Steak Frites in Montreal: The Best Spots
Steak frites is a favourite dish for many. The simple pairing of a good cut of meat and crispy fries has charmed and won over countless palates. Much loved in France, it is usually enjoyed in Parisian-style brasseries, where you settle in to warm up with a glass of good red wine alongside. In summer, the scene is the same, only on a terrace.
What Makes a Great Steak Frites
A good steak frites inevitably comes down to mastering its two components. First, the main event, the steak, should be prepared to the taste of the person eating it. A steak refers to any cut of red meat, though most of the time the term means beef. When you order at a restaurant, your server will ask how you’d like it cooked: blue, rare, medium or well done. It’s always up to you, but keep in mind that some cuts (hanger or flank steak) lose all their tenderness when overcooked.
Steak is traditionally served with fries, which are sometimes joined in turn by a salad or a sauce. A true source of national pride in Belgium, fries should be golden and served piping hot. The result is a pairing that recalls the most memorable duos, a sort of Bonnie and Clyde of the kitchen.
Steak Frites, Montreal Style
While the French and the Belgians argue over who invented steak frites, Montreal has quietly adopted the dish, and you can enjoy it at many addresses around the city. Some chefs strive to pay tribute to the classic, while others set out to take steak frites to new heights. That’s why we’ve put together this list of the best places to eat steak frites in Montreal: the perfect dish to treat yourself, one we recommend pretty much any time.
For more ideas, check out our list of the best French brasseries in Montreal or our list of the best fries in town!
Bon appétit!
Bistrot à Franky
At Bistrot à Franky in Montreal’s Mile End, Francis Blais and the team behind Menu Extra turn filet au poivre into a steak frites that stands out. The beef, dry-aged on the bone for two weeks, comes with a sauce made from thick cream cultured in-house. Five peppercorns from Africa, India and Quebec give it spicy, floral and minty notes. It’s a dish to treat yourself to on a special occasion, and one you’ll remember long after the last fry.
Montréal
Renoir Restaurant
On Sherbrooke Street, Renoir, the restaurant at the Sofitel Montréal hotel, offers French cuisine that puts local products front and centre. Here, we step away from the traditional steak frites with a roasted AAA beef filet mignon, served with a peppercorn sauce and truffled mashed potatoes. For a small supplement, you can also order it Rossini-style. A variation on the beef and potato duo that earns its place in our selection.
Montréal
Tuck Shop
At Tuck Shop, every visit brings lovely surprises. The steak frites, however, remains a must at this small address: at the moment, a beef hanger steak served with fries and a peppercorn sauce. The cut may change as the menu evolves, but the pleasure stays the same: one of our favourite steak frites in town.
Montréal
Brasserie Bernard
On Bernard Avenue in Outremont, Brasserie Bernard serves French-inspired cuisine with a local touch, in the convivial spirit of a brasserie. Its steak frites showcases AAA Angus beef, served with a peppercorn sauce. Choose the fries for the classic duo, though a green salad or mashed potatoes are also offered on the side.
Montréal
Leméac
Leméac is one of those tables we cherish for its consistency and the pleasure of coming back. In an elegant, classic setting, the house honours the essentials of the French brasserie. Here, steak frites takes the form of an 8-ounce grilled beef hanger steak, served with fries and maître d’hôtel butter. A classic done with mastery, just the way we like it.
Montréal
Taverne Sur Le Square
Taverne sur le Square serves delicious market cuisine with French and Italian influences. Here, you’ll enjoy a delicious New York steak with a red wine sauce and potato aligot.
Westmount
L'Express
L’Express opened its doors on December 19, 1980, and since then, the Saint-Denis Street institution has become known around the world for the quality of its cuisine, its service and its generous wine list. L’Express offers French cuisine along with a few lovely specials off the menu; people come back again and again for its great classics: bone marrow, kidneys, chicken liver mousse and tartares. Naturally, you’ll find a superb beef hanger steak, impeccably grilled, topped with shallot butter and set on a bed of fries. (Fun fact: in 2018, L’Express sold 17,000 portions of this delicious cut!)
Montréal
Bar George
At Bar George, you’ll savour a menu of local products with Irish and British accents, “where George was actually from, with a Montreal influence, of course. The menu pays tribute to home cooking, in a beautiful home.” The menu looks simple, but the ingredients are of excellent quality and you can feel the technique behind every dish. The steak is always on the menu and a favourite with everyone, especially with house-made fries and a Reform sauce!
Montréal
Joe Beef
The famous Joe Beef pioneered this carefully crafted, completely uninhibited cuisine that draws on the best of the two founding culinary traditions of our big, beautiful country. While the menu changes often, you’ll regularly find a fine cut of meat with a few seasonal vegetables.
