Le Paltoquet

1464 av. Van Horne, Montréal

Le Paltoquet has run this Van Horne café-bakery since 1990, opened by Laurent Boutéraon, a pastry chef who'd arrived from Paris two years earlier, a few steps from Collège Stanislas and the Outremont metro. Ownership has since passed to Gervais Lavoie and his wife Lily, who've kept the format — quiches, croque-monsieurs, viennoiseries, and quality brunch — and the reputation intact. The croissant is the reason people keep coming back, regularly ranked among the best in the city for how much butter it carries. There's a terrace for warmer months.