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A guide to the very best of Montreal, curated by our editors and the voices we feature in our stories.
Explore Montreal
MICROMAG
Discover the special edition collaborative Micromag, created with our friends at URBANIA.
Our collab offbeat guide is back for a second round, this time digging past where locals go and into how the city actually works, and who it's made of.
Nearly 50 years after Quebec’s French-language charter transformed education, the multilingual generation it produced is challenging what it means to be a Quebecer.
The photographer has spent years documenting Montreal’s post-pandemic underground. We asked them which collectives, DJs, and communities are shaping what comes next.
An eclectic collection of Montreal businesses approaching, reaching, and surpassing the 100-year mark.
Every year produces bars and restaurants worth tracking, and Montreal's latest is a strong showing.
The St. Lawrence River, French colonial planning, and centuries of habit created a directional system where “north” has almost nothing to do with a compass.
Veterans of Montreal’s vintage scene say Gen Z has fueled a boom that’s changing everything from fashion to vinyl collecting.
A season’s worth of street parties, open-air performances, sporting events, and annual cultural traditions curated by The Main and URBANIA.
Where an outdoors editor goes when the city wins out over the mountains.
Unlike your apartment, this costs nothing.
All of the lineups, overpriced attractions, and classic tourist mistakes you can make in one place.
SUMMER 2026
Snowstorm or heatwave, Montreal finds a reason to celebrate all year long.
Dust off your dusters, don your Canadian tuxedos, and slip on your cowboy boots: We're goin' line dancing.
From live audiovisual spectacles and outdoor installations to workshops, talks, and late-night performances, MUTEK’s 2026 celebration of art, electronic music, and technology will infuse six days with future-facing experiences.
A leadership overhaul, a return to the Village, and a lineup built from local talent. Here's what Fierté 2026 looks like, and how to be part of it.
A complete explainer for Osheaga's three headliners, six stages, and 89 acts while dodging the metro crush, bringing the right equipment, and making it to the afterparty.
Twelve days, 250+ shows, a free Weird Al concert, and a World Cup final: This is all you need to navigate JFL from July 15 to 26, 2026.
Everything to eat, see, and shop at the city’s biggest Vietnamese cultural festival.
World premieres collide with free shows in the streets across 11 days of performances: Here’s how to navigate the 17th edition of Montréal Complètement Cirque from July 2 to 12, 2026.
The festival returns to the Peel Basin June 11 to 14, 2026.
GOAL MTL hits its sweet 16 with a full day of football, food, and culture at Percival Molson.
After bankruptcy put the agency behind it at risk, Multicolore has acquired LNDMRK to ensure the festival continues, with no layoffs planned.
From the Plateau to Verdun, Montreal’s annual pedestrian street season returns in 2026 with new additions, missing favourites, and nearly seven kilometres of car-free city life.
The 200-year story of a street that's always belonged to everyone and no one.
The best of Montreal's culinary scene
Owner Jeremy Anderson calls himself a steward rather than a creator, and likens the room to a reforestation project: build the right conditions, and the culture grows back.
Once the opening buzz fades and the lists move on, some restaurants enter their most interesting years.
Local restaurateurs are pushing beyond bibimbap and bulgogi. Whether the city is ready to follow is another question.
With three hundred square feet for 1.2 million visitors a year, the smallest room in the café brand's network signals a lot for where the industry's at.
A game plan for dining options at OSHEAGA, îLESONIQ, LASSO: what to grab on-site, and what's worth saving room for after the sun sets.
Roaming pop-ups to brick-and-mortar shops alike are pairing global techniques with Quebec ingredients to keep the city’s most democratic food within reach.
The new pizzeria pairs a three-day fermented dough with unconventional recipes and a merciful promise to keep whole pies under $40.
A fire-driven culinary experience and all-day festivities frame are cherries on top of this year's justifiably weekend-consuming National Bank Open.
Institutions
The dishes and dining rooms the city is actually known for.
Guide · 19 places
Here's where the chef ate his way through the city across No Reservations, The Layover, and Parts Unknown.
