Let’s do lunch: great places for a business lunch
This article was updated on January 10, 2024.
As a city full of bon vivants who love to catch up over a glass of wine and sharing plates, the art of a business lunch comes naturally to Montréal. Of course, there’s work to discuss and relationships to retain, but meetings are all the more convivial when dining out. Not only is Montréal full of restaurants that provide the right casual environment, but they’re all good places to get comfy while sealing deals, pitching a sale, and getting the edge over a competitor.
DOWNTOWN
Alexandre et fils
1454 Peel Street | Website
Alain Creton’s French brasserie is a downtown classic that has been looked to for its steak-frites, boudin, and foie de veau since it first opened in 1977. Consider visiting its cigar lounge for a smoky digestif.
Bar Caffettiera
2055 Stanley Street | Website
Styled after 1990s-era Italian cafés, this Golden Square Mile stand-up spot is good for quick drop-ins for espressos, apreitivos, sandwiches, snacks and desserts.
Bar George
1440 Drummond Street | Website
Serving Scottish and British cuisine inside the Le Mount Stephen hotel, the quality of the food and drink is only matched by its heritage mansion interior dating back more than 140 years—great for impressing out-of-town clients.
Café Holt
1300 Saint-Catherine Street West | Website
Located inside the Holt Renfrew department store, this chic spot inspired by 1940s Hollywood glamour serves a tidy menu of bistro classics, from tartare and salads to burgers. The interior design and décor alone merit a trip, but a bite or two from the menu ought to seal the deal.
Chez Dévi
1450 Crescent Street | Website
This downtown Indian restaurant serves Northern specialties like channa bhatura as well as interesting twists like tandoori-grilled salmon. Its table d’hôte keeps things easy for ordering and pricing as well.
Ferreira Café
1446 Peel Street | Website
One of Montréal’s premier destinations for Portuguese fine dining, their lunch menu is full of fresh fish and seafood to dine on over a glass (or two) of Portuguese wines. Got a big group to entertain? Ferreira Café has private rooms for groups ranging from 12 to 25 people.
Fiorellino Snack Bar - Ristorante
470 De La Gauchetière Street West | Website
This restaurant’s Neapolitan pizzas make for a great light lunch, but they’re serving pasta and light antipasti if a bigger hunger strikes. Don’t skip the Nutella bites, though, and end that business lunch on a sweet note.
Ibérica
1450 Peel Street | Website
Specializing in Spanish tapas with Barcelona focus, it’s good for both grabbing either table d’hôte of fish, meat, or paella as well as loading a table with different bites. If the focus of a visit is to talk, the restaurant’s charcuterie selection should do the trick.
Osteria MKT
1333 Robert-Bourassa Blvd. | Website
A modern Italian restaurant where diners can enjoy the downtown scenery from its dining room or the sizeable terrasse in the summer. The lunch menu is particular is good for sharing with its plates of fritto misto and charcuterie plates.
Restaurant La Medusa
1218 Drummond Street | Website
Talk up you client while twirling strands of fettucine on a fork with this classic Italian restaurant that’s been serving the city for over a quarter of a century. If pasta doesn’t sound like enough, their pizza is worth an order as well.
Restaurant Sho-Dan
2020 Metcalfe Street | Website
Sushi and sashimi are front and centre at this modern Japanese restaurant, served either à la carte or in sampler platters that can make for an interesting business lunch of sharing and discussing the food between getting down to details.
Restaurant Toqué!
900 place Jean-Paul-Riopelle | Website
Served in a table d’hôte format that includes an appetizer, a main course and coffee or tea for one sum, business lunches can be equal parts focused on business at hand as they are on the enjoyment of accomplished gastronomy from chef Normand Laprise and his team. With wine pairing options for each dish and luxe dessert add-ons, this option Is great for impressing a guest.
Moishes
1001 du Square-Victoria Street | Website
Moishes, a true Montréal institution, is one of the only restaurants in town to offer USDA Prime beef, the most prestigious distinction on the market. It also offers an "Exquisite Lunch" menu, allowing customers to sample two entrees from the menu Monday to Friday, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. With its bar area, two unique dining rooms, enclosed dining room and pewter ceiling tiles, this is one place you won't want to miss in Montréal.
