Hi, I’m going to Montreal for a conference in a few weeks at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. I would love recommendations for lunch/dinner/bakeries within walking distance of the area (~2miles). While I love a good fancy meal, I won’t be able to make reservations anywhere because I can’t plan my schedule due to the craziness of being at a conference and my group makes up a combination of professionals and graduate students so a reasonable budget is preferred. I eat all types of food so any region is welcome. Also, due to health concerns, we would prefer places that have outdoor seating/take-out. Thank you for your suggestions.
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Montreal tourist here so won’t be that helpful, but if you want to try some poutine, La Banquise is just slightly over 2 miles away and very budget friendly. They have an outdoor patio and are open 24h.
Also Schwartz’s Deli is a little closer for smoked meat, another Montreal speciality. No outside seating I believe but they do take out. I think it’s pretty popular though so may not be the best choice for a quick bite.
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Olive et Gourmando in Old Montreal isn’t too far away, for takeout baked goods, salads, light lunches. Might be considered pricey by some grad students, but cheaper than a fancy meal.
Chinatown is close, too.
Lots of good cheap eats on the Plateau, which isn’t far by taxi, subway or a walk. Quite a few Portuguese chicken places that are affordable.
The food in Montreal offers a lot of bang for the buck, relative to Toronto and big American cities.
There are lots of parks in Montreal, if you choose to get takeout , and eat in a park, rather than a patio.
I haven’t been to Montreal since Nov 2019 due to Covid, so I’m not sure which places have patios, apart from places I’ve visited in the past .
Might also consider visiting Jean Talon Market and getting food to go.
There is a Mexican restaurant with a patio near the market https://leroidutaco.com/
St Viateur and Fairmont Bagels are affordable. They sell cream cheese at the bagel bakeries. No seating and no patios.
Shawarma and falafel, and other Middle Eastern food, is very good in Montreal. Some is very affordable.
Here’s a thread on Le Petit Alep report (Montreal, long) which is midrange
Thank you so much. That is a great list to work off of. I’m sure we will not go hungry. I have not been to Montreal in well over a decade so I honestly can’t remember most of the places I have eaten in the past. I look forward to checking out the market too.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely be going to Schwartz’s Deli.
Amanda
There are so many places in Montreal, both for good food and for great food.
For bagels: There’s always been a strong competition between St. Viateur and Fairmont bagels. Both are a short drive from convention center. Both are open 24/7. My preference has always been from St. Viateur. There really is nothing better than a hot white seed bagel straight out of the wood-burning oven at 3am in the morning!
Plenty of great fish restaurants (Greek)
Great portuguese fish restaurant in old montreal - I think it’s called Solmar.
downtown montreal - a great place and hopping unbelievably during Formula 1 weekend: Ferreira.
For a chocolate dessert: Juliette et Chocolat - they have several locations around town.
There’s a whole bunch of indian restaurants on Jean Talon - all extremely inexpensive and very good - but that’s definitely a drive from downtown.
I agree - pick up some baguette, cheese, fruit etc at either Jean Talon Market or Atwater Market and have a picnic.
Enjoy!
Some of the discussion on older threads like the one below may be of interest to you. There’s great international food available that’s not expensive (somewhat due to the many international students, in addition to the population itself). Outdoor seating may be trickier for those, though, but you could take out and find somewhere else to eat.
My favorites when I’m there are dumpling restaurants (among many other broad Asian options), Lebanese/middle eastern places with lahmacun and other flatbreads to go (they also double as pizza places), and local chains like Premiere Moisson or Les Moulins that you can get interesting light meals.
Looks like you will be very close to Chinatown too, where there’s lots of tasty and well-priced eats, but you may need to take out if the seating doesn’t suit your needs.
