Three neighbourhoods connected by water and Notre-Dame. Morning counters, old diners, wine bars and destination tables—close enough to follow on foot, by bike or one meal at a time.
24 rooms · 4 routes · an independent Regulars guideSaint-Henri wakes first. Little Burgundy owns the long dinner. Pointe-Saint-Charles answers from the other bank in its own voice.
These rooms are documented through public sources and local knowledge. No one paid to appear, and inclusion does not imply a Regulars partnership. The guide will deepen as we walk it, door by door.
Begin with the hour, then let Notre-Dame or the water decide where the next room should be.
Espresso, bagels, breakfast counters and bakeries for beginning close to the canal.
A diner, taquería, Malaysian counter and the restaurants that made Saint-Henri a dining street.
The famous rooms matter, but so do the smaller bars and dining rooms that make return visits possible.
Old counters, coffee, a neighbourhood tavern, a buvette and one of the city’s smallest destination rooms.
Espresso, bagels, breakfast counters and bakeries for beginning close to the canal.
Micro-roastery founded in 2011 by Jean-François Leduc in Saint-Henri — the neighbourhood that gave the brand its name — and a pioneer of third-wave coffee in Quebec. The original address long served as the roasting workshop and a class space.
Open the notebook →Italian café opened in 2010 on Notre-Dame Ouest by Tony Campanelli and his wife Sophie Hébert. The all-wood interior was built by Tony's father, cabinetmaker Nicola Campanelli, whose portrait still hangs on the wall; about twenty counter-only seats.
Open the notebook →Opened on Notre-Dame Ouest by Raegan Steinberg and Alex Cohen, former Back of House caterers, and named for Steinberg's late father Arthur. The kitchen, inspired by New York's Russ & Daughters, blends Cohen's Moroccan roots with Steinberg's Romanian ones; the latke smorgasbord and syrniki (cottage-cheese pancakes) are signature.
Open the notebook →A bakery on rue de Lévis founded by Thea Bryson, a former Los Angeles marketer turned self-taught baker during the pandemic. Naturally leavened sourdough loaves, made with organic local flours and slow fermentation, built its neighbourhood reputation. A sister address, Miette Sandwicherie, opened on Notre-Dame for sandwiches.
Open the notebook →Born in 2016 from a passion for coffee and surfing, September opened on Notre-Dame West as a café, retail space and surfboard-shaping studio all at once. The kitchen, vegetable-forward and seasonal, offers grain bowls, salads and fermented dishes in a spare room with warm timber accents.
Open the notebook →A listening café founded by DJ Jojo Flores and his brother Toddy on Notre-Dame West, inspired by vinyl bars in Tokyo, London and New York. The basement houses a collection of 15,000-plus titles that Flores has built since his teens; upstairs, a La Marzocco espresso machine and Filipino-inspired bites, including a calamansi cannoli.
Open the notebook →A diner, taquería, Malaysian counter and the restaurants that made Saint-Henri a dining street.
Diner opened in 1947 at the corner of Greene and Notre-Dame, relocated across the street in 1989 with its original décor intact — jukeboxes, vinyl booths, counter stools. The name plays on "Greene" and "green marks the spot," per co-owner Jon Pavlakos, who runs it with Nick Ioannidis, Louis Stavropoulos and Stellios Kiliaris.
Open the notebook →Taqueria opened in 2015 on Notre-Dame Ouest by Enrique Chan Morales, his mother and his brother, originally from Oaxaca — the project started small, with $2 tacos grilled on George Foreman machines. The name honours Frida Kahlo, whose paintings decorated Enrique's childhood home.
Open the notebook →Founded in 2010 as a hawker-style stall at Atwater Market by brothers Alex and Mat Winnicki, who grew up in Saint-Henri, before settling on Notre-Dame Ouest in 2013 and doubling capacity to 130 seats in 2023. The name, chosen on their father's advice, replaced "Winnicki Brothers."
Open the notebook →Opened in 2014 on Notre-Dame Ouest by David Bloom with chef Raquel Zagury, built around made-to-order falafel and shawarma plus a liquor licence. Bloom got his start at Tuck Shop, run by his brother Jon; another brother, Ryan, is behind nearby Rustique and Urban Bonfire.
Open the notebook →Opened in February 2018 on Notre-Dame Ouest by Marley Sniatowsky, Ryan Gray and Emma Cardarelli, also behind nearby Nora Gray. The name honours Elena Pantaleoni of Italy's La Stoppa winery; chef Chris Cameron's kitchen turns out naturally leavened, wood-fired sourdough pizza and house-made pasta.
