Updated May 31, 2008
VEGETARIAN RESTAURANTS
Crudessence
105 Rachel West
51-271-0333
55 bus
Organic vegan caterer, vegetarian lunch service, plus cooking lessons and other features.
Paradis végétarien Chi-Ming
4381 Saint-Denis
Metro Mont-Royal
514-845-7174
Asian-style vegetarian meals, also a large selection of vegetarian products.
Les Cuisines Tibet Libre
57 Beaubien E.
55 bus
514-276-3999
Despite the name, this isn't a Tibetan restaurant. It's a vegan and vegetarian pizza place with a social conscience, offering delivery and catering in addition to an interesting range of inventive pizzas and pastas.
Le Cagibi
5490 Saint-Laurent
55 bus
514-509-1199
The Pharmacie Esperanza died but now Le Cagibi is in the same space, running the same kind of funky vegetarian hangout.
Fuchsia
4050 Coloniale, in the old P. Gillman store at Duluth
55 bus
514-842-1232
Inventive vegetarian food made with edible flowers.
La Faim du Monde
4110 Saint-Denis, Montreal
514-906-0432
between Metro Mont-Royal and Sherbrooke or 30 bus
Bonnys
1748 Notre-Dame West corner rue des Seigneurs
Metro Georges-Vanier
514-931-4136
Resto and take-out counter, organic vegetarian cuisine.
Burrito Ville
5893 Sherbrooke West
514-484-2777
Metro Vendôme then bus 105
Mexican-style veggie food at a very reasonable price.
L'Escalier
552, rue Ste-Catherine East
Metro Berri-UQAM
The Café l'Utopik has been resurrected as l'Escalier.
Yuan
400 Sherbrooke East, at Saint-Denis
Metro Sherbrooke
514-848-0513
Pan-Asian vegetarian: veg sushi, mock meat and fish in Japanese, Thai and Chinese styles. Tea room, take-out and groceries. Veggie dim sum on weekends.
Ming Tao Xuan
452 Saint-Sulpice in Old Montreal
Metro Place d'Armes
514-845-9448
Tea house and exquisite vegetarian nibbles.
Chu Chai
4088 Saint-Denis, corner Duluth
between Metro Mont-Royal and Sherbrooke
514-843-4194 (delivery in the area)
Purely vegetarian. Mock chicken, fish, shrimp and beef in traditional Thai styles, also tofu dishes. No dairy, but some dishes have egg. Liquor licence, outdoor dining terrace in summertime. Fairly pricey. Next door at 4094 Saint-Denis is Chuch, same owners, offering take-out and a more casual restaurant setting, a little less expensive.
Café Lola Rosa
545 Milton
514-287-9337
Vegetarian food with a Latin American flair, near McGill University.
Aux Vivres
4631 Saint-Laurent Blvd.
55 bus
514-842-3479
Organic vegan food, eclectic inspiration. Service is said to be leisurely.
Spirite Lounge
1205 Ontario Est
Metro Beaudry
514-522-5353
Famous for having a single item on the menu daily, although they've stopped charging a fine for not finishing your food. Eating here is universally described as an experience. Reservations required.
Le Commensal
1720 St-Denis (Metro Berri-UQAM)
1204 McGill College at Ste-Catherine (Metro McGill)
and several suburban locations
Quebec's best-known vegetarian buffet sells its food by the gram. Many choices: hot food, salad bar, dessert bar. Beer, wine, coffee and tea, tisanes. Their products are also packaged for sale in grocery stores (Le Petit Chef brand).
Pushap
5195 Paré
Metro Namur
514-737-4527
also at 4777 Sources Blvd., Pierrefonds
514-683-0105
and 975 Jean-Talon West
Metro Parc
514-274-3003
Indian vegetarian restaurant and pastry shop. Also, see collaboration with la Faim du Monde, listed above.
Casa del Popolo
4873 Saint-Laurent Blvd.
55 bus
514-284-3804
Soups, salads, sandwiches. Terrace out back. Widely known as a live music venue by night.
Le Divan Orange
4234 Saint-Laurent Blvd.
55 bus
514-840-9090
Vegetarian café with performances in the evenings.
Here are lists of kosher and halal restaurants in the Montreal area.
VEGETARIAN-FRIENDLY
I'm never 100% confident suggesting veg*n-friendly places because mixed restaurants have been known to slip up. So if you're very scrupulous about your diet, best stick to the list above, or at least speak with your server about ingredients.
Montreal has many small Lebanese cafés where it's possible to get a falafel plate or mixed salad and mezze plate, falafel sandwiches and sometimes sandwiches rolled up on zaatar bread. Look for Basha, Amir and Monsieur Falafel spots, but independent cafés are often also quite good. Al-Amine at 3549 Lacombe (514-739-1817, Metro Côte-des-Neiges), Al-Taïb at 2125 Guy Street (514-931-1999, Metro Guy-Concordia), Boulangerie Farhat (corner Casgrain and Gounod, 514-277-6268) and Boulangerie Zaatar (151 de Castelnau E., 514-274-4775), both near metro de Castelnau, are good cheap places to eat, and they're only a few examples I know of such places.