Montréal
Restaurant Au Petit Extra
An elegant little French bistro, Au Petit Extra is a sure bet just steps from the Cabaret Lion d’Or. The house serves an AAA beef hanger steak with maître d’hôtel butter, accompanied by fries and a salad.
Montréal
Restaurant Gus
At Gus, generous plates and a convivial atmosphere make you want to linger at the table. Steak is one of the house classics: hanger, striploin or rib steak, the cuts vary, but they’re always cooked to perfection.
Montréal
Mignon Steak Frites
Mignon is a bistro-style restaurant that pays tribute to the essential steak frites. As you may have guessed, the star of the menu is the steak frites, alongside other small seasonal dishes such as soups, salads and starters of all kinds.
Montréal
Liverpool House
On Notre-Dame Street West in Little Burgundy, Liverpool House is a go-to address for a generous meal in a lively, convivial atmosphere. Its market cuisine evolves with the seasons, with flavourful plates that lend themselves well to sharing. Among the house classics are the lobster spaghetti, the foie gras breakfast, the steaks and the lamb shoulder. A table you come back to as much for the pleasure of eating well as for the festive atmosphere.
Montréal
Monarque
In the heart of Old Montreal, Monarque remains one of our favourite tables, as much for the beauty of the space as for its contemporary French-inspired cuisine. The steak frites here features Prince Edward Island beef, naturally raised for 36 months and served with fries. We also love the attention to detail throughout the house, from the plate to the service, in one of the most beautiful dining rooms in Montreal.
Montréal
Bouillon Albert
Set in the former Hachoir space at the corner of Rachel and Saint-Denis streets, Bouillon Albert has been serving affordable French classics since fall 2024, in the spirit of Parisian bouillons. For steak frites lovers, the house serves a hanger steak with fries and Café de Paris sauce.
Montréal
Bistro La Franquette
At Bistro La Franquette, the name says it all: “à la bonne franquette” means simple and unfussy, and that’s exactly the kind of French cuisine served here, simple and flavourful. The beef hanger steak is elevated by an excellent maître d’hôtel butter and served with crispy, golden fries.
Westmount
Restaurant Limousine
Laurent Dagenais’s project in Saint-Lambert is already getting plenty of buzz! In an atmosphere that is both chic and relaxed, the restaurant offers generous cuisine, well-crafted cocktails and absolutely stunning steaks. True to his style, the chef has created a place where indulgence goes hand in hand with conviviality, a table already shaping up to be a new pillar of the South Shore dining scene.
Saint-Lambert
Grille-Nature
Grille-Nature is the restaurant of David McMillan (formerly of Joe Beef and McKiernan) and Derek Dammann (formerly of Maison Publique). Set in the West Island, the duo serves straightforward, indulgent cuisine centred on the grill: beef, pork, farm-raised chicken, wild fish and seafood, cooked over charcoal or on the rotisserie. Steak frites naturally finds its place among the house’s “greatest hits,” with a few nods to the ’90s. The wine list leans natural without dogma, alongside classics and several Québec producers. A big dining room, a raw décor designed by McMillan and generous hospitality!
Dollard-des-Ormeaux
Restaurant Yans Deli, Steakhouse & Grill
Behind its modern deli look, Yan’s Deli also hides a very good steak frites, charcoal-grilled and served with its own house-made fries. The house has a steak counter with cuts of the day, in addition to its comforting deli classics made with fresh, quality ingredients. An ideal address for a quick, no-fuss lunch, or for settling in longer around a fine cut of meat.
Montréal
Le Grand Comité
At Le Grand Comité, chef Rémi Lemieux reinvents bistro classics with local products, in a bright dining room under a glass roof. His steak frites sums up the approach: a boneless shoulder cut, aged three weeks in koji to concentrate its flavours, then seared to form a savoury crust. Served with a peppercorn sauce and crunchy fries that we adore, it reflects the work that allows this downtown table to combine technique and affordability.
Montréal
Restaurant Croquette
A modern, accessible diner where you eat very well without overthinking it: that’s the formula at this new address. In the kitchen, Charles Dumais serves, among other dishes, a Prince Edward Island Prime beef striploin, cooked over charcoal and served with a chasseur sauce, Québec chanterelles and chervil. Available in 150 or 300 g portions, it’s best paired with the triple-cooked house fries, offered as an extra, which we highly recommend!
Montréal
Le Chien Fumant
At Le Chien Fumant, on the Plateau-Mont-Royal, the welcome feels like dinner at a friend’s place, in an intimate dining room of about thirty seats. The meat selection often highlights exceptional cuts, from bone-in or boneless Canadian AAA Angus to Japanese A5 wagyu from Kagoshima. A separate menu lists the cuts available at the time of your visit. The house also serves excellent fries, the perfect match for these beautiful cuts of beef.
Montréal
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