St-Viateur Bagel & Café

Frommer's Review

The bagel wars flare as hotly as Montréal's eternal smoked-meat battles, but this, an offshoot of the original bakery still on rue St-Viateur in the Mile End neighborhood, is among the top contenders (we're also partial to Fairmont Bagel). Here, you can get bagels to go or to eat in, with sandwiches, soup, or salad. The company notes on its website that it uses "the same old-fashioned baking techniques that founder Meyer Lewkowicz brought with him from eastern Europe." Those methods include hand-rolling the bagels and baking them in a wood-burning oven. To keep with tradition, "the factory only produces sesame and poppy seed bagels, the only two varieties that existed over 40 years ago." Expect a short wait, especially on weekends. Montréal, by the way, has one of the world's largest Hasidic Jewish communities, 12,000 people, and many live in this neighborhood.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.