The Best Downtown Restaurants: Our Top Picks in Montreal
Montreal‘s downtown is typically associated with office towers, busy streets, large crowds, and endless shopping. While all of that rings true, at Tastet, we prefer to associate the neighbourhood with some of our favourite restaurants in the city!
Downtown, there’s a thousand things to do. You’ll find busy students from the area’s universities, often rushing to get to class. Professionals who spend their days in the countless buildings that make up most of the neighbourhood. And of course, the tourists checking out the area’s most popular attractions: exploring the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the stunning Dorchester Square, and the Eaton Centre. Downtown streets are constantly bustling, all year round.
With foot traffic that high, it’s no surprise the neighbourhood is dotted with a ton of incredible cafés, bars, and restaurants. Taking the time to stop by a few of the wonderful gastronomic addresses on this list might just be the cherry on top of a busy day downtown. This list features the spots we love most in the area. Not only are these places great springboards into the world of Montreal gastronomy, but some of them also appear on our lists of the most beautiful restaurants in Montreal and the most beautiful bars in the city.
Café Parvis
Café Parvis is the kind of place you’ll appreciate at any time of day and for any occasion. This stunning restaurant was designed by the renowned Zébulon Perron: unfinished walls, rustic wooden tables, candles dripping with wax, and an abundance of hanging greenery. The result is an incredibly natural and welcoming atmosphere. The large wooden bar is perfect for sipping on a coffee or a cocktail, depending on the time of day. If you’re feeling hungry, Café Parvis offers a menu of seasonal salads and homemade pizzas that changes every week. Take note that they also serve a delicious brunch menu on weekends!
Montréal
Bar Furco
Located right next door to Café Parvis, Bar Furco is run by the same team as its neighbour. This bar’s beautiful interior was also designed by Zébulon Perron. In fact, the address appears on our list of the most beautiful bars in Montreal! Slightly more modern than Parvis, with high ceilings and large windows, Furco is reminiscent of a Berlin-style bar. You come to Furco for the atmosphere, the lovely and ever-evolving wine list, and the delicious snacking plates. The menu, crafted by chef Joëlle Trottier, changes every week and features generous, fresh, and easy-to-share dishes. This address is a true gem of the Montreal bar scene!
Montréal
Bar Dominion
Bar Dominion is a legendary downtown spot. Located on Metcalfe Street, the address takes the form of a cocktail bar where guests come as much for the history-laden decor as for the atmosphere. The menu features a raw bar offering with snow crab, shrimp cocktails, lobster, oysters, and mignonettes, paired with small sharing plates or heartier mains like the cheeseburger, ribs, or steak frites. A spot with real character that remains a particularly compelling stop while you’re downtown.
Montréal
Maison Boulud
The Ritz-Carlton Montreal is still one of the city’s most iconic addresses, and Maison Boulud has long established itself as one of downtown’s essential fine dining destinations. In this hushed and particularly elegant setting, you’ll find cuisine rooted in French tradition, shaped by broader influences and built around the rhythm of the seasons, with a generous spotlight on Quebec products. The address is also one we love for business lunches or meals where you can actually hear yourself talk.
Montréal
MARCUS Restaurant + Lounge
Marcus is the restaurant inside the Four Seasons Hotel on De la Montagne Street, and one of our favourite addresses in the neighbourhood. Another creation signed by Zébulon Perron, the space takes shape in an elegant and contemporary setting with a brasserie feel. The dining room also offers a beautiful view onto the buzz of downtown. In the kitchen, the approach is bistronomic, putting Quebec and Canadian products front and centre, with particular attention paid to seafood and travel-inspired flavours. On the drinks side, Marcus offers a wine list largely made up of private imports, alongside excellent cocktails.
Montréal
Ferreira Café
Ferreira Café is one of the (if not the) best Portuguese restaurants in Montreal, and one of our favourite spots in the area! Open since 1996, the establishment continues to charm with its consistent hospitality, quality service, elegant decor, and a cuisine that beautifully showcases fish, seafood, and great Portuguese-inspired classics. The wine list, heavily focused on Portugal, also deserves your attention and invites some truly lovely discoveries.
