Neighbourhood / Mile End
Mile End
BAGELS, THEN WANDER
The Plateau's northern neighbour packs two famous bagel bakeries, a comics bookstore and live-music rooms into a few walkable blocks.
- From home
- 13 min drive
- Spend
- $$$$
- Our dates
- Trip-day hours unconfirmed
The verdict
Worth a half day, and the cheapest good one on the trip. Start at a bagel bakery on Saint-Viateur or Fairmount, then walk Bernard and Saint-Viateur for cafes and shops, with Drawn & Quarterly on Bernard as the bookish stop. Plan around shops, not trails: this is a street walk, and Thanksgiving Monday hours are unconfirmed for anything but the bagel shops' standing schedules. Our evidence is thin on individual cafes and boutiques, so treat the specifics as leads to check.
- Editor's lead: half day of bagels, Saint-Viateur, Bernard, Fairmount, shops and cafes
- Two long-running bagel bakeries a short walk apart
- Drawn & Quarterly flagship on Bernard
What people actually say
Recurring themes, not cherry-picked quotes.
Love
- Bagel bakeries as the anchor, with two competing names within walking distance
- Mix of independent shops, music venues and a bookstore on a walkable grid
Know before you go
- Business turnover: a Saint-Viateur bookstore closed in 2023, so check individual venues
- Thanksgiving Monday Oct 12: no holiday notice found; confirm individual shops
- Only St-Viateur Bagel hours verified; Fairmount Bagel site lists none
- Boundaries are informal
Dishes that keep coming up
Wood-fired bagels from St-Viateur and Fairmount (named as the area's bagel shops, no dish-level detail sourced)
- Room
- Neighbourhood of low-rise streets with cafes, shops and music venues, per the descriptive sources.
- Service
- Not applicable.
- Value
- Free to walk; bagels are cheap but prices were not on official sites.
Vibe check
casual/buzzy/design forward
Best fora half-day walk, bagel breakfast, browsing bookstores and cafes
What it costs
Walking the streets is free. Bagel prices not listed on official sites; no per-person estimate grounded.
On our dates
Open-air neighbourhood. Anchor: St-Viateur Bagel bakery 158 rue St-Viateur O. lists daily 6am-10pm; flagship shop 263 St-Viateur O. lists daily 6am-midnight.
- Mon 12Unclear
- Tue 13Unclear
- Wed 14Unclear
- Thu 15Unclear
Thanksgiving MondayNo holiday notice on St-Viateur Bagel site (lists every day, no Thanksgiving mention) or Fairmount Bagel site as of Oct 8. Other shops not checked.
Full week
| Mon | Not listed |
|---|---|
| Tue | Not listed |
| Wed | Not listed |
| Thu | Not listed |
| Fri | Not listed |
| Sat | Not listed |
| Sun | Not listed |
Is it worth it?
Yes for a half day if you like bagels, bookstores and wandering; skip if you need big sights. Evidence base is thin.
- Best time
- Late morning to afternoon, Tue-Thu
- Time needed
- 3-4 hours
- Cost
- Free to walk
- Weather
- Mostly outdoors street walking, with shops and cafes to duck into if it rains. Daylight is best.
- This season
- Mid-October is cool; bring layers. No seasonal data sourced.
Good forbagels, bookstores, cafe hopping, street walking
Pair it with
- Wilensky's Light Lunch at Fairmount and Clark, a long-standing lunch counter (listed as open by Wikipedia; verify hours)
- Drawn & Quarterly on Bernard for books and comics
- Dieu du Ciel brewpub for a beer after the walk (hours not verified)
Where
Mile End, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montréal, QC (unofficial bounds: Mont-Royal Ave to Van Horne Ave, Hutchison St to St-Denis St)
While you're there
The receipt
Where every fact on this page comes from.
ResearchedResearched Oct 8, 2026. Second check pending. Confidence: low.
Details to confirm
- Oct 12 Thanksgiving hours for St-Viateur, Fairmount, Wilensky's, Drawn & Quarterly and cafes
- Fairmount Bagel hours (site lists none; phone 514-272-0667)
- Specific cafes and shops worth naming; no editorial source read
- Bagel prices
- Current rain/weather forecast for Oct 12-15