Coffee shops in Old Montréal
© Le Petit Dep
Le Petit Dep
179 Saint-Paul Street West (and other locations) | Website
This dépanneur focused on stocking an all-Québec selection of products is just for window shopping: Each of its four locations both on and off the Island of Montréal sport adorable cafés serving coffee from the Vancouver-based 49th Parallel and Toronto-based Demello.
© Eva Blue
Café Olimpico
419 Saint-Vincent Street (multiple locations) | Website
Its Mile End address may be the original local institution, but any one of Olimpico’s locations throughout Montréal carry its torch well. Wherever you go, you’ll find espresso and cappuccinos with the café’s own roasts from morning until late at night, all served with an unwavering consistency.
© Susan Moss / Tourisme Montréal
Crew Collective & Café
360 Saint-Jacques Street | Website
Located inside an old Royal Bank of Canada branch that dates back to the 1920s, this expansive café’s 100 seats are regularly filled with locals and visitors from abroad who gawk at its marble floors and vaulted ceilings of painted plaster. While the coffee is a drawcard, be sure to pick up one of its pastries sourced from bakeries across the city.
Downtown’s best coffee shops
© Jimmy Hamelin
Améa
1188, Sherbrooke Street West | Website
Derived from the word "âme" (soul) in French, Améa is a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant and coffee shop. Located in Maison Alcan, this cozy place offers homemade pastries and delicious food. Their menu is designed by Chef Michael Coppa, who once was the pastry chef at Ristorante Beatrice for a decade.
© Alison Slattery - Two Food Photographers
Bar Caffettiera
2055 Stanley Street | Website
Taking cues from Italy in the 1990’s, this espresso bar pulls its shots with coffee beans roasted by Flavio from Caffè Fantini in Rome. They’re also ready for a solid aperitivo with classic Italian cocktails and a bunch of snacks both salty and sweet—that includes a lot of fresh pastries. A Downtown Montréal hidden gem!
Shaughnessy Café
1455 Lambert-Closse Street | Website
This reliable sub-basement haunt for Concordia University and Dawson College students keeps its patrons awake by serving as many as seven different roasters at one time, and that’s quite a lot when considering its 20 seats. It’s small, but comfy, just as the owners intended it to be when they opened it in 2016.
© Eva Blue
Café Myriade
1432 Mackay Street (multiple locations) | Website
With now five branches scattered across Montréal, Café Myriade is not only beloved by Instagrammers thanks to the Nordic-inspired décor of their locations, but also by local coffee aficionados, as their grains are sourced from the fair-trade 49th Parallel Roasters in Vancouver as well as all kinds of guest roasters across North America and Europe.
© Alison Slattery
Pikolo Espresso Bar
3418B du Parc Avenue | Website
A student favourite because of its central location between McGill and UQÀM universities, Pikolo is among the most picturesque shops in the city. This two-level café is mostly famous for its miniature 3-ounce creamy lattes, made with single origin beans from Heart Coffee Roasters in Portland.
© Eva Blue
Osmo X Marusan
51 Sherbrooke Street West | Website
This Japanese-style café for sipping and noshing is the result of a merger between the student haunt of Osmo Café and the Japanese restaurant Marusan when the latter left Old Montréal. The result is a sleek space that’s audiophile-friendly, as good for a cup of coffee and it is for a glass of sake when listening to its DJs set the mood.
© Société des arts technologiques
Café SAT
6 Place du Marché | Website
This non-profit café connected to the Société des arts technologies (SAT) is just as much of a reliable study space as it is a hangout for those whiling away hours with drinks and snacks until they can catch a audio-visual performance upstairs. Its bright interior and upstairs terrasse set it apart from the pack, but the address keeps things humble with its relaxing, take-your-time vibes.
Café Sfouf
1250 Ontario Street East | Website
Open since 2014, this café serving coffee beans from Saint-Henri Café is a beautiful space full of natural light, plush sofas, wooden detailing, and large garage door windows. Named after the traditional Lebanese cake, you’d better believe they make good on their food offering.
Saint-Henri’s top coffee shops
© Eva Blue
Café Saint-Henri
3632 Notre-Dame Street West (multiple locations) | Website
From its original location in Saint-Henri to headquarters that feature a coffee lab, classroom, state-of-art café bar, greenhouses, and on-site roastery, this pioneer in micro-roasting is a must for coffee nerds looking to taste the work of a micro-roasting progenitor.
Cordova
4606 Notre-Dame Street West | Website
For a slice of Saint-Henri’s lackadaisical lifestyle, grab a spot on this café’s terrasse in the summertime and watch the hours melt away as you sip a cup of roasts from both Montréal and afar in Canada. If hunger strikes, dip into their selection of conservas or split a sandwich.
