J.P. Karwacki
JP Karwacki is the managing editor of The Main. His work has previously appeared in Time Magazine, the Montreal Gazette, Time Out, NUVO, and more.
Montreal, Quebec
Website
Chef-run counters, Little Italy institutions, and old-school crèmeries worth the lineup.
15 bars, pubs, and cafés where the beautiful game gets the audience it deserves.
From 70-cent burgers to a 25-course omakase, Montreal's got dad covered this June 21.
Montreal's breakfast scene is more than bagels and brunch queues; here's what's open early and worth every minute.
Ethiopian injera, Senegalese thiebou dieune, Mauritanian prix fixe, Congolese fufu, Algerian couscous, and more—the variety of Montreal's African restaurants runs deep.
The creative director and producer on where she eats, drinks, and resets between trips.
From free street festivals to $1,000-a-ticket blowouts, here's where the city comes alive during race week.
From West Island newcomers to decades-old institutions, here's where to take mom out for a good time on May 10, 2026.
On terrasses, vintage shops, horny summer vibes, and drinking beer under the Van Horne bridge.
From Pointe-Claire to Parc La Fontaine, here's where the Mile End Kicks actor eats, drinks, and goes to stay grounded.
![The 15 Best New Cafés in Montreal [August 2026]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F2edxk5v7%2Fproduction%2F577129bce7db4fa0dbfb38a49b0faf2c1331816c-2560x1688.jpg&w=2560&q=75)
Gelato in a bank vault, an Italian grocery counter in Villeray, cafecito on the Plateau, coffee for dancers, and one very political espresso bar.
![The Best New Restaurants in Montreal [August 2026]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F2edxk5v7%2Fproduction%2Fd6dab4bbe6095928b3fa76db48f4c453a49c74a1-1335x1085.jpg&w=2560&q=75)
Pho chawanmushi at an eight-seat omakase, Hiroshima ramen's first outpost outside Japan, and sourdough slices selling out on Saint-Viateur.
![The Best New Bars in Montreal [July 2026]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F2edxk5v7%2Fproduction%2F0423dee1625e8928c670db1619ab8edd75948f72-6240x4160.jpg&w=2560&q=75)
An audiophilic cocktail bar from the minds behind El Pequeño and Coldroom, a Lebanese wine bar in the Plateau, and more.
How a 238-year-old industrial legacy is being transformed into a waterfront neighbourhood of urban repair.
Preserved almost exactly as it was, the former H. Fisher & Fils shop offers a rare, tactile glimpse into working-class life and quiet entrepreneurship.
Playing the long game with 14 sandwiches, retro signage, a design to outlast, and boozy slush for the summer.
The Otto team’s newest project fuses precision nigiri, rich yakitori, and sleek design in one spot far enough from downtown to feel like a statement.
How a record store kid slinging wax by day and DJing by night turned his obsession with audio clarity into a speaker company with soul.
Because there’s more to the city than lining up in the Old Port and Plateau.
These three neighbourhoods prove there’s more to Montreal than the usual stops.
In a world that rarely knows how to talk about disability, the Montreal writer and cartoonist found a new way to speak.
From Jacmel to Austin to Montreal: At Jean-Talon’s new smokehouse, the grill is wide open and the flavours go deep.
Through acrylic paintings, Underwood preserves landmarks and streetscapes from a city she never really left.
The second edition of MCF brings global cocktail culture to Montreal’s best bars with seminars, pairing dinners, and no-barrier access to top-tier talent.
Mon Lapin slips to #2, but the city’s dining scene is still unmatched.
Butter, sugar, flour, and the people 'n' pastry shops who know exactly what to do with them in Montreal.
Speakeasies, hotel bars, and neighbourhood rooms where a good drink is the main focus.
They say hunger is the best spice, but budget-friendly and fantastic food is just as good: This is where you'll find the best cheap eats in Montreal.
All manner of eggs, bagels, and sometimes the odd bottomless mimosa: This is Montreal's brunch scene, mapped.
Our final say guide to the best bars on offer in Montreal, from cocktail dens and wine bars to our favourite dives.
From boundary-pushing tasting menus to perfected single plates: updated monthly, argued over constantly.
From spots to work and places to print to undercelebrated artistic curios, few people are better to offer a guide to Montreal from an illustrator’s perspective than this enigmatic artist.
Second living rooms, third-wave pours, and the neighbourhood haunts that hold this city's coffee culture together.
