Some dépanneurs sell lottery tickets and instant noodles. This one sells 3000 tourtières a year and the best $3.50 breakfast sandwich in town.

Run by three generations of the Lalime family since 1959, this Saint-Laurent Boulevard mainstay operates more like a diner-meets-deli than your typical corner store. The kitchen starts up around 3 a.m., turning out pâtés, stews, sausages, and of course, the now-legendary “Pat matin” sandwich, invented by the late Patrick Lalime. Customers—construction workers, cabbies, cops, and retirees—line up before dawn, not just for food but for a sense of routine, familiarity, and belonging.

It’s old-school in the best way: cash-only delivery for elderly locals, house recipes from Maximilien’s grandmother, and a clientele that once rallied to defend it from a corporate chain. As they say in the family, you’ve got to love people to do this job. And it shows.