Guide · 38 places
Still serving after all these years: A tour through the institutions that fed generations and helped define Montreal’s food identity.
Guide · 27 places
Grab a booth or stool, order up, and tuck in.
Guide · 16 places
From legendary old-school delis to new-guard smokers working at full tilt, here's where to find the city's best brisket.
Guide · 17 places
Our most iconic shops, from century-old institutions to small local favourites—all shaping the city’s bagel culture.
Guide · 26 places
Decades-old diners, neighbourhood legends, and a few sleeper hits.
Guide · 36 places
Multi-generational institutions, next-wave pasta spots, and everything in between.
Guide · 18 places
Cutting through the noise to find the best spots for a perfectly seared and deeply satisfying steak.
Guide · 45 places
From boundary-pushing tasting menus to perfected single plates: updated monthly, argued over constantly.
Guide · 41 places
Second living rooms, third-wave pours, and the neighbourhood haunts that hold this city's coffee culture together.
Guide · 43 places
Intimate, theatrical, memorable: the spots that make an evening feel like an occasion.
Guide · 28 places
Rare finds, curated shelves, and community hubs across the city.
Guide · 29 places
The friperies, warehouses, and one 26,000-square-foot wildcard keeping good clothes in circulation.
Guide · 29 places
It's wandering, but rewarded: Shop local, shop curious, and let these spots surprise you.
Lean back and listen in at these vinyl-heavy addresses in the city with slow, intentional, and mature atmospheres inspired by Japanese jazz kissa.
Stories, guides, and reporting that make sense of Montreal — its culture, neighbourhoods, and everyday life.
Explore restaurants, cafés, galleries, and places worth knowing — searchable by neighbourhood, category, and what's around you.
Like articles and places to build your own lists — a personal way to keep track of the city you love.
For generations of immigrants and their children, the streets around Plamondon metro are the cultural centre of Filipino life in Montreal.
Shop The Main's Dépanneur. Open 24/7.
A guide to the very best of Montreal, curated by our editors and the voices we feature in our stories.
Explore MontrealMICROMAG
Discover the special edition collaborative Micromag, created with our friends at URBANIA.
Our collab offbeat guide is back for a second round, this time digging past where locals go and into how the city actually works, and who it's made of.
Nearly 50 years after Quebec’s French-language charter transformed education, the multilingual generation it produced is challenging what it means to be a Quebecer.
The photographer has spent years documenting Montreal’s post-pandemic underground. We asked them which collectives, DJs, and communities are shaping what comes next.
An eclectic collection of Montreal businesses approaching, reaching, and surpassing the 100-year mark.
Every year produces bars and restaurants worth tracking, and Montreal's latest is a strong showing.
The St. Lawrence River, French colonial planning, and centuries of habit created a directional system where “north” has almost nothing to do with a compass.
Veterans of Montreal’s vintage scene say Gen Z has fueled a boom that’s changing everything from fashion to vinyl collecting.
A season’s worth of street parties, open-air performances, sporting events, and annual cultural traditions curated by The Main and URBANIA.
Where an outdoors editor goes when the city wins out over the mountains.
Unlike your apartment, this costs nothing.
All of the lineups, overpriced attractions, and classic tourist mistakes you can make in one place.
SUMMER 2026
Snowstorm or heatwave, Montreal finds a reason to celebrate all year long.
Dust off your dusters, don your Canadian tuxedos, and slip on your cowboy boots: We're goin' line dancing.
From live audiovisual spectacles and outdoor installations to workshops, talks, and late-night performances, MUTEK’s 2026 celebration of art, electronic music, and technology will infuse six days with future-facing experiences.
A leadership overhaul, a return to the Village, and a lineup built from local talent. Here's what Fierté 2026 looks like, and how to be part of it.
A complete explainer for Osheaga's three headliners, six stages, and 89 acts while dodging the metro crush, bringing the right equipment, and making it to the afterparty.
