--°C|Friday, September 11, 2026
Spit-roasted chicken, a bowling alley open until 3 a.m., stacks of used records, and an argument about the city's best baguette.
September 11, 2026
NDG was farmland before it was anything else, which is why the streets run wide and the triplexes still have front lawns. What filled them in was a century of students, immigrant families, and people looking for somewhere cheaper than downtown, and the neighbourhood has never really stopped running on that. The casual eateries, the old-school diners, the second-hand everything: none of it is a revival, it just never left.
This guide is the day-long version of the place. Chicken off a spit at a counter that hasn't changed its recipe in decades. A bowling alley that outlasts most bars. Record bins, book stacks, a park that does winter as well as it does summer.
If you want to go deeper on one part of it, we've covered the neighbourhood's restaurants and its bars separately, and NDG turns up again in our guide to the city's best bowling. Otherwise, pick an end of Sherbrooke or Monkland and walk. Most of what follows is within a few blocks of the rest, which is the other thing NDG has going for it.
Two pubs, two different evenings. Next Door keeps whatever's on the schedule running across its screens and projectors, so hockey, soccer, and football seasons all get their due and the room reacts accordingly. Honey Martin has fewer televisions and better odds of a conversation, the kind of place where one pint becomes three because nobody is steering you toward the door. They're a short walk apart, so there's no need to decide in advance. Keep the Guinness coming.
Chalet Bar-B-Q has been turning chickens on a spit and dousing them in that sauce long enough that the recipe works as a neighbourhood landmark. Nobody goes for the ambience, which is exactly the appeal. Épicerie Mange-Tout builds its sandwiches on meat from its own butcher counter, and the result is the kind of lunch that makes the rest of the afternoon slower than planned. For something else entirely, Marché Korea's counter turns out fried chicken, bibimbap, and a rotating cast of noodle, soup, and rice plates. None of it asks anything of you beyond showing up hungry.
For 8.8 square kilometres, NDG has an improbable number of diners. Cosmo's has been at it since 1967, a counter operation where the eggs, toast, bacon, and potatoes arrive fast and the grill does most of the talking. It's small, it's greasy, and the wait on a Sunday is part of the arrangement. The NDG Luncheonette chases the same cravings with more attention to where things come from, plus a hot dog and smoked meat on the board. Two versions of one idea, decades apart.
Nobody's first instinct for a date is NDG, which is most of the argument for bringing one here. Monkland Tavern sits on the line between casual and something more, cooking seasonally with local produce, meat, and seafood without the room ever tipping into stiff. Arthurs Dinette takes its diner origins into dinner territory worth dressing up for. Hwang Kum is the loosest of the three, built for shared plates and a conversation that runs long.
Ca Lem is a local Montreal ice cream shop that opened in 2016 and specializes in sorbets and ice creams with Vietnamese flavours. Its location in NDG was the first to open, with four more across the city to follow. Test out sorbet flavours like lemon yuzu and pandan-coconut, or ice cream flavours like matcha-blueberry, Vietnamese coffee, and cantaloupe.
Walk around NDG and you’ll find shops selling used physical media on every corner. While some places stick to one medium, whether it’s books, records, or DVDs, Encore Books & Records does it all. Walk on the store’s creaky hardwood floors through its two rooms filled with stacks of used fiction, non-fiction, DVDs, CDs, and more—you’ll surely find something to take home.
For those more inclined to pick up a paperback or hardcover than a film on tape, Librairie Renaissance NDG, one of the thrift chain’s 11 used-book outposts, or Phoenix Books are worth the visit.
The Gallery is arguably NDG’s best second-hand store. Showcasing a mix of curated vintage and thrift, where most comparable stores in the city price their clothes excessively, The Gallery keeps all merchandise under $35—irrespective of the brand. The Saint-Jacques Fripe-Prix Renaissance is even more affordable, though with the caveat of searching through racks, rather than being presented with an already handpicked selection of attire.
Whether you want to take a stroll, have a picnic, or take the kids to the playground, Parc Notre-Dame-de Grâce offers it all. During the winter, cross-country ski trails and outdoor hockey and skating rinks are open, while the summer boasts play fountains and a pavilion with a refreshment stand. Of course, the real draw here is a glimpse of nature in the city and all the foliage that follows.
The Wheel Club was a veterans' social club before it became the non-profit room it is now, and it has never entirely stopped behaving like one. Hillbilly Night, the weekly open mic, is the long-running draw, but the calendar also holds karaoke, tribute shows, and jams that go wherever they go. Nothing about it is polished, and the crowd would object if it were. Most nights of the week, a drink and a performance are both on the table.
Rose Bowl's decor is the same as it was when your parents were the ones showing up, and the room is no quieter for it. It holds up for a rainy afternoon, a family outing, or a birthday party spanning fifty years of guests. The real tell is the closing time. Three in the morning, later than most of the bars in this guide, which says plenty about the kind of night that ends here.
La Meunerie Urbaine mills its own flour on site, which is rare enough here to explain why people make the best-baguette claim on its behalf. Whether it holds up is yours to decide, and the sourdoughs give you several more chances to decide it. The ovens also handle pizza and quiche, and the weekend brings pastry: croissants, cinnamon rolls, brioche. Milling your own flour is a lot of work for a loaf of bread. You can taste the reason they bother.
Shaika sat empty for close to five years before new owners reopened it as a Portuguese-inspired café-bar under the same name. The continuity is the point, because the original functioned as a third space in the real sense of the term, and getting that back is the stated ambition. Early in the day it's an egg-and-cheese sandwich on Portuguese bread and a coffee. Later it's house sangria and tapas. Either way you're meant to stay a while, and the room is built for it.