Veggie burgers are becoming more common in fast food restaurants. The Lafleur chain offers them as an option, and some reports say their poutine gravy is also vegetarian. I've also heard that Harvey's offers an okay veggie burger. I have my doubts these places keep a separate veggie grill running, though.
The standard Montreal "all dressed" pizza includes pepperoni, green peppers and mushrooms but any pizza place can make a vegetarian pizza that omits the pepperoni or replaces it with onions and olives or some other combination of ingredients - you only have to ask. Even the pizza slice places often have one or two veggie options.
There aren't any Buddhist vegetarian restaurant in Montreal's Chinatown any more, but La Maison Guang Zhou, at 84 La Gauchetière West (514-397-9410) and Restaurant Hong Kong, 1023 Saint-Laurent (514-861-0251) (Metro Place d'Armes) are Cantonese restos with decent vegetarian selections on the menu.
Ethiopian restaurants usually offer good vegetarian options. Le Nil Bleu, at 3706 Saint-Denis, (514-285-4628, Metro Sherbrooke) is well spoken of and offers delivery via À la carte express (514-933-7000).
Most of Montreal's Indian restaurants offer at least one vegetarian set meal and a range of other veggie choices.
Café Santropol
3990 St-Urbain at Duluth
55 bus
514-842-3110
Big sandwiches festooned with fruit garnishes, fair trade coffee, good soups. Home-blended tisanes. Not everything is vegetarian, but the menu is quite clear. Beautiful outdoor terrace in summertime.
Shambala
3439 Saint-Denis, north of Sherbrooke
Metro Sherbrooke
514-842-2242
Tibetan food, with many vegetarian alternatives offered for traditional dishes.
Buffet Maharaja
1481 René-Lévesque at Guy
Metro Guy-Concordia
514-934-0655
Widely advertised all-you-can-eat Indian buffet with many vegetarian options.
Chez José
173 Duluth East
Bus 55
514-845-0693
Tiny, popular breakfast and lunch joint, a place where veg and non-veg can eat happily together. Sidewalk tables in summertime. Good espresso.
Les Délices Bio
1327 Mont Royal East
Metro Mont-Royal
514-528-8843
Organic food, counter service. Mostly vegetarian.
Café Les Entretiens
1577 Laurier Street East
514-521-2934
Hours: Daily 9 am to 12 midnight.
Salads, homemade soups and sandwiches.
Casual, friendly place. Open over 20 years. Terrace.
Byblos Le Petit Café
1499 Laurier Street East
514-523-9396
Persian food. Tasty dips and rolls, many vegetarian options. Wonderful sherbets for dessert. Brunch on weekends.
Restaurant Les Belles-Sœurs
2251 Marie-Anne East, near Papineau
514-526-1574
Vegetarian club sandwiches, croque-monsieurs, burgers, hot dogs.
Ma-a-am Bolduc
4351 de Lorimier, at Marie-Anne
514-527-3884
Vegetarian versions of some traditional Québécois dishes.
Buffet Samrat
71 Ste-Catherine West
514-286-1000
Indian buffet with many vegetarian choices.
La Petite Marche 5035 Saint-Denis Metro Laurier 514-842-1994 Affordable fresh honest food in a funky setting.
Ô deux sœurs
537 Rosemont
Metro Rosemont
514-904-2639
Cuisine santé: vegetarian and non-veg meals to take out, organic, meat without hormones. Takeout and delivery.
Bombay Choupati
5011 boulevard des Sources, Pierrefonds
514-421-3130
Southern Indian style food, so good it's almost worth going to the West Island for. A few meat items on the menu, but most of the choices are vegetarian and very good. Try the fire dosas.
Jean's Trinidad Foods
5914 Sherbrooke West at Royal
514-223-6204
Metro Vendôme then bus 105
Quoting reader Marc Cote: "Vegetarian dishes include various rotis, doubles, and fried plantain. Unlike many roti houses, only fresh vegetables are used, and the chick peas are dried, not canned."
VEGETARIAN SUPPLIES
This isn't going to be an exhaustive list of all health food stores in the Montreal area, but I will add interesting addresses as I find them.
Tiende Santé & Vegetarian
279 Duluth East
514-876-4481
Chinese-style vegetarian products made with soya protein, gluten and mushrooms. Lots of teas. Also offers simple meals to eat in or take out.
La Bouchée de pain
910 Duluth East
514-523-6922
Vegan bakery, also gluten-free baked goods.
Closure notes: There are a lot of vegetarian pages on the web, and some are not updated very often. The following restaurants are still listed in some places but are no longer open: Café Blue Monday, Sauve du Temps, Govinda Jaya Jaya, Elixir, Bimbo, Manbo, Les Chèvres/Le Chou. The Commensal branches in Cote-des-Neiges and at 5043 Saint-Denis are also closed.
Nantha's Kitchen closed but he reopened as Cash & Cari at 68 Duluth E., but with a menu that sidelines vegetarian options.
If you have an update or a suggestion for this page, please let us know. I'm very grateful for all the updates I've received.