© Alison Slattery
September Café
2471 Notre-Dame Street West | Website
Originally opened in 2018 as a surfboard shaping room, this café is a local favourite for great eats and even greater coffee. There’s nothing quite like ordering up an iced coffee or espresso and pairing it with their classic breakfast sandwich—it’s one of the best in the city.
Dreamy
3780 Saint-Patrick Street | Website
Anyone who considers themselves to be coffee afficionados would do well to visit this café and bakery alongside the Lachine Canal. Dreamy’s coffee inventory is sourced directly from the Canadian Roasting Society, the city’s first co-roasting facility where coffee roasters come to prepare their product for the market, making it perfect for tapping into both the local and international coffee scene.
© Alison Slattery
Club Social PS
5090A Notre-Dame Street West | Website
Serving coffee and fresh pastries by day plus wine and pizza by night, this 13-seat indoor space with an English-courtyard style terrasse of 15 seats is a hidden gem in the neighbourhood. Connected to the popular Elena, you’ll thankfully not need to make a reservation to be here.
© Two Food Photographers (Alison Slattery)
The best coffee shops of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
MELK
5612 Monkland Avenue (multiple locations) | Website
This Monkland Village essential is just as well known for its home-baked sweets and latte art as it is for quality craft coffee, where you’ll find local, students, artists, and more collecting to sip, snack, and luxuriate in their simply and effectively designed interior.
Café de’ Mercanti
6132 Monkland Avenue | Website
Another Monkland Village coffee shop is Café de’ Mercanti, an Italian coffee shop that creates its own blend of coffee. They became a NDG landmark after opening back in 2012. Grab a biscotti while you’re there!
Coffee shops in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
© Two Food Photographers
Hélico
4255 Ontario Street East | Website
Created to be the daytime counterpart to the neighbourhood fine dining establishment Hélicoptère, this is where fresh pastries like kouign-amann and croissants hit a high note. When they come fresh out of the oven in the morning, pair them with a cup made with Montréal roaster Kittel, and it’s bound to set a pleasant mood for the rest of the day.
Verdun’s very best coffee shops
Station W
3852 Wellington Street and 2600 William-Tremblay Street | Website
Whether it’s the location in Verdun or in Angus, Station W excels at serving up a tried-and-true café experience. Sunny interiors are filled with coffee lovers noshing on their in-house menus of sandwiches and pastries as they sip at pour-overs made with Montréal’s own Kittel coffee roasters.
© Alison Slattery - Two Food Photographers
Pavillon Snack Bar
5200 Wellington Street | Website
This new, caffeinated blood on Montréal’s café scene may seem way off the beaten track to some, but it will invariably feel like home after that first sip. Fashioned after Verdun establishment from the old days, it’s been a resounding success with locals who flock for their banana bread, breakfast sandwiches, and coffee made with Montréal-based Escape Coffee Roasters.
© Sweet Lee's Rustic Bakery
Boulangerie Rustique Sweet Lee’s
4150 Wellington Street | Website
This rustic bakery and coffee shop in Verdun quickly became a local favourite after it opened this standalone location in 2012.
Pointe-Saint-Charles’s must-try coffee shops
© Two Food Photographers (Alison Slattery)
Café Bloom
1940 Centre Street | Website
Good for coffee any day of the week, this address doubles as a brunch destination with a French toast locals swear by. This café took its name from the main character of James Joyce’s Ulysses, and true to form, artist-types tend to flock in each day for its bright and colourful interior and cups of coffee made with Montréal’s own Kittel roasters.
Clarke Café
2483 Centre Street | Website
Don’t be spooked by the lineups outside this Italian café; service at this revived Mile End haunt transported to southwestern Montréal is lightning quick. Order up one of their ‘sangwiches’, a strong espresso or two, and round it all out with zeppole or cannoli for the full experience.
Café Redwood
Café Redwood
2604 Saint-Patrick Street | Website
Across from the Lachine Canal and just a few minutes' walk from Atwater Market, Café Redwood's elegant, minimalist design makes it a perfect spot to relax, read, study or get a little work done on your laptop. The friendly baristas make every coffee (or matcha or London Fog) with loving care and the pastries are decadently delicious.
The best coffee shops in Little Italy and Villeray—Saint-Michel—Parc-Extension
© Two Food Photographers
Café Paquebot
2110 Bélanger Street (multiple locations) | Website
Paquebot has seen an exponential expansion since its beginnings in 2015. What began with a specialization in nitro cold brews has since expanded into serving draft lattes and coffee-based cocktails like a café-lemonade fizz, all made with Montréal-based coffee roaster Zab.
Saison des pluies
301 Guizot Street East | Website
The name says it all: From its minimal, broody interior design to its stay-all-day menus of coffee and crafty menus, this café is happy to host those looking for a place to while away a rainy day. It was tough times for this spot when it opened in 2020, but its charm and attentive service have made for a winning combination.
