Gluten Free Montreal?

[lisawilliamson]

Does anyone know of any places that offer gluten free meals or perhaps even a gluten free restaurant?

[garlicmojo]

I realize this is an old thread but I keep coming back to it whenever I head to Montreal and thought others might too. I've found a great new place that is almost completely GF (except for their sausage). It's called Arepera and is a Venezuelan place on the plateau that make delicious sandwiches!! with corn bread. My celiac teen boys think this place is the bomb. Website is: http://www.arepera.ca

[sinjawns]

Me too, garlic mojo... this is a good ongoing resource for us GF folks.

I look forward to trying arepera soon... arepas are one of my new favourite things.

I'd like to add that I visited Chez Chose recently and was very happy both with the quality of the food and the GF options on the menu.

From their website: "For the allergic or food intolerant, not a problem! Chez Chose, you will find no base, no powder or concentrate. All our sauces, stocks and broths are homemade. It is easy for us to be precise in regards to the composition of every dish. Do not be shy and ask your host!"

Their knowledgeable service gave me confidence and made the meal relaxing and pleasant. Recommended.

I also brunched at Toi, Moi and Cafe and had good reception to GF requests; they suggested I bring my own GF bread next time... I think I'll bring arepas as a base for eggs benedict...

[MaeveH]

Another new bakery that sounds promising, with lots of gluten-free goods. Haven't been yet, but as it's just at 107 Fairmount W., I plan to soon. Closed Mondays.
http://cerisesurlegateau.ca/

[Ruthie789]

Louise Sans Gluten Free is a store in Dorval that specializes in gluten free. The owner was featured in the Montreal Gazette. Website: louisegft.com Telephone: [phone]. It is supposed to be a one stop shop for gluten free and baked goods are available.

[superbossmom]

We tried cupcakes, cinnamon buns , lasagna and pizza at Mi and Stu and everything was excellent; cupcakes with no eggs can be ordered in advance with a few days notice. Everything is frozen .

[eat2much]

There is a ton of fresh stuff at Mi & Stu depending on the time of day. Fresh breads, baguettes, brownies, cookies, etc. The prepared foods are sold either refrigerated or frozen.

[heliotrope]

Robin des Bois indicates what dishes are GF directly on their menu - http://robindesbois.ca/fr/content/le-...

[chilipepper]

http://www.miandstu.com/

[eat2much]

Ditto on the Mi & Stu. While Patsypie and Maison Cannelle both have very good packaged GF products, both "Mi & Stu" and Louise Sans Gluten offer a good choice of fresh baked goods and breads. Mi & Stu is also dairy free and peanut free.

[carfreeinla]

I wish I knew about this place last week! Was in town and I have to say, I have never had a better experience dining out in Montreal overall. But the only bakery I visited was Le Petit fourneau. While it was nice to have some special dessert, the server was so rude, had I not had my heart set on it, I would have bolted. The selection was very limited as well. I did appreciate that it was the type of gf pastry I am not inclined to make at home.

[Plateaumaman]

Oh no, that's a drag. I like to get a selection of little cakes there when my gluten-free brother is around as I also need to avoid dairy and at Le Petit Fourneau we can have a tasty treat or two without being deprived. If it's any consolation, I've always found the service to be polite, but maybe it's just luck.

[eat2much]

The things I've had from Petit Fourneau were pretty good and the service was efficient but not effusive. One caveat however, while they might take measures to avoid cross contamination, they themselves point out that they cannot guarantee their products to be entirely gluten free. In other words they are not celiac safe. but are ok for those who are only intolerant to gluten rather than allergic.

[Plateaumaman]

That's good to know. Oh, I saw gluten-free poutine sauce at Rachelle-Bery today, pretty expensive but I suppose if one was looking for such a thing it would be nice to know it exists. Although a potato mashed in roast chicken drippings might be yummier.

[benmarks]

I've mentioned Montreal's Patsypie bakery before. I still think it's the best around and, believe me, I must have tried just about every company out there. I recently tried their new pie crust. It's like a Graham cracker crust, but gluten-free. It's one of those fill and serve type crusts, like Keebler makes. We made a chocolate cream pie with it. Our friends were asking for the recipe. It's amazing. They've also got some new muffins and brownies, but haven't had the chance to try either yet. The the thing is, any Patsypie product I've tried so far has been excellent. It's the only gluten-free stuff i can bring home that my wife will eat also.

