6840 boulevard Saint-Laurent
Caffè Italia
Since 1956, four generations of the Serri family have held this Little Italy counter. Espresso, panini and the morning rhythm show what being a regular means here.
Read the house portrait →Choose the hour
Four walks around the market.
Start with what the day needs: coffee and provisions, a room with history, a new table or somewhere to let the evening keep going.
01 · MORNING AT THE MARKET
Begin where the neighbourhood gathers.
Coffee, tacos, Syrian-Armenian cooking and the counters that turn an errand into lunch.
coffeecounters6 rooms
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02 · DANTE & THE OLD NEIGHBOURHOOD
The street that remembers.
Espresso, cannoli, pizza and dining rooms whose histories are inseparable from Little Italy.
institutionsDante6 rooms
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03 · SAINT-ZOTIQUE NOW
The new habits.
Fresh pasta, Thai curries, natural wine and the tables changing what Little Italy tastes like now.
new tableswine6 rooms
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04 · AFTER DARK
One more place before home.
Cicchetti, Québec beer, rooftop pizza and rooms where the neighbourhood loosens its collar.
tavernslate6 rooms
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01 / MORNING AT THE MARKET
Begin where the neighbourhood gathers.
Coffee, tacos, Syrian-Armenian cooking and the counters that turn an errand into lunch.
232 Rue Jean-Talon Est, Montréal
El Rey del Taco
Jean-Talon Market taquería operating since 2009, known for street-style tacos sold in sets of four on house-made tortillas, topped simply with onion, cilantro, and salsa. The menu runs deep — lengua, cabeza, suadero, nopales — alongside al pastor, carnitas, and barbacoa.
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191 Rue Jean-Talon Est, Montréal, QC H2R 1S8
Le Petit Alep
Opened in 1995 next to the Jean-Talon Market by sisters Chahla and Tania Frangié and Chahla's husband, Jean-François Potvin — an extension of Restaurant Alep, the five-table spot their father Georges opened in 1976, a year after arriving from Aleppo, Syria. The kitchen, still run by the two sisters and occasionally their mother Jacqueline, blends Syrian and Armenian heritage.
Open the notebook →199 Rue Jean-Talon Est, Montréal
Restaurant Alep
Family restaurant opened in 1976 across from the Jean-Talon Market by Georges Frangié, a native of Aleppo, whose Armenian wife Jacqueline had studied in that Syrian city. His daughters Chahla and Tania went on to open their own address, Le Petit Alep, at 191 Jean-Talon East in 1995 — a distinct establishment that earned a Bib Gourmand in Quebec's first Michelin guide in 2025.
Open the notebook →7060 Rue Alexandra, Montréal
Noble Café
Second Café Noble location, opened June 24, 2021 on Rue Alexandra between Mile-Ex and Little Italy, by founding couple Marc-Antoine Paquin — an engineer turned barista — and Marie-Hélène Choquette, who launched the original café on Laurier in 2015. The formula carries over precise espresso and beans roasted by Toronto's De Mello Palheta, rotating with guest roasters.
Open the notebook →7032 Rue Waverly
Dépanneur Le Pick-Up
A former corner store turned sandwich canteen, opened in 2008 by Penny Pattison and Bernie Houde on Waverly Street, back when Mile-Ex had few places to eat. The name is a bilingual pun — pick up a sandwich, or pick up a date.
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02 / DANTE & THE OLD NEIGHBOURHOOD
The street that remembers.
Espresso, cannoli, pizza and dining rooms whose histories are inseparable from Little Italy.
39 Rue Dante
Caffè San Simeon
A Little Italy fixture on Rue Dante since 1979, run by the same family and now led by Tino. Fantini coffee, poured here for more than 35 years, and a tight espresso are the draw; the name reportedly nods to an Italian football club, fitting for a neighbourhood obsessed with soccer.
Open the notebook →277 Rue Dante
Alati-Caserta
An Italian pastry shop on Rue Dante in Little Italy, founded in 1968 as Caserta by Vittorio Caldarone and his wife Maria Di Meo, first on Saint-Viateur before moving into a larger space across from the Madonna della Difesa church. Vittorio trained in a Swiss hotel kitchen, and only his original recipes are still used today, now alongside his son Marco.
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189 Rue Dante, Montréal, QC H2S 1J5
Pizzeria Napoletana
Little Italy institution open since 1948, founded by Italian immigrants the Girolamos as a welcoming spot for newcomers — Montreal's first pizzeria, complete with pool tables and card games. Rocco Girolamo bought out his partners in 1980, and the family business is now run by its third generation.
Open the notebook →48 Rue Dante, Montréal, QC H2S 1J5
Impasto
Opened in July 2013 on Rue Dante by Stefano Faita — who grew up in Little Italy, son of Elena Faita of the Dante hardware store — and chef Michele Forgione, a pastry-trained alum of Osteria Venti. The Zébulon Perron-designed room became the launchpad for a small group, later spawning Gema, Chez Tousignant and Vesta.
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6827 Rue Saint-Dominique, Montréal, QC H2S 3B1
Gema
Pizzeria opened by Stefano Faita and Michele Forgione (Impasto) in the storefront next door, eight months after the space came up — GEMA is an acronym for their four children, Giovanni, Emilia, Massimo and Anna. Chef Anthony Di Iorio executes pizzaiolo Forgione's recipes in a Zébulon Perron-designed room steps from Jean-Talon Market.
