Winter Street Food and Food Trucks in Montreal

Summer has come and gone and so has Montreal’s first ever food truck pilot project. This past summer saw the proliferation of food trucks in Montreal, for the first time in 66 years. This first attempt at street food has been a successful one, with over 30 trucks roaming the city’s streets and feeding hundreds of thousands Montrealers and visitors alike. The dining offer was varied, of high quality and delicious. Although some kinks still need to be worked out, this summer’s pilot project was highly successful and has most certainly paved the way to even more outstanding ones in the years to come…

But inquiring minds want to know, now that winter has come with its snowstorms and chilling temperatures, what happens to Montreal’s street food? Is it only a seasonal game? Are we to wait and be deprived of delicious food-on-the-go or can it transcend our Canadian winter? As a lover of street food, I went on a quest to answer these essential questions for you and here’s what I found.

Although some of this summer’s food trucks will be on hiatus this winter, you can still enjoy quite a few of your favourite trucks, which will operate in one way or another. Whether in special pop up events (Le Cheese Truck, Landry filles), at more permanent digs (Lucky’s Truck, La Sandwicherie Zoe’s) or simply in association with the restaurants these trucks have stemmed from (Nomade SO6 at Accords, Grumman 78 at Grumman 78 restaurant, Camion Au Pied de Cochon at Au Pied de Cochon restaurant). A large number of food trucks are also available for private catering, whether for an office party or a private celebration. Check the individual trucks’ Facebook pages or Twitter feeds for more details.

Just like this summer’s First Fridays events at the Olympic Stadium, there will also be a First Saturdays agglomeration of some of your favourite food trucks every first Saturday afternoon of the month at the Big O.

I don’t believe that street food is only limited to food trucks. In fact, some food “counters” can be considered as much street food as any truck roaming the streets. These counters vary in their offerings from coffee to pastries to more substantial meals like gourmet sandwiches, pizzas, soups and salads. In order to be listed, these businesses have to comply with certain criteria like quality, taste, service, efficiency and good value for your money. You can find over 100 of these “good food fast” counters on the StreetFoodMtl website here.

There are also of course, the original street food spots in Montreal, namely the city’s farmers’ markets where you can pick some good local food on-the-go all year round. The Jean-Talon market in particular is a foodie Mecca with many food offerings, some of which we’ve already mentioned in this article.

This winter, brave the cold and go out there and support your local street food scene Montreal!

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