Every place here was visited by someone on our team.
Spit-roasted chicken, a bowling alley open until 3 a.m., stacks of used records, and an argument about the city's best baguette.
September 11, 2026
NDG was farmland before it was anything else, which is why the streets run wide and the triplexes still have front lawns. What filled them in was a century of students, immigrant families, and people looking for somewhere cheaper than downtown, and the neighbourhood has never really stopped running on that. The casual eateries, the old-school diners, the second-hand everything: none of it is a revival, it just never left.
This guide is the day-long version of the place. Chicken off a spit at a counter that hasn't changed its recipe in decades. A bowling alley that outlasts most bars. Record bins, book stacks, a park that does winter as well as it does summer.
If you want to go deeper on one part of it, we've covered the neighbourhood's restaurants and its bars separately, and NDG turns up again in our guide to the city's best bowling. Otherwise, pick an end of Sherbrooke or Monkland and walk. Most of what follows is within a few blocks of the rest, which is the other thing NDG has going for it.
Two pubs, two different evenings. Next Door keeps whatever's on the schedule running across its screens and projectors, so hockey, soccer, and football seasons all get their due and the room reacts accordingly. Honey Martin has fewer televisions and better odds of a conversation, the kind of place where one pint becomes three because nobody is steering you toward the door. They're a short walk apart, so there's no need to decide in advance. Keep the Guinness coming.
Chalet Bar-B-Q has been turning chickens on a spit and dousing them in that sauce long enough that the recipe works as a neighbourhood landmark. Nobody goes for the ambience, which is exactly the appeal. Épicerie Mange-Tout builds its sandwiches on meat from its own butcher counter, and the result is the kind of lunch that makes the rest of the afternoon slower than planned. For something else entirely, Marché Korea's counter turns out fried chicken, bibimbap, and a rotating cast of noodle, soup, and rice plates. None of it asks anything of you beyond showing up hungry.
For 8.8 square kilometres, NDG has an improbable number of diners. Cosmo's has been at it since 1967, a counter operation where the eggs, toast, bacon, and potatoes arrive fast and the grill does most of the talking. It's small, it's greasy, and the wait on a Sunday is part of the arrangement. The NDG Luncheonette chases the same cravings with more attention to where things come from, plus a hot dog and smoked meat on the board. Two versions of one idea, decades apart.
Nobody's first instinct for a date is NDG, which is most of the argument for bringing one here. Monkland Tavern sits on the line between casual and something more, cooking seasonally with local produce, meat, and seafood without the room ever tipping into stiff. Arthurs Dinette takes its diner origins into dinner territory worth dressing up for. Hwang Kum is the loosest of the three, built for shared plates and a conversation that runs long.
Ca Lem is a local Montreal ice cream shop that opened in 2016 and specializes in sorbets and ice creams with Vietnamese flavours. Its location in NDG was the first to open, with four more across the city to follow. Test out sorbet flavours like lemon yuzu and pandan-coconut, or ice cream flavours like matcha-blueberry, Vietnamese coffee, and cantaloupe.
Walk around NDG and you’ll find shops selling used physical media on every corner. While some places stick to one medium, whether it’s books, records, or DVDs, Encore Books & Records does it all. Walk on the store’s creaky hardwood floors through its two rooms filled with stacks of used fiction, non-fiction, DVDs, CDs, and more—you’ll surely find something to take home.
For those more inclined to pick up a paperback or hardcover than a film on tape, Librairie Renaissance NDG, one of the thrift chain’s 11 used-book outposts, or Phoenix Books are worth the visit.
The Gallery is arguably NDG’s best second-hand store. Showcasing a mix of curated vintage and thrift, where most comparable stores in the city price their clothes excessively, The Gallery keeps all merchandise under $35—irrespective of the brand. The Saint-Jacques Fripe-Prix Renaissance is even more affordable, though with the caveat of searching through racks, rather than being presented with an already handpicked selection of attire.
Whether you want to take a stroll, have a picnic, or take the kids to the playground, Parc Notre-Dame-de Grâce offers it all. During the winter, cross-country ski trails and outdoor hockey and skating rinks are open, while the summer boasts play fountains and a pavilion with a refreshment stand. Of course, the real draw here is a glimpse of nature in the city and all the foliage that follows.
The Wheel Club was a veterans' social club before it became the non-profit room it is now, and it has never entirely stopped behaving like one. Hillbilly Night, the weekly open mic, is the long-running draw, but the calendar also holds karaoke, tribute shows, and jams that go wherever they go. Nothing about it is polished, and the crowd would object if it were. Most nights of the week, a drink and a performance are both on the table.
Rose Bowl's decor is the same as it was when your parents were the ones showing up, and the room is no quieter for it. It holds up for a rainy afternoon, a family outing, or a birthday party spanning fifty years of guests. The real tell is the closing time. Three in the morning, later than most of the bars in this guide, which says plenty about the kind of night that ends here.
La Meunerie Urbaine mills its own flour on site, which is rare enough here to explain why people make the best-baguette claim on its behalf. Whether it holds up is yours to decide, and the sourdoughs give you several more chances to decide it. The ovens also handle pizza and quiche, and the weekend brings pastry: croissants, cinnamon rolls, brioche. Milling your own flour is a lot of work for a loaf of bread. You can taste the reason they bother.
Shaika sat empty for close to five years before new owners reopened it as a Portuguese-inspired café-bar under the same name. The continuity is the point, because the original functioned as a third space in the real sense of the term, and getting that back is the stated ambition. Early in the day it's an egg-and-cheese sandwich on Portuguese bread and a coffee. Later it's house sangria and tapas. Either way you're meant to stay a while, and the room is built for it.
Every place here was visited by someone on our team.
