49th Parallel took the corner of McGill and Notre-Dame in Old Montreal, the address that held the diner Plaza McGill for four decades. The Vancouver roaster, started by brothers Vince and Michael Piccolo in 2004 on a direct-trade model, picked Montreal for its first café outside British Columbia, Quebec having long been its largest market outside BC.

The room runs 2,000 square feet and seats around 80, with century-old brick and stone masonry left exposed and a fireplace at the back. Lucky's Doughnuts, the company's in-house bakery, glazes in a window facing Notre-Dame, in flavours built for the province: pouding chômeur, Lac-Saint-Jean blueberry, strawberry rhubarb crumble. The kitchen handles egg burgers at breakfast, sandwiches and salads later. The allongé was added to the menu for Montreal specifically.