Conceria
3580 Notre-Dame Street West | Website
A plant-based Italian osteria, Conceria serves an alluring menu of Italian specialties such as pasta, risotto and more as well as a great wine list.
Kabinet
98 Laurier Street West | Website
Laurier Avenue’s Bar Kabinet is now a full fledge restaurant with chef Jean-Michel Leblond at the helm of this great little spot. The menu is old school French brasserie classics with an extensive caviar and fish row menu.
Lulu Épicerie
2507 Notre-Dame Street | Website
Lulu Épicerie is a new Lebanese spot in Griffintown serving specialty sandwiches and mana’eesh (pita baked with toppings such as zaatar) with a side of childhood nostalgia.
Tabac
1370 Villeray street | Website
Operating all day from 8am to 10pm, Tabac is a new café-resto-bar open in the heart of a residential neighbourhood in Villeray. Expect excellent coffee, bread and pastries from Boulangerie Automne, natural wines, great food and a lot of cultural events.
Bvrger
401 Notre-Dame Street West | Website
This latest venture from chef Christian Ventura, the founder of Sushi Momo, Nopalito and Casa Kaizen, is a 100% vegan burger joint located in Old Montréal. Bvrger serves 7 decadent, creative burgers that will satisfy the most carnivore palate.
Chez Josie
230 Jarry Street East | Website
Chez Josie is a new neighbourhood buvette that has recently opened in Villeray. The menu is inspired by French brasserie classics and their house cocktails are “inspired by women who have left their mark.”
Paradiso Pasta
344 Victoria Avenue | Website
Quality pasta is the name of the game at this new Westmount spot. Paradiso Pasta serves handmade pasta inspired by the seasons and by the bounty of local farms.
Sunny’s Dinette
2705 Notre-Dame Street West | Website
American diner sand brunch specialties shine bright at Little Burgundy’s Sunny’s Dinette, where you can grab some well made classics such as a hot chicken platter, a Rueben, a club sandwich or a stack of pancakes.
Nolan
1752 Notre-Dame Street West | Website
The team behind popular Villeray restaurant Knuckles is also behind this new venture in Old Montréal. Nolan is a café/restaurant/wine bar that’s open all day and serves a seasonally-driven creative menu featuring local produce.
Nikkei
1577 Laurier Avenue | Website
Nikkei comes from the team behind popular Peruvian restaurant Barranco. It features its eponymous cuisine, which is a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese specialties served tapas style.
Millmans
3779 Wellington street | Website
Open for breakfast and lunch, Verdun’s Millmans is a self-described “casse-croûte for the masses” serving a short menu of classic breakfast items as well as burgers and fried chicken sandwiches in a retro décor.
Bella
351 Place d'Youville | Website
Bella is a new restaurant in Old Montréal serving the usual Italian fare with the addition of great cocktails on tap such as the classic negroni.
Mr. Tautuni
1510 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West | Website
A new wallet-friendly spot has opened downtown near Concordia. Mr. Tantuni is the new franchise by a Turkish chain serving fast-food sandwiches and plates made with high quality ingredients.
Tapas du Taïwan
2100 Saint Mathieu Street 2F | Website
This new spot in the Concordia area Montréal specializes in Taiwanese street food. Tapas du Taïwan is also the self-described “first stinky tofu spot in Montréal”.
Vivace
101 des Pins Avenue East | Website
Chef Maurin Arellano has been part of the Montréal dining scene for the past decade with her catering and co-working kitchen. Her new venture Vivace is a tiny Plateau bistro with sustainability and sourcing from small producers as its main goals. The food is rooted in the chef’s Mexican heritage and lets the ingredients shine.
Mercato Communale
701 William Street | Website
A pinsa romana (a type of pizza) slinger, fine food market, wine bar and coffeeshop, Mercato Communale is a new Old Montréal spot combines several different businesses in one. The Graziella team is behind this latest delicious venture that aims to be a one-spot stop for all your Italian cravings.
Here are some more noticeable openings:
Café Nao, LeDon Donburi, Yoko Luna, Bon Service, Système, Tadhana, Le Butterfly, Stellina, Paname, Terrace Carla, Cabaret L’Enfer, Ketiw, La Chope Angus, La Cantine, Délices & Rhums, Pubjelly, La Jeune Espiègle, Tiramisu
Cafés and Pastry News:
Rose de mai is a new and cozy neighbourhood specialty coffee shop on Beaubien Street east in Petite Patrie.
Noussommes Café has opened a second location in Old Montréal.
Famous Lille-based pastry shop Aux Merveilleux de Fred is opening its first Québec shop in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood. With 45 stores across the planet, this French institution specializes in the Merveilleux, an airy cake from the north of France made of layers of meringue and whipped cream.
Ocha is a new boba shop in Old Montréal offering an array of drinks made with freshly brewed tea and a vast choice of toppings.
Pâtisserie TM is a new pastry shop that blends Japanese flavours and tradition with French knowhow. The beautifully executed pastries include items such as a hojicha Mont-Blanc, a matcha and yuzu tart and a Uji Kintoki ice cream (matcha ice cream, candied red bean and condensed milk). There are some savoury items on the menu as well.
Bars and buvettes:
Located in the old Alexandraplatz space in the Mile Ex, Wills Bar is a neighbourhood gem with an emphasis on natural wine, great cocktails and a sense of community. It will also eventually be making craft beer. The food offer is provided by the Nouveau Palais Winneburger food truck that’s parked out front.
Quartier des spectacles’ Vin Public comes from the people behind Café Pista. It’s a café by day and a wine bar and venue come evening.
Homa’s new funky Supernat is a café by day and a wine bar by night. It also serves sandwiches with an Asian flair.
Quartier Latin is now home to Le Petit Mexico, a new bar specializing in margaritas with 10 different iterations of the popular Mexican drink on its menu.
New locations and restaurant news
“Sweet treat factory” Dinette Nationale has moved to the corner of Jarry and St-Denis streets in Villeray.
Moccione’s new pasta and Italian specialty spot is now open in Villeray. The previous location is now a Moccione pizza take out counter.
Beloved fried chicken sandwich slinger Mitch Deli has moved to 2660 Beaubien Street East.
The team behind Cantine Tran have opened TRAN L'épicerie in the Mile Ex, a take-out counter offering Vietnamese specialties.
Popular Plateau “friterie de luxe” Patati Patata now has a second location at the Jean Talon Market.
La Petite Patrie’s SODA Épicerie is now Buvette Beaubien, a neighbourhood spot serving lunch and dinner with a great list of craft beer and natural wines.
Load up on jerk chicken, goat curry and other specialties at Jamaican restaurant Boom J’s second location in Ville Émard.
Neapolitan pizza purveyor Fugazzi has opened a third outpost in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
Coming (relatively) soon:
9 Tail Fox is a modern Korean bistro opening soon in Saint-Henri.
Mayssam Samaha
Mayssam Samaha is a food and travel writer and blogger and the founder behind the blog Will Travel for Food. She travels the world in search of the next culinary discovery. From Iceland to South Africa, she’s already visited over 30 countries and there’s nothing she enjoys more than wandering around a farmers’ market in a foreign city. She is also the founder of the SAISONS intimate dinner series highlighting Québec products and chefs.
