.


• Olive + Gourmando — 351 rue St-Paul Ouest, (514) 350-1083
  A cafe/bakery very popular for lunch (sometimes it's difficult to get a seat as there are only about a dozen tables). Open until 6pm, closed Sun and Mon.


• Titanic — 445 rue St-Pierre, (514) 849-0894
  A semi-basement café serving breakfast and lunch (weekdays only).


• Vasco de Gama — 1472 Peel Street, (514) 286-2688
  


• Veritas — 480 Boulevard St-Laurent, (514) 510-7775
  A modern café serving healthy food and first-class coffee.