Plaza Côte-des-Neiges and the Heart of Uptown Montreal

For those who don’t know, Côte-des-Neiges is made up of two different yet deeply connected areas. At the top of the hill, you’re surrounded by university life, hospitals, long-time residents, and the steady flow of tourists visiting Saint Joseph’s Oratory. Further down in the opposite direction of downtown lies the neighbourhood locals know as Uptown 160.

While Uptown has often been labeled as one of the city’s most marginalized neighbourhoods, a reputation that often downplays how much it has to offer. It’s easily one of Montreal’s most underrated areas, and if you’ve never set foot in Côte-des-Neiges as a whole, you’re missing a key part of what shaped the city into the layered, multilingual place it is today.

Beginning in the late 1960s, waves of immigrants from the Caribbean, Southeast Asian, Latin American, and Eastern European countries made their home here, transforming it into the most culturally diverse boroughs in the city, where more than 130 languages are spoken. And while Montreal is celebrated for its poutine, bagels, and smoked meat, Côte-des-Neiges deserves just as much recognition for its lechon, butter chicken, rotis, pho, and chow mein (to name a few).

The neighbourhood is a reflection of stories visible in storefronts, parks, and festivals shaped by food, music, and dance. From markets and bakeries to community centres and church hall parties, the blend of languages here is constant. It lives in overheard conversations, familiar faces behind counters, and quiet gestures between neighbours.

Affordable goods are still somewhat easier to find here than in many parts of the city. That’s not to say Côte-des-Neiges is untouched by gentrification or rising costs—the neighbourhood continues to change in bittersweet ways—but a handful of institutions remain, places that continue to tell the stories of the communities that built and sustain it.

New walls, same rituals

Plamondon Metro, with its orange-and-blue retro design and glass block walls, feels like a time capsule from the 1970s. Step outside, pass a KFC, cut through Lavoie High School, and you arrive at the bustling parking lot of Plaza Côte-des-Neiges.

The mall is both a commercial hub and a third space: It’s where teenagers linger after school, elders meet without needing a reason, and routines form out of running errands at Marché Fu Tai or Walmart, grabbing a quick bite, or simply passing time. The Plaza is rarely quiet.

Photograph: Julie Bergeron / @juliekodak

Despite more than a decade of drawn-out renovations that pit unfinished floors against new fixtures, its character hasn’t changed. Old burgundy swivel chairs still stand, and a few original vendors remain including Chin Chow and its original neon sign.

For many, the Plaza holds first memories: after-school hangouts, the cinema, and the wishing fountain once filled with pennies. It’s where first to second generation kids had their first taste of poutine and bagels.

Maison Bagel reflects that continuity. Its red sign and small details like a photo of children on a school field trip taped on the windows makes it feels frozen in time. Since 2001, owner Babak Assadollahi has kept the shop much as it always was since taking over from the original owners in 1994.

“When we bought the shop, it wasn’t like ‘You bought it. Ok, thank you, bye’,” he says. “I [trained] for two to three months with the previous owner. It’s not an easy job.”

While he occasionally introduces new flavours, the foundation remains the same. Some staff have been there for decades, including Raja, a baker nearing retirement.

While most of his customers are locals, many travel from all around.

“The bagels traveled more than I think I traveled in my life,” Assadollahi says. “This place is my second house.”

“This place is my second house,” Assadollahi says.

Intersections and belonging

Just steps from the Plaza is Kent Park—known as Martin Luther King Park since it was renamed in 2019—a space that brings together both sides of Côte-des-Neiges. In a single playground, you’ll see the city reflected in its diversity.

That same interplay continues uphill through institutions that preserve the neighbourhood’s heritage. One of them is Marché Jean-Brillant, operating since 1982.

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