Café Mollo: a new home for Pointe-Saint-Charles’s darling cafe-gelateria

Some regulars will no doubt feel a twinge of sadness as they pass the former neon green storefront of Café Mollo to head to its new home, inside former local beer boutique Cheers. However, nostalgia quickly gives way to excitement upon discovering this new version of the popular Pointe-Saint-Charles café-gelateria.

Established on Wellington Street since 2019, Mollo has become an integral part of the neighbourhood’s social fabric. Since then, the café has expanded: a bakery-lab opened in 2021 on the corner of the street, followed by a new location on Notre-Dame in Saint-Henri, which combines coffee with fresh bread and pastries. To better serve its many regulars and welcome more customers, the café moved to a new location in the spring of 2025, just a few steps away from the original.

“We’re going from 12 seats to 30. It’s a more spacious environment that allows us to grow,” explains Alexandre Ouellet, who co-owns the café with his wife. The cool and relaxed father of two perfectly embodies the café’s motto: prends ça mollo, or ‘take it easy.’ The same congenial and friendly vibe that everyone loved is still present—just in a slightly larger space. The new location also features a dining area with a large communal table, showcasing artwork by local artists. A small shop next door offers colourful merch, coffee bags, and a few choices of locally-roasted beans (ZAB, Escape, Traffic, 94 Celsius, etc.) sold in bulk. There’s no back patio here, but a large garage door at the front lets the sunshine in on warmer days.

The café’s offerings remain unchanged: the same excellent selection of hot and cold coffees, teas, and matcha, pastries and baked goods prepared next door at the bakery-lab, along with a variety of delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. “We stick to the classics. We keep things simple but we do them well,” notes Alex. The delicious homemade gelato will, of course, be available again when the weather warms up (from May to October at the counter; a few flavours are also available year-round in tubs), much to the delight of customers young and old.

For Alexandre and his wife, who have lived in Pointe-Saint-Charles for over 17 years and whose two boys attend school nearby, Mollo is more than just a business; it’s also a way to contribute to the vitality of the neighbourhood. “The community has always been super important. We donate our unsold goods to local organizations every day, and we get involved in neighbourhood activities,” says Alexandre.

Judging by the cheerful and lively atmosphere at Mollo every time we pop in for a visit, the love they have for their neighbourhood is clearly reciprocated! This spot definitely deserves a place among our favorites in Pointe-Saint-Charles.

Long live Mollo!

Written by Mikael Lebleu
Photography by Alison Slattery

Last update: March 23, 2025

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