Cafeography
Café de spécialité · Montreal

Specialty coffee in Montreal

Roasters on Rue McGill in Old Montreal, a roaster’s café at Saint-Denis and Bellechasse, counters under Place Ville Marie.

Photo: Julia Barrantes, Pexels License

In Montreal, café de spécialité (specialty coffee) usually means a small local roaster selling its own beans over a counter. Zab Café shows the pattern: its founder had the idea in 2013, after noticing how few local specialty options the city had, named the company after his mother, Elizabeth, and released the first Zab coffee in August 2016.1 A small space at Saint-Denis and Bellechasse opened in 2020 as a training center and office and became ZAB Café in spring 2021.1

Centre-ville has the most specialty counters: Pikolo on Rue Clark, La Finca on Rue De Bleury, Myriade on Rue Mackay and Tunnel Espresso under Place Ville Marie. Old Montreal and the Plateau follow: Structure torréfacteur and 49th Parallel are a few doors apart on Rue McGill, and Dispatch is at 4021 Boulevard Saint-Laurent and Myriade at 4627 Rue Saint-Denis. Zab is at 6201 Rue Saint-Denis in La Petite-Patrie.

Local tip: Zab closes at 17:00, so make it a morning stop. For an evening espresso downtown, Tunnel Espresso at 1253 Avenue McGill College stays open until 21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, and Pikolo on Rue Clark until 19:00 every day.

Where these cafés are: Centre-ville (4), Plateau-Mont-Royal (2), Vieux-Montréal (2), Petite-Italie & La Petite-Patrie (1).

At a glance

9Cafés listed
7With opening hours
07:30Earliest opening
21:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Dispatch, from 07:30 (Mon–Fri 07:30–17:00 · Sat–Sun 08:30–17:00).
  • Closes latest: Tunnel espresso bar - RESO, until 21:00 (Mon–Thu 11:30–20:00 · Fri–Sat 11:30–21:00 · Sun 11:30–18:00).
  • Most listed streets: Rue McGill (2).
  • Most common features: outdoor seating (33%), card payment (33%), wi-fi (22%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Montreal.

Zab: a Saint-Denis counter and a Parc-Extension roastery

Zab opened its own roasting workshop in Parc-Extension in 2022.1 The roastery, at 6750 Rue Hutchison, takes visitors by appointment only, Monday to Friday 09:00–16:00, while the counter at 6201 Rue Saint-Denis opens every day from 08:00 to 17:00.2

The bean list covers Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia and Peru, plus a Colombian decaf. As of 2026, bags run from C$22 for a Brazil sold as Affreux Roger to C$42 for a Colombia sold under the name Frank Torres, and shipping within Canada is free on orders of C$40 or more.3

Espresso under the office towers

The underground city, known as RÉSO, links about 32 km of tunnels and began in 1962 with Place Ville Marie.5 Tunnel Espresso was born down there in 2013 and introduces customers to local micro-roasters at four downtown counters: 1253 Avenue McGill College at Place Ville Marie, the Time Out Market in Centre Eaton at 705 Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, the Indigo store in Place Montréal Trust at 1500 Avenue McGill College, and Gare Centrale at 1100 Boulevard Robert-Bourassa.4

The Place Ville Marie counter opens late in the morning and stays late: 11:30–20:00 from Monday to Thursday, until 21:00 on Friday and Saturday, and 11:30–18:00 on Sunday. Pikolo Espresso Bar, at 1635 Rue Clark, opens 07:30–19:00 on weekdays and from 08:00 at weekends. La Finca, an independent café at 1067 Rue de Bleury, describes its coffee as café de spécialité.7

Beans and machines to take home

Espresso Mali, at 7655 Boulevard Saint-Laurent in Villeray, is a supplier more than a café: a family business that grew into an importer and distributor of espresso machines and Italian coffees, and that has specialized in espresso in Montreal for 40 years.6 Alongside the coffee it sells grinders, barista tools, parts and cleaning products, with machines from brands such as Rancilio, Lelit and Rocket.6

For beans, roaster counters are the simplest stop. Zab sells at its Saint-Denis point of sale and online,23 and La Finca sells an exclusive Honduran lot, Sueños de Pichingo, as whole beans in 250 g or 5 lb bags.7

Sources

  1. Qui est Zab?, Zab Café, accessed October 2026
  2. Nous joindre: points de vente et atelier de torréfaction, Zab Café, accessed October 2026
  3. Zab Café: cafés de spécialité torréfiés à Montréal, Zab Café, accessed October 2026
  4. Tunnel Espresso Bar, Tunnel Espresso, accessed October 2026
  5. Underground City, Montreal, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  6. Espresso Mali, Espresso Mali, accessed October 2026
  7. La Finca: café indépendant au centre-ville de Montréal, La Finca, accessed October 2026
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By area: Vieux-Montréal Centre-ville Plateau-Mont-Royal Petite-Italie & La Petite-Patrie

FAQ

Specialty coffee in Montreal: questions

Where does Zab Café roast its specialty coffee in Montreal?

Zab opened its own roasting workshop in Parc-Extension in 2022, at 6750 Rue Hutchison, open by appointment on weekdays from 09:00 to 16:00. Its café counter is at 6201 Rue Saint-Denis, at the corner of Bellechasse, and opens every day from 08:00 to 17:00.

Which specialty coffee bars are in Montreal’s underground city?

Tunnel Espresso, founded in 2013, has counters at Place Ville Marie (1253 Avenue McGill College), Gare Centrale, the Time Out Market in Centre Eaton and the Indigo store in Place Montréal Trust. The underground network links about 32 km of tunnels and started with Place Ville Marie in 1962.

How much does a bag of specialty coffee beans cost in Montreal?

As of 2026, Zab Café sells bags from C$22 to C$42 depending on the coffee, and ships free within Canada on orders of C$40 or more. La Finca on Rue de Bleury sells its Honduran lot, Sueños de Pichingo, as whole beans in 250 g or 5 lb bags.

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