Waiting in line for brunch at Beautys, the classic Montreal Jewish diner, is a local rite of passage. While there have been a few tweaks over the years (they've been open since 1942), this sunny spot in Le Plateau still has a warm atmosphere, thanks to the original family still captaining the ship. They’ve been serving the original Beautys’ Mish Mash omelette with salami, hot dogs, and green peppers for 80 years, alongside chopped liver sandwiches and lox and cream cheese on St-Viateur bagels.

Chez Tousignant is one of our favorite versions of a casse-croûte, a traditional Québec snack bar. The retro-styled counter space makes things like burgers and hot dogs on potato buns and all-beef poutine. Grab a burger and a house-made soda, and then check out the nearby Jean-Talon Market (or one of the city’s best Italian pastry shops, Alati Caserta) to make a day of it.

This mostly daytime cafe is run by the same people behind Fleurs et Cadeaux, a sushi and vinyl bar in Chinatown, but the focus here is on Japanese dishes, coffee, and drinks. The semi-basement, quasi-industrial space is the only place in town where you can dig into a curry bowl or happily unwrap a perfectly constructed katsu, karaage, egg, or avocado sando any time of day. They also have special DJ nights Thursday through Saturday.

Swing by this small coffee shop to hang out with the regulars while you snack on some Roman-style pizza al taglio square slices. Come right after they open at 8am and order the signature breakfast pizza, topped with a tiny egg and sun-dried tomato, or later in the day for a caprese option on that same excellent, crunchy crust. Aside from pizza and a rotating focaccia sandwich, you’ll want to save room for the hefty bomboloni filled with pistachio or a lemon cookie.

Le Super Qualité’s Maharashtrian and South Indian street food hits the mark every time. We love their peppery Bloody Rasam cocktail, the masala dosas, the dahi batata puri, and the always-changing vegetarian and halal thalis. This is a great dinner spot for solo and small group dining, with counter seating and tiny tables that quickly fill with classic South Asian stainless steel plates and tumblers for beer and wine.

With over-the-top lobster spaghetti, a take on the Canadian Nanaimo bar with foie gras, fiddlehead carbonara, and an expansive wine list, you’ll want to spend an entire evening here to try their take on Québecois classics. Joe Beef is the restaurant a lot of people think of when they think about Montreal, and many people who worked here have gone on to open many of the places on this list.

L’Express, with its iconic black and white tiles spilling into the St. Denis sidewalk, is the ultimate bistro, and the perfectly cooked steak-frites with shallot butter are something everyone in Montreal should eat at least once. There's no sign in front, but there's no mistaking the classic French vibe of L'Express. The meal starts off with a complimentary baguette and cornichons, so you should get some rillettes, bone marrow, or chicken liver pâté to go along.

Montrealers are an opinionated bunch: specifically about bagels and phở (also about which hockey players should be playing for the Canadiens, but that’s another story). Phở Tây Hồ is known for their long-simmered chicken broth and special Hanoi-style flavor mix, with just the right amount of cinnamon, cardamom, and star anise in the aromatics. You can find that broth for lunch or dinner at this informal spot, where the bowls are big enough to share.

There’s a lot of smoked, marinated, and steamed beef brisket in Montreal, but the sandwich from Schwartz’s is a standout. It comes on rye with yellow mustard, but this thing is really all about the meat, coated with black pepper and a secret mix of pickling salt and spices. We like the “medium fat” option best, washed down with a cherry coke and a half-sour pickle, just for nostalgia’s sake. Schwartz’s is one of the last remnants of the Eastern European Jewish influence on St-Laurent Boulevard.

Bagels are a point of deep pride and contention in this city. For people who live here, it usually comes down to two places: St-Viateur and Fairmount. We prefer the St-Viateur version, which has a more savory flavor, a softer texture, and just the right amount of salt. If there’s a line spilling out onto the sidewalk, send somebody next door to The Standard for an excellent third-wave coffee, or to Café Olimpico across the street for an old-school Italian espresso while you wait.

In a city known for its current fine dining and farm-to-table obsession, Toqué was the first market-driven restaurant to list its producers right on the menu and their seasonal cocktails and dishes set a culinary standard for the city’s dining scene. Lunch here is a nice option: a two-course table d’hôte with your choice of appetizer and main, like a classic red wine onion soup or foie gras, duck confit or a suckling pig for a main, and à la carte, beautifully presented desserts.

When you’re traveling, it might be hard to find some Saturday night energy if your vacation is during the week. That’s not the case at buzzy Bar-St-Denis—they’re closed on the weekends, but there are always people celebrating something here Monday through Friday. The food here is a mix of bistro classics like smoked sturgeon and crème fraîche, alongside Egyptian-inspired small plates like razor clams with tabbouleh and homemade labneh with pistachios.

Sure, Larrys has a great wine list with lots of orange options and oysters to go with them, but they also serve breakfast all day and plenty of small plates and sandwiches in between. Larrys really has something for everybody, at any time of day, whether that’s a solo spread of oysters and a glass of bubbly at 10am, or some grilled cheeses and a bottle of Grüner at night with a crowd.

