Restaurant openings to watch for in 2025
2025 is already shaping up to be a stellar year for Montreal’s culinary scene. The year has just begun, and rumours are swirling, announcing the imminent arrival of several great and delicious spots in the metropolis and surrounding areas. Here’s a short list of restaurant openings and other gourmet establishments to keep an eye on in 2025!
To get you up to date, you should also check out our lists of the best new restaurants, best new cafés, and best new bars of 2024.
Menu Extra
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The team from Menu Extra, known for their gourmet meal boxes and incredible hidden tables, is preparing something big for 2025. In fact, executive chef and co-founder Francis Blais announced on social media that he is preparing to open his first restaurant, which will be located on Bernard Street in Mile End. The chef confirmed that the concept will be more accessible than his stunning ephemeral tables; the restaurant will offer French bistro classics interpreted with all the creativity and refinement he is known for. The chef and his colleague, sommelier Alexis Demers, have also built an impressive wine cellar over the years, which they will make available to customers at their new restaurant. It promises to be very extra!
Laurent Dagenais
Another big piece of news in the restaurant world: chef and social media superstar Laurent Dagenais has confirmed that he is set to open a restaurant in 2025. We don’t know much more for now, except that it will be located in Saint-Lambert, near Victoria Street. More details to come!
Oncle Lee
Oncle Lee, the excellent Chinese restaurant by chef Andersen Lee and the team behind Bouillon Bilk/Cadet/Place Carmin, was one of the most anticipated openings of 2024. Great news for 2025: the chef will soon open a second restaurant on McGill College Avenue in Old Montreal, in the former location of Ikanos and Garde-Côte.
Pasta Pooks
The infamous duo Pasta Pooks duo, who made a name for themselves with numerous popups, took over the former Dinette Triple Crown location at the corner of Clark and St-Zotique a few months ago. Their new restaurant, whose name has not yet been revealed, is set to open imminently. Excellent news for fresh pasta lovers!
Boxermans
Restaurant Boxermans in Outremont announced its closure at the end of last year, but they promised exciting new projects on the horizon. We don’t have all the details yet, but we know that the beautiful patio (one of the best in Montreal!) will return and that chef Gregoire Routy and his team are already working on two new projects!
Molenne
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Bar Otto Royalmount
Pizza Toni Saint-Henri
Led by Yoni Amir and Daniel Maislin of Falafel Yoni, the must-visit Mile-End pizzeria now has a new location in Saint-Henri, on Notre-Dame West! Read our review here.
Yin Ji Brossard
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Last November, many regulars of Yin Ji Chang Fen shed a tear upon learning that the restaurant was leaving Sainte-Catherine Street West to relocate to the South Shore. The small Cantonese restaurant had gained a loyal following with its delicious congee and its famous chang fen, or rice noodle rolls, a specialty of the Guangdong province in China—arguably the best in town. The good news is that the new location, freshly opened on Taschereau Boulevard in Brossard, has a larger kitchen and dining area, which should significantly reduce the wait for a table. Definitely worth discovering!
Sushi Nishinokaze
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After spending over a year perfecting his craft under the guidance of sushi master Taishi Shintaro Suzuki at the renowned Nishiazabu Sushi Shin in Tokyo, chef Vincent Gee is bringing a “Western Wind” (nishinokaze in Japanese) to Montreal. His intimate eight-seat restaurant will offer a traditional edomae sushi experience, with the mission “to highlight the natural and pure flavors of wild, local, and imported seafood.” The space will also serve as a “living gallery” for traditional ceramics from Japan, China, Korea, and other parts of the East. One to watch!
Chez Greenberg
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Jake Greenberg, also known as The Salmon Daddy, fulfilled on of his dream during the pandemic: making artisanal smoked salmon. Thus Zadies was born in 2020. Jake’s delicious smoked salmon was initially sold online and later through various outlets across the city. Starting January 10, you’ll be able to enjoy it at his brand-new café, Chez Greenberg. The café will also feature Jewish specialties like bagels, latkes, and knishes, and great coffee.
Boucherie Taglio
Québec Smoked Meat in Pointe-Saint-Charles was somewhat of an insider’s secret when it closed down in 2023. Now, it’s making a comeback with an entirely new team under the name Taglio Boucherie & Deli. The spot will offer artisanal charcuterie by the slice and a high-end butcher shop, and, most notably, excellent smoked meat sandwiches—which, in our humble opinion, rival those from Schwartz and Lester’s Deli. For now, only the sandwich counter is open. The butcher and grocery section will be inaugurated early in the year.
Ciccio’s McGill College
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Talking about great sandwhices, italian caffè and sandwich-shop Ciccio’s is taking its paninis downtown. The new spot will occupy the space where Foodchain, Montreal Plaza‘s salad bar, once stood.
Roxy Focaccia
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The Italian sandwich counter from Jean-Talon Market will have a permanent address starting in the summer of 2025! Indeed, Roxy Focaccia, a cousin of café San Gennaro (Roxy stands fro Roxanna Covone, Mauro Covone’s sister and brothers Massimo and Fabrizio Covone’s cousin), will set up shop in a new location on Saint-Zotique Street, near Rôtisserie La Lune. You’ll be able to enjoy their delicious focaccia sandwiches year-round!
Scacciata
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Scacciata, or simply scaccia, is a type of stuffed flatbread popular in Sicily; an Italian cousin of the Greek spanakópita, of sorts. This specialty will soon be available at the Italian café La Scacciata, set to open in mid-January on Notre-Dame West, in Little Burgundy.
Café FAMÉ
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Local electronic music label House of Youth Records has just opened its very cool café called FAMÉ (pronounced FA-MAY) at the corner of Fairmount and Clark Streets. The Italian-inspired café is already making waves with its chic, minimalist décor and its yummy caffè zabaione. The spot will regularly host performances and DJ sets— the owners have gone all out with the sound system.
Foil Gallery
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The first glimpses of Foil Gallery, the new project by digital artist Fvckrender, got us quite intrigued. Located in an industrial space on Waverly Street in Mile-Ex, the café-art gallery will officially open in February. We can’t wait to check it out!
Le 30 février
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The team behind Café Tordu strikes again with a new restaurant focused on brunch and breakfast. The surreal décor, filled with nods to Magritte and Dalí, perfectly matches the name of the restaurant: Le 30 février (February 30th). Stay tuned!
Pâtisserie Zébulon
Pâtisserie Zébulon, the excellent vegan bakery by pastry chef Zébulon Vézina and his sister Alice, announced last year that it would be moving to a larger space just a few blocks down Saint-Denis, near Duluth Street.
Mélilot Atelier
The wonderful team behind chic Outremont pâtisserie Mélilot will inaugurate a new space called Atelier Mélilot in the summer of 2025, which will feature, among other things, gourmet ice creams. We’re already salivating!
Written by Mikael Lebleu