Twelve days, 250+ shows, a free Weird Al concert, and a World Cup final: This is all you need to navigate JFL from July 15 to 26, 2026.
Everything to eat, see, and shop at the city’s biggest Vietnamese cultural festival.
World premieres collide with free shows in the streets across 11 days of performances: Here’s how to navigate the 17th edition of Montréal Complètement Cirque from July 2 to 12, 2026.
The festival returns to the Peel Basin June 11 to 14, 2026.
GOAL MTL hits its sweet 16 with a full day of football, food, and culture at Percival Molson.
After bankruptcy put the agency behind it at risk, Multicolore has acquired LNDMRK to ensure the festival continues, with no layoffs planned.
From the Plateau to Verdun, Montreal’s annual pedestrian street season returns in 2026 with new additions, missing favourites, and nearly seven kilometres of car-free city life.
The 200-year story of a street that's always belonged to everyone and no one.
The best of Montreal's culinary scene
Owner Jeremy Anderson calls himself a steward rather than a creator, and likens the room to a reforestation project: build the right conditions, and the culture grows back.
Once the opening buzz fades and the lists move on, some restaurants enter their most interesting years.
Local restaurateurs are pushing beyond bibimbap and bulgogi. Whether the city is ready to follow is another question.
With three hundred square feet for 1.2 million visitors a year, the smallest room in the café brand's network signals a lot for where the industry's at.
A game plan for dining options at OSHEAGA, îLESONIQ, LASSO: what to grab on-site, and what's worth saving room for after the sun sets.
Roaming pop-ups to brick-and-mortar shops alike are pairing global techniques with Quebec ingredients to keep the city’s most democratic food within reach.
The new pizzeria pairs a three-day fermented dough with unconventional recipes and a merciful promise to keep whole pies under $40.
A fire-driven culinary experience and all-day festivities frame are cherries on top of this year's justifiably weekend-consuming National Bank Open.
Institutions
The dishes and dining rooms the city is actually known for.
Guide · 19 places
Here's where the chef ate his way through the city across No Reservations, The Layover, and Parts Unknown.
Guide · 38 places
Still serving after all these years: A tour through the institutions that fed generations and helped define Montreal’s food identity.
Guide · 27 places
Grab a booth or stool, order up, and tuck in.
Guide · 16 places
From legendary old-school delis to new-guard smokers working at full tilt, here's where to find the city's best brisket.
Guide · 17 places
Our most iconic shops, from century-old institutions to small local favourites—all shaping the city’s bagel culture.
Guide · 26 places
Decades-old diners, neighbourhood legends, and a few sleeper hits.
Guide · 36 places
Multi-generational institutions, next-wave pasta spots, and everything in between.
Guide · 18 places
Cutting through the noise to find the best spots for a perfectly seared and deeply satisfying steak.
Guide · 45 places
From boundary-pushing tasting menus to perfected single plates: updated monthly, argued over constantly.
Guide · 41 places
Second living rooms, third-wave pours, and the neighbourhood haunts that hold this city's coffee culture together.
Guide · 43 places
Intimate, theatrical, memorable: the spots that make an evening feel like an occasion.
Guide · 28 places
Rare finds, curated shelves, and community hubs across the city.
Guide · 29 places
The friperies, warehouses, and one 26,000-square-foot wildcard keeping good clothes in circulation.
Guide · 29 places
It's wandering, but rewarded: Shop local, shop curious, and let these spots surprise you.
Lean back and listen in at these vinyl-heavy addresses in the city with slow, intentional, and mature atmospheres inspired by Japanese jazz kissa.
Stories, guides, and reporting that make sense of Montreal — its culture, neighbourhoods, and everyday life.
Explore restaurants, cafés, galleries, and places worth knowing — searchable by neighbourhood, category, and what's around you.
Like articles and places to build your own lists — a personal way to keep track of the city you love.
For generations of immigrants and their children, the streets around Plamondon metro are the cultural centre of Filipino life in Montreal.
Shop The Main's Dépanneur. Open 24/7.
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