Cantine La Fringale: A Gourmet Snack Bar in McMasterville

La Cantine La Fringale, c’est Tropical has all the makings of a vacation canteen: palm trees, string lights, summer music and overflowing poutines. It sits in McMasterville, a small town in the Vallée-du-Richelieu tucked between Beloeil and Otterburn Park, on the west bank of the Richelieu River, facing Mont Saint-Hilaire. As soon as the first warm days arrive, its terrace becomes the meeting spot for the whole region, but the canteen can be enjoyed all year round.

Extra-Large Cheese Curds, Cut In-House

The canteen’s menu is built on the great snack-bar classics: the club sandwich, poutine and hamburger trio, and the poutine, a big favourite with customers, sticks to the original recipe, with a gravy you’ll only find here. Its signature is the cheese: every weekend, 200 to 250 kilograms arrive in large bags, and the team cuts it in-house to get extra-large curds. Every forkful brings up a real, hefty piece of squeaky cheese, a far cry from the usual small curds.

From this base, the variations multiply. The Mexican poutine gets Italian sausage meat prepared by the butcher and seared on the griddle, smothered in gravy, then kicked up with spicy mayo and hot peppers. Others lean on popcorn chicken, Portuguese flavours or a house-made spaghetti sauce for the Italian version, all recipes developed on site.

The burgers play in the same league. The Big Dave burger, for one, pushes indulgence further with smoked meat cooked on site, patties or bacon, and garlic or spicy mayo depending on the mood.

The decor leans into exuberance too, with retro booths in primary colours and decorations filling every last corner, transporting guests to a whole other world for the length of a meal.

Retro Milkshakes and Ice Cream

On the sweet side, the milkshakes quickly found their fans. Served in an old-fashioned glass and crowned with real whipped cream and a cherry, they come in strawberry, vanilla, chocolate or Oreo. The ice cream counter rounds out the offering with soft-serve and hard ice cream, sundaes and beaver tails, which draw dessert lovers from as far away as Drummondville. To cool off, the drinks menu follows customers’ cravings, from slushies to probiotic drinks.

A Family Affair

Behind the counter, Dave Pelletier, who ran canteens in Montreal for many years, took over La Fringale with his wife, Julie Jodoin, to build a project together. Their son, Shawn, now works alongside them. The owner is almost always on site and takes the time to chat with every customer, even when the line stretches out, and kids leave with a lollipop or a candy. With 80 seats inside and 120 on the terrace, the canteen brings parents, grandparents and grandchildren together around the same tables, and the busiest summer days see up to 1,200 people come through, in lines that sometimes count around a hundred hungry customers. Between the warm welcome and the vacation atmosphere, it’s easy to see why La Fringale has become the local gathering place, and one of our favourite snack bars in Quebec.