This Little Italy newcomer is both a wine and dessert bar that works great for drinks, a late afternoon snack, or for a nightcap after dinner. The menu is always changing, with the recent introduction of a tasting menu that includes vegan options, but we’re still thinking about two dishes: the sweet and salty daisy tart with curry ice cream and prune liqueur and gravlax with tempura shiso, trout eggs, and lime vodka granita.

Grab a seat outside or at one of the cozy booths in this cafe, grocery, and bottle shop during the daytime and you’ll see everybody from high schoolers to large families with kids. The midday menu features bocadillo sandwiches on crusty bread, salads or Spanish conservas, and carefully selected Spanish and Catalán wines. Tinc Set transforms at night into something more dark and moody, when you can hang with your significant other at the bar and revel in the Catalán-style roasted chicken.

A former Joe Beef chef and his sommelier partner opened this Little Italy-adjacent restaurant that’s perfect for special occasions, especially if you love natural wine. The menu changes daily, but you can count on dishes like duck hearts with malted wheat and onions, lobster with grilled cucumbers and ramps, and standbys like their salade rose and buckwheat shard cake. The staff knows exactly what to suggest when it comes to wine, making you feel like they’ve saved the best bottles just for you.

If you want to get a sense of how much they love local ingredients at Beba, you should witness (as we did) the joy that greets the arrival of a crate of oyster mushrooms. Seasonal produce is key to the ever-changing menu, which is inspired by the Spanish and Italian migration to Argentina, and might feature options like chard-wrapped involtini, guinea fowl, golden brown empanadas, or the remarkable silky flan with dulce de leche for dessert.

Wandering around the Old Port is definitely more fun when your walk ends at Dandy for brunch or a little day drinking. The menu transitions seamlessly from brunch to the afternoon, with ricotta pancakes and maple brown butter, tahini yogurt toast with muhammara, and a super-charged buttermilk fried chicken on brioche. The high ceilings and huge windows flood the space with light, making it an ideal spot for a casual meetup—add on an espresso (or espresso martini) and settle in.

Local condo residents and film crews working nearby have been flocking to Mano Cornuto since they opened pre-pandemic, and for good reason. Open all week, these fellows distinguish themselves with classic and new cocktails, oversized sandwiches, homemade pastas, and coffee that straddles old-school and third-wave. The menu varies slightly from lunch to dinner, with meaty or veg schiacciate on homemade focaccia midday, and fish and meat mains in the evening.

Moccione means “brat” in Italian, but there's nothing self-centered about the food and service in the airy space on a quiet strip of northern rue Saint-Denis. The team welcomes you like you’re a long-lost friend, and you can expect seasonal Italian dishes like scallop crudo with rhubarb, homemade gnocchi with morels and arugula, and halibut on a bed of pureed spinach sweetened with local corn. Desserts here are the best part, including the lightest of cannoli and their homemade gelato.

This Thai restaurant from the owners of curry shop Pumpui focuses on foods from the Isaan region, so expect a lot of sour, pungent, and spicy dishes. You’ll be glad to know that they have a great drinks list full of natural wines, local microbrews, and Québec ciders that can stand up to all the chilies, garlic, and shallots. The sleek space has tavern glass carving up nooks for cozy date nights and booths big enough for groups, with a long bar for solo diners and couples.

Montreal has sizable Syrian and Armenian communities, so you’ll find some pretty great Middle Eastern food around town. Damas is perfect for a special night out filled with perfectly rolled vine leaves, lemony grilled octopus salad, and whole sea bass stuffed with walnuts and vegetables, and more. For groups, consider going with their meat and fish tasting menus that leave all the decisions to the chef. Just make sure to save room for their homemade baklava and ice cream.

The folks at Elena describe themselves as “Inside/outside/upstairs/downstairs/coffee/pizza/wine,” and while that’s a confusing way to describe a restaurant, it’s also all true. This colorful spot has a multilevel backyard terrace, a long natural wine list, coffee, wood-fired pizzas, and happens to be one of the most fun restaurants in the entire city. Pizzas such as the Funguy, loaded with all kinds of mushrooms, are great, but their kale caesar and the red wine pasta are excellent choices, too.

Old Montreal's Monarque is a great destination to explore French bistro fare in a classic setting. Start with gruyere gougères or smoked cod fritters and move on to bouillabaisse, cornish hen, or their remarkable steak-frites—or even a burger served with those same frites, proffered in a paper cone, just for fun. Desserts are terrific here, including a mile-high pavlova. The middle brasserie section has a view of the bustling kitchen, so you can see all the action behind the scenes.

There’s an excellent quality/value proposition at Bar Mamie: modestly-priced, hyperlocal charcuterie and cheese boards, hearty small plates of comfort food like raclette and cheese fondue in winter, great house wine of every color, and a welcoming atmosphere that makes it perfect for an apéro and a bite (big or small) at any time. Decorated with items from the owner’s Mamie’s kitchen, it’s cozy here, with both hightops and big and small table seating.