Food History of Montreal

Key eras

New France and the tourtiere table

French settlers from the 1600s built Quebec's founding cuisine around pork, root vegetables, dried peas and maple. Dishes like tourtiere, cretons and soupe aux pois came out of long winters and the need to preserve, and they still anchor the Quebecois holiday table in Montreal today.

1900s: the Jewish immigrant wave

Eastern European Jewish immigrants settling around Boulevard Saint-Laurent gave Montreal two of its defining foods. Fairmount Bagel opened in 1919 and Schwartz's in 1928, establishing the wood-fired honey-boiled bagel and the peppery hand-sliced smoked meat sandwich as permanent city institutions.

Postwar Portuguese and Italian arrivals

Portuguese immigrants around the Plateau brought charcoal churrasco chicken and piri-piri, while Italians built Little Italy around the Jean-Talon Market. Espresso bars, trattorias and rotisseries from these communities reshaped how Montreal ate away from the French-Canadian core through the second half of the century.

2000s to the Michelin arrival

Joe Beef opened in 2005 and helped launch a bold, produce-driven Montreal dining movement across Little Burgundy and the Plateau. The wave matured into a Michelin tier when the Quebec guide arrived in 2025, awarding stars to Sabayon, Mastard and others, and confirming the city as a serious food destination.

Immigrant influences

• Jewish (Eastern European): Gave Montreal its wood-fired bagels and hand-sliced smoked meat, still made at Fairmount, St-Viateur, Schwartz's and Wilensky's.
• Portuguese: Brought charcoal-grilled chicken and piri-piri to the Plateau, defining a genre led by Romados and Ma Poule Mouillee.
• Italian: Built Little Italy around the Jean-Talon Market, with espresso bars like Cafe Olimpico and a deep trattoria tradition.
• Chinese: Anchored a compact Chinatown of hand-pulled noodles and soup dumplings at spots like Nouilles de Lan Zhou and Qing Hua.
• Syrian and Lebanese: Added charcoal kebabs and mezze to the city, from fine-dining Damas to the beloved Bib Gourmand counter Le Petit Alep.

Signature innovations

• The Montreal bagel: smaller, denser, honey-boiled and wood-fired
• Montreal smoked meat: a peppery, hand-sliced answer to New York pastrami
• Poutine turned into an art form at 24-hour counters like La Banquise
• Portuguese charcoal chicken as a Montreal street staple