I had heard of Drogheria Fine and its $5 gnocchi long before I moved into the Mile End, and when I arrived, it was one of the first places I visited.

Always served to-go, it’s not uncommon to spot line-ups huddled around Drogheria Fine’s window to eat their gnocchi with chopsticks out of oyster pails. The menu couldn’t be simpler: gnocchi, spicy or not, with the option of extra cheese, all served from a large bubbling cauldron of the shop’s original export of homemade tomato sauce.

The verdict: It’s perfectly fine gnocchi, but it makes an absolute killing, so much so that public trash cans in a three-block radius are often filled to overflowing with Drogheria’s takeout containers.

So how and why can okay gnocchi become a city favourite to the point that local outlets feel the need to comment on whether or not its $5 price tag will be affected by inflation?

Drogheria Fine’s window pickup format offers a great example of how smart design can help circumvent restrictive Montreal bylaws (specifically By-law 15-039) which outlaw genuine street food to this day and help provide affordable meals to the community. When you offer a $5 meal, you’re not just a business; you’re offering an essential service to the neighbourhood.

This format has many benefits: it reduces overhead costs and attracts attention to the business. The gnocchi brought attention to the tomato sauce, Drogheria Fine's original product.

The best part: selling affordable food options out of a window is a practice many Montreal eateries can easily adopt with minimal investment. This window format is a street food model sustainable during Canadian winters, offering more protection from the elements than a traditional snack stand.

Sale and distribution

Explaining this local mystery starts with looking at another Montreal favourite serving simple, unpretentious food: $2 chow mein, or 2-chow. This simple dish of chow mein noodles covered in a ladleful of peanut sauce is a staple for every clubgoer known to frequent Saint-Laurent Boulevard past midnight, served from the window of Chez Mein.

I had heard of Drogheria Fine and its $5 gnocchi long before I moved into the Mile End, and when I arrived, it was one of the first places I visited.

Always served to-go, it’s not uncommon to spot line-ups huddled around Drogheria Fine’s window to eat their gnocchi with chopsticks out of oyster pails. The menu couldn’t be simpler: gnocchi, spicy or not, with the option of extra cheese, all served from a large bubbling cauldron of the shop’s original export of homemade tomato sauce.

The verdict: It’s perfectly fine gnocchi, but it makes an absolute killing, so much so that public trash cans in a three-block radius are often filled to overflowing with Drogheria’s takeout containers.

So how and why can okay gnocchi become a city favourite to the point that local outlets feel the need to comment on whether or not its $5 price tag will be affected by inflation?

Drogheria Fine’s window pickup format offers a great example of how smart design can help circumvent restrictive Montreal bylaws (specifically By-law 15-039) which outlaw genuine street food to this day and help provide affordable meals to the community. When you offer a $5 meal, you’re not just a business; you’re offering an essential service to the neighbourhood.

This format has many benefits: it reduces overhead costs and attracts attention to the business. The gnocchi brought attention to the tomato sauce, Drogheria Fine's original product.

The best part: selling affordable food options out of a window is a practice many Montreal eateries can easily adopt with minimal investment. This window format is a street food model sustainable during Canadian winters, offering more protection from the elements than a traditional snack stand.

Sale and distribution

Explaining this local mystery starts with looking at another Montreal favourite serving simple, unpretentious food: $2 chow mein, or 2-chow. This simple dish of chow mein noodles covered in a ladleful of peanut sauce is a staple for every clubgoer known to frequent Saint-Laurent Boulevard past midnight, served from the window of Chez Mein.

I had heard of Drogheria Fine and its $5 gnocchi long before I moved into the Mile End, and when I arrived, it was one of the first places I visited.

Always served to-go, it’s not uncommon to spot line-ups huddled around Drogheria Fine’s window to eat their gnocchi with chopsticks out of oyster pails. The menu couldn’t be simpler: gnocchi, spicy or not, with the option of extra cheese, all served from a large bubbling cauldron of the shop’s original export of homemade tomato sauce.

The verdict: It’s perfectly fine gnocchi, but it makes an absolute killing, so much so that public trash cans in a three-block radius are often filled to overflowing with Drogheria’s takeout containers.

I had heard of Drogheria Fine and its $5 gnocchi long before I moved into the Mile End, and when I arrived, it was one of the first places I visited.

Always served to-go, it’s not uncommon to spot line-ups huddled around Drogheria Fine’s window to eat their gnocchi with chopsticks out of oyster pails. The menu couldn’t be simpler: gnocchi, spicy or not, with the option of extra cheese, all served from a large bubbling cauldron of the shop’s original export of homemade tomato sauce.

The verdict: It’s perfectly fine gnocchi, but it makes an absolute killing, so much so that public trash cans in a three-block radius are often filled to overflowing with Drogheria’s takeout containers.