The Best Cafés, Restaurants and Bars in Pointe-Saint-Charles

Bordered by the Lachine Canal and the St-Lawrence river, just steps from the Atwater Market, downtown, and the lively streets of Verdun, Pointe-Saint-Charles is now a vibrant neighbourhood. Its two main streets, Centre and Wellington, host several of our favorite spots in the city. Cafés, restaurants, bars, gourmet shops, bakeries, and more abound in this little slice of the Southwest of Montreal! Here are some of our favorite addresses in Pointe-Saint-Charles!

But first, a bit of history! Founded in 1654, Pointe-Saint-Charles is the second oldest neighbourhood in Montreal, after Old Montreal. This strip of land, which stretched from the current Notre-Dame Street to the St. Lawrence River, once belonged to lords Charles Le Moyne and Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve (none other than the co-founder of Montreal!). Remnants of that era can still be found, such as the Saint-Gabriel house, where Marguerite Bourgeoys welcomed the King’s Daughters after their long journey across the sea, which you can still visit today.

In the 19th century, after the opening of the Lachine Canal, the area was bustling with workers. Many of them were Irish immigrants who had fled the Great Famine, and many of their descendants still live in the neighbourhood today. With the construction of the Victoria Bridge and the Grand Trunk Railway, which set up its workshops there, Pointe-Saint-Charles became one of the cradles of Canada’s industrialization. Numerous factories and manufacturing plants followed, like the Redpath sugar refinery, Five Roses flour mill, and Northern Electric. After the 1930 economic crisis, the neighbourhood’s economic vitality declined. The closure of the Lachine Canal with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1970 further plunged Pointe-Saint-Charles into poverty, with the population halving during this period. Not-so-fun fact: this rapid decline led to the creation of the Pointe-Saint-Charles Community Clinic, which served as a model for today’s CLSCs.

It was only after the gradual restoration of the Lachine Canal between the late 1970s and early 2000s that the neighbourhood began to experience a resurgence. The construction of numerous condos along the canal, particularly in the former Northern Electric facilities (now the Nordelec), led to rapid gentrification. Many families and young professionals moved in. Today, it’s a great and pleasant milieu de vie, with a wide variety of local shops, charming cafés, restaurants, and grocery stores.

Read on to discover our favorite spots in Pointe-Saint-Charles!

Honorary mentions:

For craft beer lovers, we also suggest:

• Memento! – Brasserie Artisanale and its beautiful terrace by the Lachine Canal

• Microbrasserie 4 Origines, a favorite spot for beer enthusiasts

• Les sans-taverne, a cooperative brewery located in Bâtiment 7

• Beau Dégât, a neighbourhood beer store on Charlevoix Street

A few gourmet grocery stores to discover:

• L’Avant Goût, a small gourmet grocery offering fine local and imported products

• Le Détour, a non-profit cooperative grocery run by its members, located in Bâtiment 7

In the summer:

• Ca Lem has a seasonal ice-cream counter located in a container near Lachine canal at the corner of Saint-Patrick and Charlevoix