Lester's Deli

1057 avenue Bernard Ouest, Montréal

Lester's Deli has smoked meat on Bernard Ouest since 1951, founded by Polish immigrant Eddy Lester and run for decades by Billy Berenholc, whose family kept the recipe unchanged through two generations. In 2023 Berenholc passed the deli to restaurateur Kevin Fung, staying on as a consultant so the 72-hour in-house marinating and hand-cutting don't drift from the original. The room still runs on Formica tables and deli-counter theatre — a stack of rye disappearing under a hand-piled plate of beef, brisket, smoked turkey, or smoked salmon. The Super Deluxe (fries, a dill pickle, a drink) is the full ritual; regulars who want to build their own sandwich order the smoked meat plate, a mountain of meat beside a half-loaf of rye, mustard on the side.