[Fritzy]

Pintxo (Spanish/Basque)

I took my visiting sister and friend who are both on gluten-free diets to Pintxo's for dinner last week. The waiter was very cooperative, friendly and helpful: He pointed out many 'pintxos' that were gluten-free and offered to modify several others to make them gluten-free. In the end they had a wide selection of items to choose from. The food for all four of us (we chose 4 pintxos each) was delightful (even better than I remembered it from a couple of years ago). The total bill including two bottles of privately-imported Spanish white wine, was very modest. The service was exemplary. The only mild negative was that the very acoustically live walls made the sound-level a bit too loud for easy conversation though we managed that well-enough too. All-in-all a delightful dinner experience.

[raisecain]

Seconded for Pintxo. It was a lovely dinner with a delicious sampling of tapas for a gluten free pescatarian like myself.

Definitely a special night out though considering the bill. Will definitely go back there.

[montrealwaitress]

Wienstein and Gavino's on Crescent now offers a variety of gluten free meals. They even have gluten free pasta.

[carfreeinla]

I have spent the past few days eating GF all around Montreal- some meals better than others but all completely GF. Zero8, APDC, La Salle a Manger, L'avenue, Frites Alors, the crepe place at JTM, Cafe Cherrier, Toi Moi, Eggspectation ( ugh), DQ and Cafe Myriade,
For the first time in the 10 years that I have traveling to this wonderful city, I felt that they really got "gf". Not one restaurant looked at me funny when I asked if something was GF- and that is new.
Yes, the experience at Zero8 was great because everything on the menu was GF, the food was good, but darn, I wanted cheese on the Poutine and would have rather had better frites than have gluten free gravy.
So... if you are looking for GF in Montreal, start by deciding where you WANT to eat- odds are you will find a healthy GF selection- finally!!!

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Toi Moi & Cafe
244 Av Laurier W, Montreal, QC H2T2N8, CA

Frites Alors
3497 Boul Saint-Laurent, Montreal, QC H2X2T6, CA

Eggspectation
1661 Boul De L'avenir, Laval, QC H7S2N5, CA

Cafe Cherrier
3635 Rue Saint-Denis, Montreal, QC H2X3L6, CA

[thumperfp]

I was so excited to read about Zero8 while in Montreal and booked a reservation right away, finally a place that I can eat ANYTHING on the menu without worry.
Sadly, Zero8 was a complete disapointment.
The service was horrible, in the 25 minutes we waited for the waiter to come take our drink order, one table left frustrated and another complained. Once he did arrive, he was clearly more interested in watching people out on the street than making eye contact or dealing with us.
On to the food.....my friend ordered the duck - very tough and almost rubbery, the risotto was bland and the squash, well was squash
I ordered the pasta with tomato and basil sauce - the pasta was cold, very over cooked, mushy and the sauce tasted like watered down canned sauce. I ate about a 1/4 of it because I was so hungry after waiting so long and then gave up.
This is such a wonderful idea for a restaurant that has gone so wrong.

[TheSnowpea]

Wow, that sounds dreadful. Sorry you had a terrible experience, but thank you for letting the board know about this.

[Deelicious47]

Hi carfreeinla,
I know your GF in Montreal post was two years ago - but I have a few ??s. I'm avoiding gluten and my BF has celiac. We're heading up to Montreal on Thursday the 2nd. I scoped out the sites of the four places you listed. They don't say much in the way of GF. Do you know if the frites are totally GF safe - no cross contamination? Do they have GF bread at Eggspectation? What about Cafe Cherrier? We've got reservations Fri night at Zero8. Hoping it's better than some others posted on this board......THANK YOU!