© Two Food Photographers (Alison Slattery)
Café Larue & Fils
244 de Castelnau Est (multiple locations) | Website
This established name in local coffee has three locations across the city and is widely recognized for its third-wave coffee beans turned into delicious lattes, espressos, cappuccinos, and more. Bright and social, many love its minimalist décor.
L’artisan délices sans gluten et sans lait
7700 Saint-Hubert Street | Website
For some delicious gluten-free and milk-free options, L’artisan délices sans gluten et sans lait is a great option. Located in Villeray, this shop offers a surprisingly tasty choice of pastries, breads, baguettes, quiches, pizzas and sandwiches - all gluten and milk-free.
© Susan Moss
Caffè Italia
6840 Saint-Laurent Boulevard | Website
Caffè Italia, an emblem of Little Italy, is a must when you’re in the neighborhood. Its 50's decor is the perfect inspiration to have a good espresso or even a latte, not to mention a delicious Italian pastry.
Café Odessa
65 Beaubien East Street | Website
Café Odessa, a hidden gem located in the heart of Little Italy, offers delicious coffees and pastries. To cool down a bit after taking a scroll in Little Italy, it also offers tasty iced coffees, which is a good companion during the summer season.
Perfect coffee shops in the Plateau and Mile End
© Alison Slattery
Café Bravo
4577, Saint-Laurent Boulevard | Website
Located in the Plateau Mont-Royal, Café Bravo is the place to go to sip a good cup of coffee while listening to music by artists from Bravo Musique, the record label company launched by Cœur de Pirate. Coffee lovers keen on music can savour coffee from Fantôme and PS Coffee roasters, as well as some delicious pastries and sandwiches. The record wall and beautiful orange accents add a nice minimalist and eclectic touch to the place!
© Alison Slattery
Le Darling
4328 Saint-Laurent Boulevard | Website
Darling’s plant-filled and vanity light-riddled interior with leather fixtures excels as one of the city’s most Instagrammable places to grab a café au lait and pastry. Fashioned as an all-day locale, feel free to switch from caffeine to cocktails as the sun goes down and bar service picks up by night.
Café in Gamba
5263 du Parc Avenue (multiple locations) | Website
Café in Gamba, Montréal's first third-wave café, opened its doors in August 2007. The café's name, taken from Italian, translates to "a well-made coffee". Their team of nearly 25 expert baristas, specialize in latte art. They proudly serve coffee from 8 exceptional roasters from Québec, Canada, and the United States: Traffic, Structure, Escape, Zab, Detour, 49th Parallel, Counter Culture, and Intelligentsia. They personally select their favorite coffees from their offerings, which are roasted and delivered weekly to their two cafés.
Café Névé
151 Rachel Street East (multiple locations) | Website
This Plateau café and its small grab-and-go offshoots excel at well-done coffee sourced from Pilot Roasters that’s served in comfy, worn wood décor. Whichever location you go to, they’re all well-positioned to spend hours there with a novel or good company.
Café chez Téta
227 Rachel Street East | Website
Combining the offerings of a third wave café with the kind of establishment you’d find on the streets of Beirut, this Lebanese establishment serves all the usual suspects, plus bona fide strong kahweh (Lebanese coffee) made with fine grounds in hot sand with just a touch of cardamom.
© Ali Inay @inayali
Le Falco
5605 Avenue de Gaspé | Website
Le Falco, a hidden gem in the neighbourhood, has an airy and industrial interior. People love collecting here for specialty coffee drinks, from aeropressed cups to iced coffee. Its co-owners Yuko Toda and Frederik Froument aren’t just good at drinks either; check out their menu’s Japanese delights.
Dispatch
4021 Saint-Laurent Boulevard (multiple locations) | Website
We love a great iced coffee from them in the summer, and a hot cup in the winter: Dispatch is great for coffee connoisseurs looking for baristas to discuss the intricacies of whatever they’re whipping up. Dispatch’s cafés also host tastings and workshops on brewing techniques.
© Susan Moss
Sophie Sucrée
3770 Saint-Laurent Boulevard | Website
This vegan bakery offers delicious deserts, ranging from vegan cookies, vegan cupcakes and vegan scones. They even have gluten-friendly options, such as cheesecake and brownies. This pink-colored shop even has iced coffee and other refreshing drinks, not to mention good coffee.
JP Karwacki
JP Karwacki is a Montréal-based writer and journalist whose work has appeared in Time Magazine, the Montreal Gazette, National Post, Time Out, NUVO Magazine, and more. Having called the city home for over a decade and a half, he regularly focuses on spreading the good word about the amazing things to eat, drink and do in Montréal. One half raconteur and the other flâneur (with just a dash of boulevardier), when he wasn’t working on the frontlines of the city's restaurants and bars, he spent his time thinking about, reading about and writing about restaurants and bars.
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