Portuguese$$plateauMon-Sun 10:00-21:00
Romados is the Plateau rotisserie and bakery in Montreal whose charcoal chicken and custard tarts pull a lunchtime line out the door onto Rue Rachel.
Try: Portuguese charcoal chicken
Tip: Order the chicken and a couple of pasteis de nata; cash keeps the fast-moving queue moving faster.
Middle Eastern$downtownMon-Sun 11:00-24:00
Boustan has fed downtown Montreal since 1986, a late-night Rue Crescent counter with garlic-heavy shawarma and the fried-potato Aladin pita past midnight.
Try: Shawarma and pita
Tip: Ask for extra toum garlic sauce and pickled turnip; it stays open long past the bars for a good reason.
Vegan$mile-endMon-Sun 11:00-21:00
La Panthere Verte fries crisp falafel and stuffs zesty vegan pitas in Mile End and across Montreal, a green-minded counter for a fast, meat-free lunch.
Try: Falafel pita
Tip: The falafel pita with green sauce is the order; it is fully vegan even when it does not taste it.
Chinese$$downtownMon-Sun 11:00-21:00
Nouilles de Lan Zhou stretches its noodles by hand at the window in Montreal's Chinatown, dropping them into cumin-spiced Lanzhou-style beef broth to order.
Try: Hand-pulled noodles
Tip: Watch the dough being pulled at the counter and order the beef soup; specify thin or wide noodles.
Chinese$$downtownMon-Sun 11:00-21:30
Qing Hua folds its soup dumplings by hand in Montreal's Chinatown, sending out steamer baskets of pork-and-crab xiao long bao that burst with hot broth.
Try: Soup dumplings
Tip: Nibble a corner first to let the steam out; a dozen pork and crab is plenty for one hungry person.
Deli$mile-endTue-Sat 10:00-16:00
Wilensky's has griddled its fried bologna-and-salami Special at a nine-stool Mile End counter since 1932, an unchanging Montreal snack served with mustard.
Try: Fried bologna special
Tip: It comes with mustard and never cut; do not ask them to change it, that is the whole ritual.