[carfreeinla]

So many new places since that post. I still love Cafe Cherrier but it is as much about the memories as the food. Zero8 may be the only place I have had GF bread in Montreal, but the food simply isn't worth it. I have eaten at a few different Frites Alors and have never had a cross contamination issue. Eggspectation has really gone downhill in the past few years. Bottom line- might be time to reconsider old options and find some new ones.
Had a really delicious meal a few weeks ago at Julieta Cuisine Montreal. Best Hamburger in Montreal at Brassierie Cherrier. Completely safe with both of them.

[Deelicious47]

Thanks so much carfreeinla. I read some reviews for Julieta. This is SO right up my alley. I hope they take reservations and that I can get one for Friday evening! They're not open until Thursday. Their online menu was only in French and unfortunately I don't speak French. Did they have an English version by any chance? Oh. Man. I sound like a lame American....

[eat2much]

Hi Deelicious47, I'm not sure if it is on your list but you might want to check out Boulangerie Mi & Stu on Parc Ave (www.miandstu.com) a wonderful new gluten, dairy, & peanut free bakery in Mile End.

[Deelicious47]

Hi eat2much - YES! I do know about Mi & Stu. It's on our list. Many thanks!

[kpzoo]

Yes, Julieta takes reservations. The menu is just a chalkboard but the waitress speaks English and will happily translate everything. It's a fabulous place - enjoy it!

In the meantime - you can try Google Translate for the online menu. There's also another thread which discusses it in depth - I'll try to find it.

[kpzoo]

Lots more about Julieta in this thread, including dish descriptions and photos from my meal there: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/830924

[carfreeinla]

We went for brunch. While so many things on the chalkboard were irresistible sounding- and not available, we loved our meals. The arepacita's are addictive. And afterwards, we walked to Jean Talon and ate our weight in berries.

[Deelicious47]

kpzoo and carfreeinla Many thanks to both of you. I really appreciate your feedback. Wonderful descriptions and great pics. I'll report back! Cheers!

[alixium]

I have noticed that the menu at Accords indicates gluten-free choices.

[Fritzy]

Yes, Accords in Old Montreal does have a variety of gluten-free items on their menu and they were generally friendly and helpful in that regard. BTW: their courtyard patio is very nice too.

[rwarren]

In terms of desserts, macarons should be a safe bet as they do not contain wheat flour. So any of the various macaron purveyors will be a good choice. In a similar vein would be a Pavlova or other meringue type dessert.

[Fritzy]

My sister visiting from LA who is on a gluten-free diet was very impressed by the chickpea-based gluten-free mini-cookies at Nocochi's the Persian place on MacKay near Sherbrooke. She loaded up with a box of 15 of the various gluten-free mini-cookies. They also have French-style macarons there as well.

[aladylobster]

Aux Vivres (vegan) marks everything on their menu that is soy and gluten free, making it super-easy to order. And the food is excellent.

http://www.auxvivres.com/

-----
Aux Vivres
4631 Boul Saint-Laurent, Montreal, QC H2T1R2, CA

[bakersdelight]

second aux vivres being yummy.

on the more casual end, i just noticed on their flyer--never ordered anything so can't vouch for their quality, although they do claim to be the official pizza provider of the Habs--but pizzapizza.ca has a gluten-free option available for an extra 3.50 or so on medium size pies.

[benmarks]

By far the best baked gluten-free In Montreal comes from Patsypie (http://www.patsypie.com/) as mentioned by plateauman. But I don't think the bakery is open to the public. They make cookies, biscotti, brownies and muffins. I buy from HealthTree on the west Island, but I've seen their products in other stores too, even Metro. I highly recommend their brownies, peanut butter cookies and cranberry biscotti.

As for restaurants, I find that most in Montreal now understand gluten-free. While these don't have an exclusively gluten-free menu, they are all safe bets:

Portuguese: Braseiro, 8261, boul. St-Laurent corner Guizot, 514.389.0606. very reasonable and consistenly excellent. Try Marco's Chicken plate!

Latin American: La Caretta, 350 Rue Saint Zotique East [phone]. Lots of corn options. Great corn tamales. Wonderful pupusas. It's very casual and not fancy, but VERY tasty and fun.

Italian: Ottavio, 1134 Marcel-Laurin, Ville-St-Laurent, Qc [phone]. They actually have a gluten-free menu. While it's not the best Italian you'll ever eat, they do offer several gluten-free options and are very careful about it, even providing separate, wrapped knives and forks.

