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 anything like Les Deux Magots here!)

For Coffee Geeks

If you consider yourself a coffee geek, you should try these four cafés in Montreal:

1. Veritas in Old Montreal
2. Café Italia in Little Italy
3. Café Olimpico in Mile End
4. Café Myriad in Downtown Montreal

The last café on this list, Café Myriad, is a new and long-anticipated addition to Montreal's coffee geekdom scene. Opened by former Veritas barista, Anthony Benda, it became an immediate hit with both coffee afficionados and Concordia University students (the café is located on the same block as Concordia Library).

Cafés For Snacking

We are partial to Nocochi in Downtown Montreal, although it doesn't really conform to the standard vision of a comfortable café and actually, food is not really its true forte. Rather, it's a cookie-oriented place serving good tea and decent Illy coffee. Of course, sandwiches, omelettes and other breakfast/lunch staples are on the menu as well.

Lately, everybody seems to be in love with Olive + Gourmando - a bakery/café in the heart of Old Montreal - above all, this applies to guidebook editors. Unfortunately, in practical terms, this means having to enjoy your coffee and scone in a rather cramped setting.

Cafés For Lunch & Brunch

Vasco de Gama with its designer sandwiches and Holt Renfrew Café, a more of a full-service sit-down place are excellent options in Downtown.

Le Cartet in Cité Multimédia, set up as a high-end "boutique alimentaire" with communal tables for eating, serves decent but not outstanding brunch. It feels very Paris and very New York at the same time.

Veritas (Old Montreal) serves a good selection of healthy sandwiches and salads.

Bring Your Laptop, Sip Your Coffee

If you like to surf in a comfortable and stylish environment, we recommend Veritas in Old Montreal (unfortunately, there's only one plug) or Caffè ArtJava (837 Ave Mont-Royal in Plateau Mont Royal or 645 Ave du Président-Kennedy in Downtown Montreal). Laika (4040 Boulevard St-Laurent) in Plateau Mont Royal attracts many designer wannabe types (your laptop had better be a Mac!).

Select Café Restaurants

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


• Café Myriad
  1432 Rue Mackay (Downtown Montreal), (514) 939-1717
  Opened in November 2008 by a prominent Montreal barista Anthony Benda. Myriad is a tiny café that was immediately colonized by students of nearby Concordia univerisity. Expertly brewed coffee, friendly ambience.


• Café Olimpico
  124 rue St-Viateur Ouest (Mile End), (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.


• Café Rico
  969 rue Rachel Est (Plateau Mont Royal), (514) 529-1321
  A neighborhood café selling fair trade coffee.


• Cluny
  257 rue Prince (Cité Multimédia), (514) 866-1213
  A café/bar/restaurant serving tasty sandwiches, salads and hot dishes.


• Crêpe Café
  362 rue Notre-Dame Est (Old Montreal), (514) 759-6755
  A small café that serves mostly Breton crêpes and coffee (exactly as the name would suggest), but also sandwiches and salads.


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


• Le Cartet
  106 rue McGill (Cité Multimédia), (514) 871-8887
  Opened in 2005, this "boutique alimentaire" + café has been getting increasingly popular with 30-something, particularly for brunch.


• Nocochi
  2156 rue Mackay (Downtown Montreal), (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 (Old Montreal), (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.


• Soupesoup (Cité Multimédia)
  649 rue Wellington (Cité Multimédia)
  Despite what its excessively descriptive name would suggest, this café doesn't limit its menu to soups - in fact, sandwiches at Soupesoup proved to be at least as big an attraction as the headline item.


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


• Vasco de Gama
  1472 Peel Street (Downtown Montreal), (514) 286-2688
  A cozy, centrally-located café serving pastries, high-end sandwiches and salads.


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

Please keep in mind that our site does not attempt to provide comprehensive restaurant listings. These are simply the restaurants picked by our editors and contributors - subject to all the subjectivity such a method implies.