Montreal has two things it takes very seriously: its bagels and arguing about which bagel is better. Ask someone whether St-Viateur or Fairmount makes the best bagel and you’re going to get an answer. Ask somebody else and you’ll probably get a completely different answer. And if you bring New York into the conversation, well, now you’ve really done it.
I’m not going to settle that argument here. I’ve got better things to do — like eat a bagel. What I will say is that Montreal’s bagel scene is bigger than the two names everybody knows. There are neighbourhood spots making very good bagels, places that have been doing it for years without getting the same tourist attention, and newer shops that are having some fun with the tradition without messing around with what makes a Montreal bagel a Montreal bagel.
So this isn’t a ranking. I’m not giving you a first place, second place and third place. That’s not really how I look at Montreal restaurants anyway. These are five places worth knowing if you’re looking for a good Montreal bagel, whether you’re visiting the city, looking for somewhere new in your neighbourhood or simply trying to figure out where to pick up a dozen on a Sunday morning.
And yes, St-Viateur and Fairmount are both on the list. Of course they are. Montreal’s bagel history is too important to leave either one out, and there are some very good reasons the two names have been part of this conversation for generations.
St-Viateur Bagel
263 rue Saint-Viateur O., Montréal
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first. If you’re talking about Montreal bagels, St-Viateur is going to come up. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lifelong Montrealer or somebody visiting for the weekend. The name is part of the city’s food conversation, and the original shop on Saint-Viateur is still the place most people picture when they think about Montreal bagels. St-Viateur has been making them since 1957, and the traditional hand-rolled, wood-fired approach is still a big part of what the business is about. The flagship is a working bakery counter, not some fancy destination where you’re going to sit for two hours, and that’s part of the charm. You walk in, there’s the heat from the ovens, people moving around, bagels coming through the process, and usually somebody trying to decide how many they should take home. The answer, by the way, is always more than you planned.
The thing about St-Viateur is that you don’t really need to dress the bagel up. Get a sesame, get a poppy, get an all-dressed if that’s your thing, and eat it while it’s still warm. That’s when it makes sense. The slightly sweet Montreal-style dough, the chew, the wood-fired character and all those sesame seeds come together in a way that’s hard to explain if you’ve never had one fresh. There are now several St-Viateur locations, including cafés in other parts of Montreal and beyond, but the original on Saint-Viateur is still the one I’d send somebody to if they told me they wanted to understand what the Montreal bagel thing is all about.
WHAT DINERS ARE SAYING
The customer sentiment around St-Viateur comes back to the same things again and again: freshness, texture and that experience of getting a bagel while it’s still warm. The busy periods and lineups are part of the deal, but that hasn’t exactly stopped people from showing up. You’ll also find plenty of disagreement about texture, toppings and, of course, whether St-Viateur or Fairmount deserves bragging rights. That’s Montreal. We’re going to argue about our bagels. The important thing is that St-Viateur has been part of that argument for generations and isn’t going anywhere.
Official restaurant website: https://stviateurbagel.com/
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Fairmount Bagel
74 avenue Fairmount O., Montréal
If St-Viateur has one side of the Montreal bagel argument, Fairmount has the other. And this isn’t some rivalry that appeared on Instagram last week. Fairmount’s story goes back to 1919, when Isadore Shlafman opened what the business describes as Montreal’s first bagel bakery. The operation eventually moved to Fairmount Street, where the bakery has continued making its bagels by hand and baking them in a wood-fired oven. That’s a pretty serious piece of Montreal food history, but what I like about Fairmount is that it doesn’t feel like you’re walking into a museum. It’s still a bakery making bagels. People come in, buy them and leave with a bag that probably contains more than they intended to buy.