For chocolate lovers and crepe lovers: Juliette et Chocolat (http://www.julietteetchocolat.com/che...) is great bet. They offer over 40 different types of hot chocolate plus some excellent and gluten-free buckwheat crepes.

You can also get buckwheat crepes at several other Montreal restaurants. Just make sure to ask if they mix in any wheat flour. Most don't, but some do.

As I said, most Montreal restaurants will attend to your gluten-free needs. Just make clear as to what you can and can't eat.

-----
Braseiro
8261 Boul Saint-Laurent, Montreal, QC H2P2M1, CA

Ottavio Restaurant
1459 Boul Saint-Martin W, Laval, QC H7S1N1, CA

[potemkin]

Nobody seems to have mentioned Zero8 on St-Denis (1735, rue St-Denis; www.zero8.com). I discovered this restaurant by accident last February - initially I was very sceptical about it because of the rather touristy location, but it definitely impressed me from the beginning.

They explain, very thoroughly, which ingredients they avoid and how strict they are. This is not only just gluten-free restaurant - they try to address 8 major allergies, if I remember correctly.

Anyway, on another day I came back with a relative and he ordered pasta. When he was eating it and praising it we suddenly looked at each other asking the same question - how can there be pasta on the menu? So we asked our waiter and he said it was made from corn. The taste and texture were excellent.

[kpzoo]

Good addition to this thread, thanks for your report. The reason it probably wasn't mentioned is that this thread is from May 2008 and I think Zero8 opened after that, not sure exactly when.

[humbert]

Someone just made a comment on this place on another website:

A La Miche et La Quiche Sans Gluten
450, boul. De Mortagne coin Montarville
Rive-Sud, Québec, J4B 1B8

Il y a une variete de plats, patisseries, pains, viennoiseries sans gluten. C'est le paradis pour les personnes celiaques. Je ne le suis pas, mais je les adore tout de meme!

(Kind of far but seems decent!)

[TheSnowpea]

Rue Frontenac posted a review of Zero8 on June 12, 2010 (in French)

http://ruefrontenac.com/detente/157-p...

According to the review, the menu does not contain anything that has: peanuts or nuts, fish and seafood, sesame, milk, soy, eggs, wheat and other gluten-containing grains such as oats, rye, tritical, barley.

[Maximilien]

they only serve water ?

[kpzoo]

Nope. See menu screenshot. (click to see full version)

[carfreeinla]

Certain irony in the fact that Montreal does not seem as "gluten free proactive" as other cities. As a NYer and frequent Montreal visitor, I have ordered many gluten free provisions from Canada since I was diagnosed almost 20 years ago. What I appreciate is how allergy and celiac aware most places tend to be.
I have never gone hungry. Even at PDC, I have been well fed. Moishes too. And forgive me, but nothing beats Dairy Queen!!! They never look at you funny when you ask them to wipe off the blenders!

[explevi]

Here is a year's work of searching for gluten free food in Montreal:

Fuschia
4050 Coloniale (at the corner of Duluth, I believe)
http://epiceriefleur.com/
I've been to Fuschia once and didn't have a meal but gluten-free cookies (and they weren't bad!). I talked to the owner and she seems to have a solid awareness and knowledge of the gluten allergy and said that she always tries to have a gluten-free option available even for meals. The menu changes daily (one meal and a dessert for something like $10) so my advice would be to check to make sure it's something that is A) gluten-free or B) could be amended to be gluten-free just to be on the safe side. Either way, if you do go, please tell me how it went! The restaurant has just one communal table, so I haven't been able to overcome the fear of actually having to talk to strangers (gasp!). I also heard rumours that they have gluten-free cupcakes.

La Bouchée de Pain
910 Duluth E
Be cautious here. This bakery usually has at least one gluten-free option (either a brownie or a lemon square), however you must keep in mind that it is a bakery and there is the threat of cross-contamination. Be sure that you remind them to use a separate, clean utensil. The friendly woman who I believe to be the owner (correct me if I am wrong) is cautious and aware of gluten allergies, however not everyone is...