Open the notebook →Bistro opened in 2010 on Notre-Dame Ouest, fully redesigned in 2019 by Agence Rhoncus around an oyster bar and open kitchen. The team pairs owners Amelia Stine and John Bloom with chef Théo Lerikos, joined by John Metcalfe on cocktails; the private-import wine list is curated by Stine.
Open the notebook →The famous rooms matter, but so do the smaller bars and dining rooms that make return visits possible.
Opened September 19, 2005 by David McMillan, Frédéric Morin and Allison Cunningham in the former Café Miguel space on Notre-Dame West. The name honours Charles McKiernan, known as "Joe Beef," a 19th-century Montreal tavern keeper. The kitchen, which the trio calls Bocusian-Lyonnaise, leans on market cooking and Quebec game and seafood.
Open the notebook →Opened in 2007 as an Italian trattoria with Emma Cardarelli in the kitchen, before developing its own market-French bistro identity. The restaurant belongs to the same trio behind Joe Beef and Vin Papillon — David McMillan, Frédéric Morin and Allison Cunningham — and sits next door, conceived as a neighbourhood table rather than a tourist stop.
Open the notebook →A 45-seat wine bar opened by the Joe Beef team on Notre-Dame West, right next to the flagship restaurant. Chef Marc-Olivier Frappier builds a vegetable-forward menu of small sharing plates around a wine list devoted entirely to natural and biodynamic bottles. Petite-Bourgogne ham, hand-sliced and topped with aged Gouda, and a beef tartare with candied artichokes are among the standbys.
Open the notebook →Housed for about a decade in a former rectory behind Église Saint-Joseph, Candide is chef John Winter Russell's restaurant, built on ingredients sourced only from Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes. The single fixed-price menu changes monthly with the market — a recent example: grilled guinea fowl with apple purée and confit shallots.
Open the notebook →Opened in August 2023 on Notre-Dame West by Soufian Mamlouk (also behind Barley and Lulu Épicerie), general manager Noah Abecassis, sommelier Rami El Sabban and designer Omar Boubess, Heni puts chef Julien Robillard — previously at the shuttered Pastel and five years at Hôtel Le St. James — in the kitchen.…
Open the notebook →Opened on Notre-Dame West by the team behind Otto Yakitori (2016) and Momiji, this third venture from Hanhak Kim's group puts chef Yutaka Abe in the kitchen. Sashimi, yuzu-mayo karaage chicken and mazemen — broth-less Japanese noodles, notably a mushroom-truffle version — anchor the menu, backed by a natural wine and sake list curated by Maureen Rouge.
Open the notebook →Old counters, coffee, a neighbourhood tavern, a buvette and one of the city’s smallest destination rooms.
Sandwich café on Rue Shearer, Frank Servedio's revival of Boulangerie Clarke, a Mile End institution his grandparents founded in 1980. Servedio reopened the name as a café in Pointe-Saint-Charles in 2018.
Open the notebook →Family-run casse-croûte on Rue Charlevoix, open since 1958 and still wearing its 1950s retro decor — a look that has drawn film crews over the years. It remains a cornerstone of the Pointe-Saint-Charles neighbourhood.
Open the notebook →Café on Rue Centre opened by Joseph-Tuc Minh Nguyen, who brought over a decade of hospitality experience, in the former space of the Ton Quartier grocery. The name "Cosé" plays on cozy and the French verb causer (to chat), a nod to his Vietnamese roots and France's colonial legacy there.
Open the notebook →Buvette that opened in September 2023 on Rue du Centre, a partnership between Thomas Engasser and Kevyn Houpert (La Traversée) and Thomas Vernis and Patrick Marion of the Tomahawk group. The small-plates cooking highlights seasonal produce from local growers, built around wine.
Open the notebook →Neighbourhood taverne on Rue du Centre that pays homage to the Knox family, who once owned the surrounding farmland the name recalls. Exposed brick, herringbone floors and a living plant wall make up a "working-class" look, opened onto the street by three garage doors.
Open the notebook →Fourteen-seat micro-restaurant that opened in August 2023 on Rue Centre, run by Patrice Demers and Marie-Josée Beaudoin — he in the kitchen, she on the floor. A single tasting menu runs Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m.: four savoury courses and two sweet, changing weekly with the market, plus a weekend tea service.
Open the notebook →Good guides begin with the people who already live the route. Send us the counter, table or neighbourhood room we should walk next.
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