This is also a place where I think keeping things simple makes sense. Get a sesame. Get a poppy. Maybe grab an all-dressed. Eat one hot before you start loading it up with cream cheese and smoked salmon. There’s nothing wrong with turning it into a full meal, but the bagel itself is the reason Fairmount has been around this long. The bakery has plenty of choices, and that’s part of the fun, but you don’t have to overthink it. Sometimes the best Montreal food experience is standing there with a hot bagel in your hand and realizing you probably should have bought another one. The bakery also has a café across the street if you’re looking for more of a sit-down experience, but the original shop is where the bagel itself is still the star.
WHAT DINERS ARE SAYING
The customer feedback around Fairmount tends to come back to freshness, the slightly sweet Montreal-style character and that combination of a crisp outside with a softer, chewy inside. The shop can get busy, and because it’s an old-school bakery rather than a giant modern café, space can be tight when everybody decides they need bagels at the same time. But that’s not really why people go there. They go because they want Fairmount. And yes, there are plenty of Montrealers who will tell you Fairmount is better than St-Viateur. There are just as many who will tell you the opposite. I’m staying out of that fight.
Official restaurant website: https://fairmountbagel.com/
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Bagel St-Lo
5411 rue de Verdun, Verdun
This is where the guide gets away from the two names everybody already knows. Bagel St-Lo has been part of Verdun since 2014, and the place has grown into something that feels much more like a neighbourhood restaurant than a traditional bagel counter. The business was started by friends Isa Lora and Émilie, and St-Lo has built its identity around fresh bagels while expanding into breakfast, brunch and lunch. That’s important because you can come here specifically because you want a bagel, but you don’t have to grab it and leave five minutes later. You can actually sit down and have breakfast, order a bigger meal or take a bag of fresh bagels home.
That’s probably what separates St-Lo from St-Viateur and Fairmount for me. Those places are about the bagel first and foremost. St-Lo feels like the bagel is part of a bigger neighbourhood routine. You can get a fresh bagel with one of the house-made cream cheeses, have a proper breakfast, order something for lunch or pick up bagels to bring home. The restaurant’s menu goes well beyond the basic bagel-and-cream-cheese combination, and that’s what makes it interesting. You’re not just stopping here because somebody told you it’s famous. You can actually make it part of your morning. That’s a pretty good place for a neighbourhood restaurant to be.
WHAT DINERS ARE SAYING
The customer sentiment around St-Lo is strong on the things that matter here: fresh food, good bagels, friendly service and a comfortable neighbourhood atmosphere. People seem to appreciate that it’s a place where you can settle in rather than simply make a quick purchase, and the homemade cream cheeses and broader breakfast menu get plenty of attention too. It can get busy, particularly around brunch, but that’s usually a pretty good problem for a neighbourhood restaurant to have. St-Lo isn’t trying to beat St-Viateur at being St-Viateur. It has built its own following in Verdun, and honestly, that’s the more interesting story.
Official restaurant website: https://www.bagelstlo.com/
M.T.L. Bagel
5452 avenue Westminster, Côte-Saint-Luc
M.T.L. Bagel doesn’t have the tourist profile of St-Viateur or Fairmount. That’s actually part of the reason I wanted it here. This is the kind of place that can get overlooked if your idea of Montreal bagels begins and ends around the Mile End, but M.T.L. Bagel has been making hand-made, wood-fired bagels for more than 20 years. The business says it produces more than 2,500 bagels a day and has served more than 800,000 customers. That’s not some little side operation hoping people discover it on a food blog. They’ve built a serious neighbourhood business around the bagel.
There’s also more going on here than just bagels, which I like. You can get cream cheese, smoked salmon and sandwiches, but the shop also offers Jamaican patties and roti. So you can come in thinking you’re just grabbing a bagel and leave with something completely different because you changed your mind. It happens. And if you’re coming from Côte-Saint-Luc, the West Island or the western side of Montreal, this is also a good reminder that you don’t have to cross the city every time somebody tells you the only serious Montreal bagels are in Mile End. There are good bagels happening in other parts of the city too.
