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.
What began as a complaint about grading bias escalated into a two-week occupation, a fire, and one of the most consequential reckonings with institutional racism in Canadian higher education.
From ramen and wagashi to kimono parades and Canada's biggest Shiba gathering, here's how to make the most of Japan Week 2026.
As a new wave of restaurants has revived the neighbourhood’s energy, questions remain about who gets to shape (and belong to) the scene now taking hold.
From West Island newcomers to decades-old institutions, here's where to take mom out for a good time on May 10, 2026.
At 325 F, Bryan Rajarison cooks from memory, family, and a cuisine that rarely travels this far.
Inside the Wings Collection: 130 years of Sino-Montréal life, rescued from a noodle factory's attic before it could disappear.
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.
Twenty years after earning its UNESCO City of Design designation, Montreal is consolidating its scattered design events under one banner for the first time.
Jazz legends, burlesque queens, and organized crime made it one of the most alive corners in North America. Then Montreal decided it had a reputation to protect.
![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.
As Montreal's oldest fortune cookie factory shuts down after 128 years, a secret salvaged archive holds the blueprint for what could keep its memory alive.
Walk-ins and reservations share a warm welcome in this highly customized space, and it's got the menu to match.
The former Joe Beef co-owner and ex-Maison Publique chef debut their farm-and-chef-driven restaurant out in Dollard-Des Ormeaux.
![The Best New Restaurants in Montreal [December 2025]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstorage.ghost.io%2Fc%2F00%2Fe5%2F00e5bf23-2b72-4a48-92bb-496245b79d2a%2Fcontent%2Fimages%2F2025%2F12%2FTHEMAIN_bar-minou_20251010_0067.jpg&w=2560&q=75)
A Montreal take on a Scottish tavern, famed chefs jump back into action with a new project, a fresh Italian hangout in Westmount, and more.
The tinsel-drenched holiday pop-up returns with floor-to-ceiling decor, seasonal cocktails, Christmas Karaoke, and collectible glassware.
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.
