Curious what sort of 'cheap eats' are in there (preferably close to the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth central station area).

Thanks.

I seem to remember the usual burger joints, plus a few ethnic type places. We've never eaten in the underground - there are sooo many great places to eat in the city (some quite inexpensive), why eat at a mall food court? For example Le Grand Comptoir, an authentic French Bistro, is right in the heart of the downtown shopping area. You can get a very good lunch there for about $10 CDN.

Central station has a few interesting places, not the usual burger joints only, a good mexican place and I noticed a fresh food place right next to it, also a few bistro sandwich places-

but I have to agree with zootsi that if the weather is clement, you might as well set off on foot for more interesting meals.... modest or otherwise.

People who live in Montreal tend not to fully appreciate how tasty their mass-market food court offerings really are, especially for tourists comparing with American mall food courts. For characteristic Montreal food, definitely try a smoked meat sandwich, available at the food court in Place Ville Marie (I'm not sure about Central Station). Also try Montreal-style barbecued chicken, served with a unique spicy gravy, fries, and oddly enough, a hamburger bun. My kids love poutine, the apex of Quebec junk food--heavy fries, topped with gravy, topped with cheese. Sounds bad, I know, but they think it's the greatest. Montreal pizza, which they serve "toute garnie", or "all dressed", is also great. At the food court in Central Station is an outpost of La premiere Moisson, a classy boulangerie/charcuterie, where you can get outstanding bread, croissants, pate. Montreal bagels, available in every cafe and food court, have been written about often on this board. Van Houtte cafes, which proliferate like Starbucks all over Montreal, have (IMHO) delicious coffee, and are also good for a quick sandwich or snack. The food court adjacent to Simon's on St. Catherine St. has a good selection, and actually you can go under many of the major downtown office buildings in the shopping area to get some sustenance. Have an ice cream cone from Laura Secord (in Place Ville Marie). Oh, and as long as you mention the Queen E, adjacent to Place Ville Marie, you might be interested in Movenpick in PVM, which is not really "cheap eats", but a place where you can get as much or as little as you want. It may not be great cuisine, but it's a fun place. Try the dessert crepes.

Chances are unlikely much has changes since I wrote this yesterday:

Food courts -- not cheap, but not expensive either, are the wide variety of food outlets in Central Station (Gare Central) which is underneath the Queen Elizabeth. Just take a coupl;e of escalators down, and you'll fine bakeries, delis, sit down restaurants with wonderful french fries, and much, much more.

This is probably the place to go for the best / least expensive breakfasts near the hotel.
BAK

Movenpick closed down overnight, about 6 weeks ago; a shame really.

The food courts tend to be cold, mass-produced, impersonal and with a few exceptions not terribly healthy. They range from your usual chains like McD's & BK to Japanese/Chinese fast food to Greek fast food (Kojax souvlaki) and fast Lebanese (Amir, Basha... these while fast can be healthier). Given Montreal has other stellar, reasonably-priced places, I generally tend to avoid the food courts.

Near the Gare Centrale (from the train station, go down the corridor where the Second Cup is), however, in the food court, there is a Première Moisson where you can get some high-quality bread for a good price. Off the back of my head, two other downtown options that aren't too pricey I'd recommend are: 1) Le Commensal, corner Ste. Catherine/McGill College has a creative vegetarian buffet. 2) Café Presto, on Stanley below Sainte-Catherine; small Italian place run by some older Italian guys that is cozy & welcoming.

Thank you so much everyone! What wonderful ideas. Thank you for taking the time to share. In particular I have been searching for good breakfast places, creperies, and of course any good food place.

***I am so unhappy to learn about Movenpick! I loved the restaurants in Toronto and Boston. Does anyone know what happened? I think the whole chain might have closed down (I just tried calling the Boston location and it's disconnected).

Oh, and one of the reasons for the interest in the food courts is I am looking for a place that's close to the hotel where one can run and get food quickly. It seems like the breakfast restaurants, and other restaurants are about a 10-15 minute walk at least. The thing is that some of the days there will be a conference going on and there isn't the luxury of traveling far for good food. So hopefully there is good food that is closer by. Any suggestions you have that are closer to the Fairmont hotel area are always appreciated due to the time element involved.