WHAT DINERS ARE SAYING
The strongest customer theme is freshness. People talk about warm bagels, plenty of flavour choices and the wood-fired baking, with a loyal group of customers treating M.T.L. Bagel as a neighbourhood staple. There are also mixed comments about service and the overall experience, which is worth acknowledging because no restaurant gets universal approval. Temperature can matter too — if you’re expecting a bagel straight from the oven and it isn’t, you’re going to notice. What seems pretty consistent, though, is that people who come here specifically for the bagels are happy with what they’re getting. That’s really the test. You can forgive a few rough edges when the thing you came for is good.
Official restaurant website: https://mtlbagel.ca/
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Bagels Le Trou
2825 rue Masson, Montréal
Le Trou is one of the places that makes the Montreal bagel conversation a little more interesting. It follows the traditional approach — the bagels are rolled by hand, prepared with honey water and baked in an open oven — so we’re not talking about some completely different product trying to call itself a Montreal bagel. But the people behind Le Trou are clearly having some fun with the idea. Alongside the classics, you’ll find creations such as the beer-and-Parmesan bagel, and the business has locations in Griffintown and Rosemont. That’s a pretty good indication that the Montreal bagel isn’t staying in one part of town anymore.
That’s probably what I like about Le Trou. It’s not pretending the traditional Montreal bagel needs to be fixed. It’s taking the tradition and giving people a few reasons to try something different. You can absolutely order a sesame or poppy and keep things classic, but you can also try the beer-and-Parmesan creation and see what you think. And that’s where a newer bagel shop can earn its place. You don’t have to replace St-Viateur or Fairmount. You just have to give people another reason to come through the door. Le Trou is doing that, and the fact that it’s now established in more than one Montreal neighbourhood says something.
WHAT DINERS ARE SAYING
The feedback around Le Trou is generally positive, particularly when it comes to freshness, the different flavours and the overall quality of the bagels. The Griffintown location has had more time to build a customer base, while Rosemont is still newer, but there’s clearly an audience for what Le Trou is doing. And yes, you’ll find people who prefer the denser, more traditional feel of St-Viateur or Fairmount. That’s fine. Le Trou doesn’t need to be exactly the same as those places. In fact, the fact that it isn’t is probably part of the reason people are interested in it.
Official restaurant website: https://www.letrou.ca/
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Montreal Has More Than One Good Bagel
That’s probably the biggest takeaway here. You don’t have to pick a side in the St-Viateur versus Fairmount argument, although I’m sure somebody will tell you that you absolutely do. That’s part of the fun. Montrealers have been arguing about food forever, and I’m not about to stop anybody now.
The old-school places still deserve their reputation. There’s something about walking into St-Viateur or Fairmount, seeing the ovens going and getting a bagel while it’s still warm that hasn’t really been improved upon. These aren’t restaurants trying to reinvent breakfast every six months. They’re bakeries that have been making a very specific kind of bagel for generations, and there’s something pretty cool about that. You don’t have to be a tourist to appreciate it. Sometimes you just want a hot bagel and a reason to walk around the neighbourhood afterwards.
But the other three matter too. Bagel St-Lo shows what happens when the bagel becomes part of a neighbourhood restaurant instead of simply being something you grab on the way home. M.T.L. Bagel has quietly built a loyal following in Côte-Saint-Luc while giving people plenty of reasons to stop beyond the bagel counter. And Le Trou is showing that you can respect the Montreal bagel tradition while still having a little fun with it. That’s good for the city. A food tradition doesn’t stay alive by putting it behind glass. It stays alive because people keep making it.
And maybe that’s why I don’t think Montreal needs one “best” bagel. Sometimes you want St-Viateur. Sometimes you want Fairmount. Sometimes you’re in Verdun and St-Lo is exactly where you want to be. Sometimes you’re on the West Island side and M.T.L. Bagel makes more sense. And sometimes you want to try a beer-and-Parmesan bagel just because, well, why not?
That’s the beauty of Montreal’s bagel scene.
Just eat the damn bagel.