MARCUS
1440 de la Montagne Street | Website
Visionary chef Marcus Samuelsson takes the traditional brasserie to a new level. With an expansive third floor terrace, MARCUS is one of Montreal's hottest destination for eating, drinking and connecting - from energetic breakfasts to late night cocktails, they offer a variety of choices throughout the day. Their latest addition is a table d'hôte offering specifically designed for lunch. For the price of 55 CAD, indulge in a choice of appetizer, a choice of main course and a dessert.
OLD MONTRÉAL
Bloom sushi
368 Saint-Paul Street West | Website
Coming from the minds behind Canada’s first-ever vegan sushi restaurant, Sushi Momo, Bloom focuses on a colourful array of vegan futomaki. Long and lingering business lunch plans can benefit from the omakase service here.
Graziella
116 McGill Street | Website
From its bright interior to the careful attention paid to its modern Italian menu, this time-honored restaurant is designed to impress those that walk through its doors, making it a solid option for business lunches.
Helena
438 McGill Street | Website
Treat clients to the riches of seafood and wine at this Old Montréal standard: Chef Helena Loureiro’s eponymous restaurant excels at serving the light yet no less flavourful side of Portuguese fine dining.
Le Muscadin
443 Saint-Vincent Street | Website
Combining warm Italian hospitality with the comforts of a menu full of antipasti platters and plates of pasta—they swear by their burrata-topped spaghetti with basil-pistacchio pesto—Le Muscadin is for those looking to both tuck in and get down to business.
LOV McGill
464 McGill Street | Website
Bright, airy, and serving each and every one of chef Stéphanie Audet’s greatest vegan hits, the something-for-everyone menu here is great for clients both health-conscious and looking to fill up at lunch. Pastas, curries, tacos, burgers—you name it, just vegan instead.
Modavie
1 Saint-Paul Street West | Website
Got jazz lovers to entertain? This bistro serves a lot of classic French and Italian dishes in an environment decorated with instruments and photos of jazz masters past and present. Consider suggesting returning at night to your client to see a live show, too.
Monarque
406 Saint-Jacques Street | Website
This svelte French brasserie from Richard and Jérémie Bastien couples an elegant dining room with just as elegant food. It’s one of the more high-end options for a business lunch, but the quality is undeniable.
Pincette - Bar à homard
94 Saint-Paul Street East | Website
It may be billed as a lobster bar, but the décor and offerings at lunch time keep Pincette away from being too kitschy. Enjoy a menu full of fish and seafood, and yes, there’s lobster poutine for those craving something sinful.
Restaurant Gandhi
230 Saint-Paul Street West | Website
A standard-bearer among Indian restaurants in the city, Gandhi is a good choice for business lunches with its à la carte menu of easily shareable dishes. Extensive attention has been paid to its wine lists as well—fun for exploring pairings.
Restaurant Holder
407 McGill Street | Website
Get chummy with clientele along its long bar or enjoy a bit more intimacy at a table alongside its dining room’s towering windows; however you experience this European brasserie, the food will be rich and satisfying.
Restaurant Mélisse
719 William Street | Website
Looking for something simple and refined to impress your dining companion? This hospitable spot is a young and refreshing presence in its neighbourhood, and its menu is kept tidy with healthful, vegetable-forward options.
Ristorante Quattro
17 Notre-Dame Street West | Website
Simple yet stylish, this modern Italian restaurant covers the full spectrum of delicacies, but their selection of contorni is particularly worth noting with lamb, bison, rabbit, and more. Just be sure to save room for cannoli and granita.
Vallier Bistro
425 McGill Street | Website
With its discreet location, give your dining companions the impression you know the city like the back of your hand by taking them here. Once you do, enjoy a handful of bistro classics from the menu, each carried out with precision.
Vieux-Port Steakhouse
39 Saint-Paul Street East | Website
Carrying the torch for amiable and affordable steakhouses in Old Montréal, this longstanding restaurant excels in the surf and turf category. That said, keep things quick and easy with their inexpensive table d’hôte menu if you don’t want to cut into a 16-ounce rib steak.
JP Karwacki
JP Karwacki is a Montréal-based writer and journalist whose work has appeared in Time Magazine, the Montreal Gazette, National Post, Time Out, NUVO Magazine, and more. Having called the city home for over a decade and a half, he regularly focuses on spreading the good word about the amazing things to eat, drink and do in Montréal. One half raconteur and the other flâneur (with just a dash of boulevardier), when he wasn’t working on the frontlines of the city's restaurants and bars, he spent his time thinking about, reading about and writing about restaurants and bars.