Open the notebook →12 Rue Dante, Montréal
Ristorante Lucca
Italian institution on rue Dante in Petite-Italie, open since 1998. Co-owner Anthony Papalia travels to Italy every year to build an all-Italian wine list; in-house chef Adelino Domingues runs the kitchen. The polenta, passed down from a Northern Italian chef who once worked there, is a family heirloom still on the menu alongside seafood linguine, potato gnocchi and veal chop.
Open the notebook →03 / SAINT-ZOTIQUE NOW
The new habits.
Fresh pasta, Thai curries, natural wine and the tables changing what Little Italy tastes like now.
150 Rue Saint-Zotique Est, Montréal
Vin Mon Lapin
Wine bar and restaurant launched in 2018 under the Joe Beef group, taken over in December 2019 by husband-and-wife team Vanya Filipovic (sommelier) and Marc-Olivier Frappier (chef), with Jessica Noël running the kitchen alongside him. The name nods to Jura winemaker Jean-François Ganevat, who calls all his friends "mon lapin."
Open the notebook →83 Rue Saint-Zotique Est, Montréal
Pumpui
Thai grocery-counter opened in late 2017 on Rue Saint-Zotique by a trio — Jesse Massumi (ex-Voro, Waverly), Xavier Cloutier, a former engineer who switched careers, and chef Jesse Mulder, who trained in Thailand, including a stage at Bangkok's celebrated Nahm. The name, which means "chubby" in Thai, signals a "lan khao gang" concept …
Open the notebook →65 Rue Saint-Zotique Est, Montréal
Bottega Pizzeria
Neapolitan pizzeria opened in 2006 on Saint-Zotique by the Covone family — Fabrizio and his father Aniello, also behind Il Mulino, Hostaria and San Gennaro in Petite-Italie. After apprenticeships in Naples, Fabrizio proposed a pizzeria true to his father's home city: a wood-fired oven imported from Naples in Vesuvian stone, buffalo mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, and Neapolitan small…
Open the notebook →6700 Rue Clark, Montréal
Pasta Pooks
Fresh-pasta counter opened in early March 2025 in Little Italy by Luca "Pooks" Labelle Vinci (formerly of Mano Cornuto and Impasto), with Victor "Coach Vic" Petrenko (ex-Double's) and Martin Pariseau (ex-Menu Extra). Pasta is rolled fresh each morning; ricotta-spinach ravioli and a Philly cheesesteak sandwich are the signature, paired with a natural-wine list.
Open the notebook →44 Rue Beaubien Ouest
Parapluie
French restaurant opened in February 2024 on Beaubien, in Petite-Italie, by chef-owner Robin Filteau Boucher and sommelier Karelle Voyer — named after a Daniel Bélanger song. Filteau Boucher, a veteran of Chez Victoire, Laurea, Gipsy and Théophile, builds a French-inspired sharing menu from seasonal ingredients priced $10 to $30 a plate; the egg mayonnaise with lobster is singled out by…
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6778 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montréal
Ratafia
Wine-and-dessert bar opened in July 2019 in Petite-Italie by Sandra Forcier and Jared Tuck, in the former Café Epoca space — the first of its kind in Quebec. The savoury kitchen is led by chef Magie Marier (ITHQ-trained, a 2025 finalist on Les Chefs!), who blends pastry technique with Asian accents around ingredients from the nearby Jean-Talon Market.
Open the notebook →04 / AFTER DARK
One more place before home.
Cicchetti, Québec beer, rooftop pizza and rooms where the neighbourhood loosens its collar.
6703 Avenue du Parc
Bar Cicchetti
Venetian-inspired cicchetti bar opened in Mile-Ex by Elyse Leclerc, a former ceramicist, with partners Gabriel Lavallée and Mathieu Delisle — the trio's first project, born from a trip to Venice. The menu shifts with the owner's mood: small plates from $3.50, including the mimosa egg (a recipe from Leclerc's grandmother) and the crustless sandwich.
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6631 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montréal
Vices et Versa
Terroir bistro and beer bar opened February 5, 2004 by Sébastien Gagnon, then 23 — billed by its founders as Montreal's first microbrewery bar of its kind. Gagnon later became president of Brasserie Dunham.
Open the notebook →Petite-Italie, Montréal
WILLS
Microbrewery and wine bar opened in July 2023 in Mile-Ex by cousins Alexander and Ethan Wills, in the former Alexandraplatz space. Ethan co-ran Lawrence, Larrys and Boucherie Lawrence; Alexander, a geochemist and volcanologist who spent two decades working abroad, came home to join the project.…
Open the notebook →6512 Avenue du Parc
Taverne Atlantic
Big Art Deco tavern opened in summer 2019 at the corner of Parc and Beaubien in Mile-Ex, by restaurateurs Alexandre Baldwin, Alexandre Wolosianski and Éric Dupuis — all veterans of the Balsam Inn, Henrietta and the Dominion Square Tavern.…
Open the notebook →211 Rue Beaubien Est, Montréal
Buvette Beaubien
Neighbourhood buvette opened in May 2022 on Beaubien in La Petite-Patrie by Dominique Goupil and Maxime Tremblay (with Martin Lamirande), who had first launched L'Épicerie Soda in the same space in 2020. Goupil, a painter in a previous life, moved into restaurants out of love for the table. Natural wines and private imports anchor the list, with a retail corner for bottles to go.
Open the notebook →271 Rue Saint-Zotique Ouest
Anemone
Anemone opened in November 2022 in the former Manitoba space in Mile-Ex, led by chefs Minh Phat Tu (ex-Mui Mui) and Mike Madokoro (ex-Bar Suzanne), with sommelier Elena Racevičiūtė-Ouellette. The name honours Elena's father, who dreamed of three floral tattoos for the Canadian provinces he lived in — the anemone standing for Manitoba.
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