Montréal
Hiatus Restaurant et Bar
Perched at the top of Place Ville Marie, Hiatus — one of the most beautiful restaurants in the city — offers an experience that impresses from the get-go, as much for the spectacular view of Montreal as for the elegance of the whole setting. Open since 2023, the restaurant is a wonderful option for a pre-game meal, in a hushed atmosphere that contrasts pleasantly with the energy of hockey nights.
Montréal
Jatoba
Jatoba is one of the most beautiful restaurants in Montreal, with chic decor and a covered terrace that’s nothing short of breathtaking! Chef Olivier Vigneault prepares a succulent Japanese menu here. The address is perfect for impressing your guests while eating very well.
Montréal
Celeste
Set inside Maison Alcan, Celeste impresses from the moment you walk in with its grand scale and resolutely chic allure. The address offers Italian sharing-style cuisine in a setting that’s perfect for unwinding after work, for groups of friends making the most of a girls’ night out and dressing to the nines, and for couples looking for a date night somewhere lively yet polished.
Montréal
Kazu
This small restaurant on Sainte-Catherine Street is packed from open to close — partly because it serves up small Japanese delights at very small prices, in a fun and warm atmosphere. Japanese crepes, dumplings, carpaccio, and shrimp burgers are all worth trying. There’s often a line, but you’ll eat very, very quickly.
Montréal
Phillips Bar
Housed in the former National Bank of Greece building, Phillips Bar is a contemporary Japanese-style buvette that brings together refinement and ease in particularly spectacular surroundings. Born from the team behind Jatoba, the address offers a convivial and accessible take on the Tokyo izakaya, with makis, hand rolls prepared on the spot, and hot dishes inspired by teishoku.
Montreal
Papito Restaurant
Papito, in the heart of the Quartier des spectacles, is a wonderful option for a Sunday feast. Driven by a team well known from Café Parvis and Furco, the address offers a convivial and accessible formula, with beautiful sharing plates and great cuts of meat cooked over charcoal or in the wood-burning oven, all in an atmosphere that naturally makes you want to linger over the meal.
Montreal
Restaurant Île de France - Le 9e
Île de France, the restaurant on the 9th floor of the Eaton Centre, opened its doors in May 2024 and offers French and Quebec classics revisited with great finesse. The cuisine, executed with rigour and an eye for detail, reflects the address’s intention to bring Montreal a form of elegance that feels accessible day-to-day.
Montréal
Time Out Market Montréal
Located inside the Eaton Centre, this gastronomic market gathers Montreal’s best chefs under one roof. With a thoughtfully curated selection, you’ll find a variety of iconic addresses, ranging from world cuisines to local specialties. Cocktails, wine, seafood, indulgent dishes, and a vibrant atmosphere: a must for discovering the culinary excellence of the metropolis.
Montréal
Petit Poisson Bistro
A welcoming downtown spot, Petit Poisson Bistro offers generous Chinese cuisine designed for sharing, in a hushed atmosphere full of charm. Signed by the team behind Petit Poisson Dumpling, the house wins you over as much for its sharing plates as for its gentle prices.
Montréal
Bar George
Without a doubt one of the most beautiful establishments in Montreal (also on our list of the most beautiful bars) and a city must, Bar George offers a delectable cocktail list as well as an excellent English-inspired menu.
Montréal
Restaurant Cappello
Perched on the 44th floor of Place Ville Marie, Cappello rounds out the summit’s offering beautifully with an Italian stopover that’s as warm as it is vertiginous. From the moment you walk in, the decor impresses with its refinement and an atmosphere that’s at once intimate and grand. Although it ranks among the city’s most romantic restaurants,
Montréal
Sushi Okeya Kyujiro
All Japanese cuisine lovers will be in heaven at Okeya Kyujiro. The chef serves up breathtaking Tokyo-style cooking through an omakase formula that gives him and his brigade complete carte blanche. The meal here unfolds across 20 courses — 20 steps that are delicious, intriguing, and exquisitely delicate.
Montréal