Aszu
212 Notre Dame St. W
http://aszu.ca
I’ve been to Aszu twice and absolutely love it. Gluten-free options are available on the website, however, once you actually go to the restaurant you’ll see that the menu is different and gluten-free options are not listed. Nevertheless, the waiter (who I had both times) was very knowledgeable and I had no problems. The first time they made a gluten-free almond cookie for dessert; the second time they had gluten-free crackers to go alongside the regular bread. Excellent restaurant.

Commensal
Various locations
http://www.commensal.com/
This chain of restaurants is essentially a vegetarian buffet where you pay by weight. I’ve never eaten here so I can’t comment on the quality, however I do know that they list gluten-free options. Still, the possibility of cross-contamination exists since the gluten-free options are not isolated.

Bonny’s
1748 Notre-Dame St. W
http://www.bonnys.ca/
I’ve eaten here once. Many gluten-free options; the chef on the night I went was well aware of all limitations. There are also gluten-free muffins and various soups and pre-packaged meals. That being said, I didn’t think the quality was exceptionally high (I had a vegetarian burger) and I thought the menu was over-priced.

Casa Pescara
6752 Sherbrooke E
http://restomontreal.ca/portal/casa-pescara/index.php?lang=en
I’ve never been to this restaurant, however I’ve heard that it has many gluten-free options.

Also, here is a list of restaurants at which I haven’t had a problem. Be sure to be clear and detailed about what a gluten-free diet involves (using an allergy card could be useful), however I’ve been fortunate and most wait staffs seem exceptionally knowledgeable: Laloux, Au Pied de Cochon (though, sadly there aren’t many options), Chez L’Épecier, Lemeac, BU, Bronte.

Miscellaneous:

- Metro (various locations) carries a new line of gluten-free products (including frozen meals such as lasagna) called Allergium (http://www.allergium.com). I’ve only tried the baguette and it’s, well, gluten-free bread. However, once you’ve had some brie and wine you may start to forget!
- Both Loblaws and Rachelle-Bery carry a gluten-free beer called La Messagère (http://www.lesbieresnouvellefrance.com).
- KinnikinnickFoods (http://www.kinnikinnick.com) has by far the best gluten-free products I’ve come by. You can order online and shipping’s only $10 no matter how much you order.

In short, I’ve found that Montreal has surprisingly few gluten-free options (compared to other cities such as Toronto or New York). Luckily, most restaurants are aware of the allergy and do go out of their way to make amendments. Best of luck! I may be forgetting a couple of places…if I can remember I’ll also post those.

[moh]

Explevi, thanks, so much for this very comprehensive post! Greatly appreciate you sharing your wealth of research, it'll be a great resource. Thanks again!

[lisawilliamson]

Thank you so much, this is really helpfull.

[explevi]

I noticed that restomontreal.ca now offers a list of restaurants that have 'gluten free dishes available' (http://www.restomontreal.ca/restaurants/features/montreal-sans-gluten-free-restaurants.php?start=0&num_pages=3&lang=en&d=&c=). I'm not sure entirely what that entails (seeing as only a handful of the restaurants listed have a gluten free menu or a menu that lists gluten free options), but I will assume that it means that they are aware of the restrictions of a gluten free diet. I noticed two restaurants that have gluten-free menus that haven't yet been mentioned:

Restaurant Pizza Villa
6672 Papineau Ave.
http://www.restaurantpizzavilla.com/sans_gluten_gluten_free

Marché Serafim
393, rue Saint-Paul E
http://www.restomontreal.ca/portal/se...

I have never been to either so I can't vouch for their quality.

[heliotrope]

Urbanspoon also offers the search feature "gluten-free friendly" on their site:
http://www.urbanspoon.com/t/67/1/Mont...

[Plateaumaman]

There's a new raw vegan place on Rachel called Crudessence that probably has gluten-free items on their menu. They sell gluten-free groceries at Rachelle-Bery but I don't know of a restaurant in the city that is gluten-free. You could try looking for gluten-free things to eat in ethnic restaurants i.e. Indian or Chinese or Greek.

Here is a link for a gluten-free bakery in the area:
http://www.patsypie.com/

They might know a lot more about gluten-free places too.