Recently returned from 12 days in Montréal and Québec City. Was rather surprised to discover that most restaurants outside the main tourist zones in both cities do not sell wine by the glass. Some may sell a full bottle only and others not at all. Their clientele is used to bringing their own (BYOB). I asked my hotel and their answer was it is so easy and cheap to pick up a good wine at a convenience store (dépanneur or dep) that it wasn't worthwhile for them to sell wine. But rather inconvenient for a tourist to carry around an open bottle of wine. I ended up buying a boxed wine at a dep.

Hi Garybear,

Actually as a local Montrealer I have to disagree with your post. A BYOW resto is not as easy to find in Montreal as many would hope. Locals all have their favourites and stick to them as they are not the majority. Many restaurants do sell wine by the glass, perhaps you just ended up at some that do not. Perhaps QC city is different...that I am not sure of.

Hello Aucho, I stayed in the Plateau area. Great variety of restaurants on rue St Denis - Italian, Spanish, Brazilian, Greek, Indian, Vietnamese - but nearly all of them were BYOB. I walked down the hill to UQAM and had better luck in that area.

AVV is the official designation for bringing your own bottle of wine. ("Apportez votre vin"). The Plateau does have a great variety of dining and the majority do not allow AVV. Generally it is small places that need an incentive or don't want the heavy capital expense of stocking a wine list. Depanneurs and even supermarches are only allowed to sell low-end wines, not fine vintages at high prices. Despite these cautions to your enthusiasm, I have enjoyed many bottles I carried in to bistros with satisfying menus. Ditto for Quebec City. To search for AVV:
www.restomontreal.com and http://www.restoquebec.ca/?lang=en

As a visitor to Montreal and other parts of Quebec, I find BYOB restaurants a fun option. Not only do you save a bundle, but I enjoy picking out my own wine at a SAQ or supermarket. We've had many memorable evenings perusing the BYOB restos on the Plateau with a bottle of wine (or even beer) tucked under our arm. This is a very rare option here in New England.