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    The Main

    Montreal's Cultural Directory

    Help us improve! Share your thoughts on how we can make your experience better.

    Leave feedback

    For partnerships and collaborations:

    partnerships@themain.com

    Content

    • Articles
    • Food & Drink
    • Arts & Culture
    • History Lesson
    • Bulletin
    • Events

    Guides

    • All Guides
    • Best Restaurants
    • Best Cafés
    • Best Bars
    • Best Brunch
    • Best Bakeries

    Explore Montreal

    • Browse Directory
    • Restaurants
    • Bars
    • Cafés
    • Bookstores
    • Leaderboard
    • Editor's Picks
    • New Places

    About

    • About us
    • Subscribe
    • Shop
    • Advertise
    • Pitch us
    • RSS Feed

    Legal

    • Terms of service
    • Membership Terms
    • Privacy Policy
    Follow us
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    The Main Media Inc. 2026

    ✦ Built By Field Office

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      --°C|Saturday, May 23, 2026|
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      Sections
      • Arts & Culture
      • Beyond Montreal
      • Design
      • Food & Drink
      • History Lessons
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      Explore
      Popular Guides
      • The Best Restaurants in Montreal
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      • Romantic Restaurants
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      The Main is reader-supported. Subscriptions are what keep us independent. Five dollars a month — the restaurants, the guides, the weekly bulletin, and what to do each weekend. Support us today.

      I don’t need to tell you how Montreal’s got a legendary reputation for casse-croûtes and cantines, local diners and snack bars that have historically fed the city from when it was Sin City in the 1920s to feeding today’s clubgoers riding high on bumps of ketamine. The Montreal Gazette columnist Bill Brownstein and an article by Jessica Wei in Saveur can tell you all about that instead, minus the ketamine.

      What I can tell you is that diners embody a specific style of dining out in this city that, some say, is at risk of dying out alongside other famed institutions that make up our patrimonial cuisine. Restaurants are a hard enough business as it is, and when it comes to the day-in-day-out grind of selling cheap eats, their owners’ kids aren’t always willing to carry the torch.

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      Our patron saints of diners: Montreal’s next generation of casse-croûte owners
      David Minicucci stands outside Cosmos in the west-end borough of NDG. (Photo: Philip Tabah)

      The Main is reader-supported. Subscriptions are what keep us independent. Five dollars a month — the restaurants, the guides, the weekly bulletin, and what to do each weekend. Support us today.

      I don’t need to tell you how Montreal’s got a legendary reputation for casse-croûtes and cantines, local diners and snack bars that have historically fed the city from when it was Sin City in the 1920s to feeding today’s clubgoers riding high on bumps of ketamine. The Montreal Gazette columnist Bill Brownstein and an article by Jessica Wei in Saveur can tell you all about that instead, minus the ketamine.

      What I can tell you is that diners embody a specific style of dining out in this city that, some say, is at risk of dying out alongside other famed institutions that make up our patrimonial cuisine. Restaurants are a hard enough business as it is, and when it comes to the day-in-day-out grind of selling cheap eats, their owners’ kids aren’t always willing to carry the torch.

      Free account required

      For readers who care about Montreal

      Create a free account to read this story and access 3 articles per month, plus our weekly Bulletin.

      Independent. Local. Reader-supported.

      or

      Already a member? Sign in

      Comments

      Welcome to The Main's comments section!

      Share your thoughts and join the conversation. Please be respectful and constructive.

      No comments yet. Be the first!

      Follow on Google
      Montreal Wanted the Michelin Guide. Now It Has to Live With It.
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