St-Viateur Bagel

St-Viateur Bagel is one of the two names that come up whenever Montrealers argue about the city's best bagel. Myer Lewkowicz, a Holocaust survivor who had moved to Canada in 1953, founded it on 21 May 1957 after learning the trade at the Montreal Bagel Bakery. He later said that while he was held at Buchenwald, all he dreamt of was a piece of bread. The bakery takes its name from rue Saint-Viateur in Mile End, part of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough.

The method has changed little. Each bagel is rolled by hand, boiled in honey water for 30 to 60 seconds, dipped in seeds and then baked on a long wooden plank in a wood-burning oven, and the owners say they have stayed true to the original recipe. A fire damaged the shop in 1985, but the wood oven survived. The shop itself sums up its approach in two words: hand-rolled and wood-fired.

The flagship bakery at 263 rue Saint-Viateur Ouest is open every day from 6am to midnight, so you can buy bagels hot from the oven for breakfast or as a late-night snack. The company also runs a Mile End bakery at 158 rue Saint-Viateur Ouest, open from 6am to 10pm, and a bagel shop and café on avenue du Mont-Royal Est for anyone who wants to sit down with a sandwich and coffee. Other branches are in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Laval and Anjou.

If you want to sit down, the Mont-Royal Bagel and Café at 1127 avenue du Mont-Royal Est serves sandwiches and coffee from 7am to 6pm daily, while its bakery counter stays open until 8pm. At the flagship, buying a mixed bag is the easiest way to taste several varieties side by side. The shop has appeared on Netflix's Somebody Feed Phil and gained wider attention in 2025 and 2026 after its logo T-shirt appeared in the television series Heated Rivalry.

It suits everyone, from budget travellers to food lovers on a tasting walk. The rival Fairmount Bagel is nearby, so the obvious plan is to try both and decide for yourself. Café Olimpico, another Mile End institution, is on the same street.