7 Best Restaurants in Canada

Chef Guillaume Saint-Pierre's love for authentic Italian cuisine led him to open this popular 25-seat restaurant, located off the main St-Roch thoroughfares, where he can fully concentrate on that passion with gusto and skill. Italian tradition (there's arancini and vitello tonatto) blends with local flair (there's cacio e pepe with Swiss chard, and lobster spaghetti). The restaurant's immense popularity means reservations are essential, often requiring booking weeks in advance, especially for weekends.

This unpretentious, industrial-chic Little Italy restaurant has garnered a great reputation, thanks in part to its celebrity-chef owners, Stefano Faita and Michele Forgione, who make some of the best pasta dishes in town.

The expertise and irreproachable service at Le Serpent truly make it an essential stop on any Montréal foodie itinerary. The industrial-looking space caters to trendy diners, and almost paradoxically, serves sublime Italianate plates that could be mistaken for comfort food if they weren’t so elegantly presented. Nothing disappoints here, from the sommelier picks to the meat, fish and pasta dishes down to the delectable desserts.

First and foremost a wine bar, this atmospheric 30-seat spot also dishes out delicious vegetable-forward, market-based cuisine. The cuisine features local and seasonal ingredients, and the flavors are simple enough to pair well with the stars of the show: the many wines on offer. The homemade bread topped with mushrooms and lobster, the rotisserie whole cauliflower with crispy chicken skin, or the Brussels sprouts a la plancha are just a few of the small plates that have become crowd favorites. End your meal with an assortment of Québec cheeses. The plates are all meant to be shared while you sip on some of the most unique wines in the city, carefully selected from wineries near and far.  Vegetarians and vegans should be forewarned that even if a dish here appears to be vegetarian it may have been prepared with animal stock or fat, so it's best to enquire before ordering.  

Victor and Cathy Caracciolo opened Mercato 20 years ago and it has been a local favorite ever since. Mamma Cathy is still in the kitchen every day, whipping up delicious contemporary Italian fare for a constant stream of regular customers; try the family-style mixed grill or Mamma’s handmade gnocchi using the same recipe she learned from her own mama. There’s also a spacious market that sells cheese, meats, fresh-baked bread, handmade pasta, and ready-cooked meals to take home. Either way, you can’t go wrong.

One of the best restaurants in town, Uccellino’s prepares traditional Italian fare with a modern flair like buckwheat pappardelle and ricotta- and mascarpone-filled ravioli, but try the Chef’s Tasting Menu to get the most out of your visit. Innovative cocktails and an excellent wine list only enhance the dining experience.

A little off the beaten path, this intimate Italian eatery can be easy to miss. The restaurant's head chef Dmetro Sinclair emphasizes simple, seasonal dishes using techniques and ingredients outside the classic Italian canon yet feel more attuned with the true essence of Italian cooking than what you find in most other Italian restaurants.