The Best Focaccia in Montréal: Where to Find It
Some breads are just there to go with the meal. Others are worth the trip on their own, and focaccia is one of them. A golden crust, an airy, open crumb, a generous pour of olive oil and a few flakes of salt: it doesn’t take much more to make us happy. Except, maybe, a second piece.
The name comes from the Late Latin focacia, which is derived from focus, meaning “hearth.” Focaccia is closely tied to Liguria and its capital, Genoa, where people even eat it with their morning cappuccino. Olive oil bread first thing in the morning? That’s a tradition we can get behind!
What makes a good focaccia so satisfying is its texture. The bottom is lightly crisp, the centre is soft, and olive oil pools in all those little dimples… We tear off a corner, then another, until we start to wonder whether there will be any left for everyone else. We did plan to share, after all.
It’s delicious with nothing more than a little rosemary, and it also works with all kinds of toppings: tomatoes, olives, onions, seasonal vegetables. Sliced open and filled with cured meats and cheese, it makes sandwiches worth going out of our way for. As an aperitivo, at lunch or still warm from the bakery, this Italian bread fits easily into our day.
In Montréal, plenty of bakeries, cafés and restaurants do it justice. Here are our favourite spots for the best focaccia in Montréal. A tip: save a piece to mop up the last of the sauce on your plate. It would be a shame to leave a single drop behind.
For more ideas, check out our list of the best Italian restaurants in Montréal.
Stellina
In Old Montréal, Stellina recalls the small Italian restaurants of New York where you want dinner to last a little longer. Forgotten classics share the menu with handmade pasta and seasonal vegetables, and Italian wines get plenty of room on the list. We like to start with the house focaccia and its prosciutto butter.
Montréal
Roxy Focaccia St-Zotique
Roxy Focaccia got its start as a pop-up at the Jean-Talon Market before opening a permanent counter on Saint-Zotique Street. The house focaccia, baked fresh on site every day, sets the tone: a light, soft crumb that holds generous fillings. The menu changes every two to three months and brings local products together with Italian flavours. Enough to make choosing your lunch sandwich a serious matter.
Montréal
Nora Gray
On Saint-Jacques Street, near the Bell Centre, Nora Gray is still one of our favourite Italian restaurants in Montréal. We keep coming back for the homemade pasta, the attentive team and the intimate dining room that gets livelier as the evening goes on. Before the first courses, we order the house focaccia with a little Pacina olive oil, offered à la carte. We rarely skip this way of starting a meal.
Montréal
La Panzeria
On Saint-Denis Street, in the heart of the Plateau-Mont-Royal, La Panzeria showcases the cuisine of Puglia through its homemade pasta, panzerotti and focaccia barese. The focaccia comes in several generously topped versions, including La Mortazza Tua! with mortadella, burrata and pistachios, and the Che Figa! with capocollo, burrata, figs and spicy honey. Easily one of our favourite focaccias in town!
Montréal
PIAZZA SALUMI
On Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Little Italy, Piazza Salumi is a fine food shop that’s also worth a stop for a bite. Behind the shelves of Italian products, the counter offers take-out dishes and generous focaccia sandwiches. We love picking our own cured meats, stocking up on a few things and leaving with a great lunch in hand. A neighbourhood spot worth knowing!
Montréal
Cadet
On Saint-Laurent Boulevard in the Quartier des Spectacles, Cadet is the little sibling of Bouillon Bilk. In its pared-back, lively dining room, sharing plates arrive one after another from a menu that changes regularly. The cheddar focaccia with spicy oil is one of those first dishes we order without a second thought. We also save some to go with the rest of the meal!
Montréal
Feuilleté café
On De Bellechasse Street in Rosemont, we love Feuilleté Café as much for its pastries as for its friendly welcome. The croissants and kouign-amann catch your eye first, but the focaccia deserves just as much attention. Soft, tender and rich with olive oil, it’s sold by the piece: a good excuse to add something savoury to your coffee break. And here, it’s hard to leave with just one piece!
Montréal
Siamo Noi
At Royalmount, in the Town of Mount Royal, Siamo Noi goes big: a spectacular setting, a festive atmosphere and Italian cuisine where fresh homemade pasta takes centre stage. The focaccia sticks to the classics, served with olive oil and tapenade. A starter to share over a first drink while you decide what comes next.
Montréal
La Meunerie Urbaine
On Monkland Avenue in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, La Meunerie Urbaine is one of those bakeries where you stock up on good things. The bakery mills its own grain, so it pays special attention to the flour that goes into its breads, pastries and viennoiseries. We have a soft spot for the olive focaccia, which we bring home for aperitivo time, as long as we can resist eating half of it on the way!
Montréal
BarBara
On Notre-Dame Street West in Saint-Henri, BarBara brings together a café, a small grocery and a wine bar in a warm setting that gets livelier as the day goes on. We love this spot for its fresh homemade pasta, its good bottles and its attentive service. The ricotta and honey focaccia is also one of the house’s treats. A lovely mix of sweet and savoury that we add to our very first order!
Montréal
Café San Gennaro
On Saint-Zotique Street East in Little Italy, we love San Gennaro for its pizza al taglio, Italian-style coffee and pastries. For the sandwiches, it all starts with the focaccia, baked fresh on site every day. And since we can’t stop at savoury, we finish lunch with an espresso and a bombolone. While we’re at it!
Montréal
Restaurant Moccione
In Villeray, on Saint-Denis Street, Moccione is one of our favourite Italian restaurants, as much for its cuisine as for the pleasure of spending an evening there. Its focaccia, made every day “with a lot of love,” won us over so completely that we asked chef Luca Cianciulli for his recipe. You’ll find it on Tastet, for the days when a reservation is hard to get!
Montréal
Mano Cornuto
On Ottawa Street in Griffintown, Mano Cornuto captures the spirit of Italian cafés, with a lively dining room, good cocktails and cuisine that invites you to take your time. You can order the house focaccia on its own, but we strongly recommend trying it with the burrata, served with artichoke and pistachio pesto. A house classic we always come back to!
Montréal
Au Coin
On the corner of Fairmount Avenue West and Jeanne-Mance Street in the Mile End, Au Coin is the kind of place you could visit three times in one day. A solo coffee in the morning, pizza with the family at lunch, then small plates and good wine with friends in the evening. The focaccia comes plain or with sumac and lemon ricotta. We lean toward the second, especially at aperitivo time!
Montréal
