The city is old. The habits are very much alive. 20 rooms and four routes.
20 rooms · 4 routes · RegularsBeneath the stone are morning counters, family institutions, tables that stretch lunch into afternoon and rooms that only wake after dark.
No one paid to appear here.
Coffee, bread and counters behind the stone façades.
Historic houses, family traditions and neighbourhood classics.
Grand rooms, precise kitchens and tables where time slows.
Bars, cellars and rooms that carry the evening late.
Opened in June 1998 on Rue Saint-Paul Ouest by Dyan Solomon and Eric Girard, who met while working at Toqué!, Olive et Gourmando began as a simple bakery counter in a then-quiet Old Montreal.
View on Regulars →Crew Collective & Café occupies the former Royal Bank of Canada headquarters, built between 1926 and 1928 by New York architects York & Sawyer working with the bank's own architects, in a style inspired by Florentine palaces.
Open the notebook →The first restaurant from chef Michael Tozzi, who trained at Le Club Chasse et Pêche before running the kitchen at Olive et Gourmando, Dandy opened in early 2018 on Rue Saint-Jacques, inside an ocher-sandstone Beaux-Arts building.
View on Regulars →Opened in November 2014 on Rue William by Antony Molinaro, his brother Aldo, and partner Daniel Guerrera, Dispensa combines a café, counter service, and Italian grocery inside a discreet stone storefront, tucked away from the tourist bustle of Old Montreal.
Open the notebook →Set inside the Bonsecours Market, La Cave à Manger is the project of Raphaël Creton, who grew up above his father Yvon Creton's restaurant À L'Aventure, run for 30 years on Place Jacques-Cartier, before turning to baking.
View on Regulars →Built in 1688 by a French soldier, Auberge Saint-Gabriel was granted the first liquor license in North America on March 4, 1754. Converted into a private mansion in the 19th century, it reverted to an inn in 1914. Marc Bolay bought it in 1989, when Old Montreal was still overlooked.
Open the notebook →Opened in 1984 by Louis H. Ladouceur inside an 1886 building constructed for Judge Joseph-Amable Berthelot — the "Berthelot 1886" inscription still marks the façade. Chef Claude Postel's French cuisine built the restaurant's reputation from the start, at a time when Old Montreal was still quiet.
Open the notebook →Founded in 1969 in Saint-Sauveur by Gilbert "Gibby" Rosenberg and two partners, Gibby's opened a second location in 1972 on Place D'Youville, inside the Youville Stables — a complex built by the Grey Nuns, parts of which date to 1740. The building's 1967 restoration was among the first of its kind in Old Montreal.
Open the notebook →A Polish institution in Old Montreal for more than thirty years, born from a small café on Saint-Sulpice Street run by Stanislas, a Gazette journalist whose nickname gave the place its name. Anita Karski, born in Montreal to Polish parents and a former server there, now owns the restaurant.
View on Regulars →Opened in 2003 on McGill Street by brothers Maurice, Richard and Paul Holder, also behind Darling and Majestique, this grand European-style brasserie carries the family name. The interior, designed by the late Luc Laporte, plays on high ceilings, brass fixtures and expansive windows.
Open the notebook →Opened in September 2018 on Rue Saint-Jacques by chef Jérémie Bastien, working alongside his father Richard Bastien — the family behind Leméac and Le Mitoyen. The name Monarque nods to the monarch butterfly's migration, echoing Jérémie's own path through Vancouver (Boneta) and Asia before returning to Montreal.
View on Regulars →Chef and co-owner alongside Pierre Jullien, Graziella Battista was born in Montreal to parents from Calabria and Campobasso. After years on Boulevard Saint-Laurent at restaurant Il Sole, she moved her eponymous table to Old Montreal in 2007.
Open the notebook →The eponymous restaurant of Portuguese chef Helena Loureiro, on McGill Street in Old Montreal, has spent more than a decade celebrating the culinary traditions of her native country through tapas and slow-cooked dishes. The décor, by Agostino De Reggi, opts for restrained, understated elegance.
Open the notebook →Created by Mélanie Blanchette and François Nadon, the duo behind Bouillon Bilk and Cadet, Place Carmin occupies Rue William's former Le Local space, with executive chef Émile Colette joining as a new partner.
Open the notebook →Opened December 23, 2013 inside the Darling Foundry, Le Serpent was created by Hubert Marsolais and Claude Pelletier — also behind Le Club Chasse et Pêche — with chef Michele Mercuri leading the kitchen. Its name comes from the pollution-control duct that once crowned the former industrial foundry, now an art-dedicated space.
View on Regulars →Opened in June 2006 in Old Montreal by chef Chuck Hughes with friends Tim Rozon and Kyle Marshall Nares, Garde Manger built its name on seafood and a hearty cocktail list. Hughes went on to win the Iron Chef America title in 2008, bringing the restaurant national attention.
View on Regulars →Opened December 31, 2004 on Rue Saint-Claude by chef Claude Pelletier and Hubert Marsolais, Le Club Chasse et Pêche occupies a stone-and-timber setting near Château Ramezay. The menu, developed with chef de cuisine Olivier Larocque, pairs game and fish in a clubby, intimate mood, backed by a 500-bottle cellar.
View on Regulars →Opened in 2008 on Saint-Paul Street West by chef Jérémie Falissard with partners Louis Koorevaar and Roberto Porres, inside a former gastropub with stone walls. Originally from southern France, Falissard settled in Montreal in 2005 and once competed on Top Chef France; at Barroco he builds French bourgeois cooking around Quebec terroir and open-fire grilling.
View on Regulars →Tucked into the basement of a narrow Old Montreal street, L'Orignal — whose name means moose — leans into rustic, warm cooking led by chef Omar Zabuair and co-owner Travis Champion. Zabuair trained under Stephen Leslie (Taverne on the Square) and under David McMillan and Frédéric Morin, the founders of Joe Beef.
View on Regulars →Bar opened in 2010 on Saint-Paul Street West by Ariel Goldstein, inside a building constructed in 1860 for Bacon Bros, then rented out as offices and hardware storage for the train and mining trades. Interior architect Zébulon Perron designed the space.
Open the notebook →Send us the table, counter or room you return to.
Add a room →