Which is better: St-Viateur or Fairmount bagel?

Both are genuinely excellent and the differences are subtle. St-Viateur (founded 1957) produces a slightly denser, chewier bagel with a more pronounced honey-sesame crust. Fairmount (founded 1919) is the original and tends to be slightly sweeter and softer. Most locals will defend whichever they grew up with. The honest answer: eat one from each, warm from the oven, and decide for yourself.

What makes a Montréal bagel different from a New York bagel?

Montréal bagels are smaller, denser, and sweeter than their New York counterparts. They are hand-rolled, boiled in honey water (rather than plain water), and baked in a wood-fired oven rather than a steam oven. The result is a thinner, chewier product with a distinct sweetness and a caramelised, slightly crisp crust. They contain no salt or eggs in the dough, which is another key difference.

Are both bakeries open 24 hours?

St-Viateur Bagel (263 avenue Saint-Viateur Ouest) is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — it has never closed since opening in 1957. Fairmount Bagel (74 avenue Fairmount Ouest) is also open 24 hours. Both are legitimately staffed through the night, with bakers working continuous shifts. A late-night visit to watch the bagels emerge from the wood-fired ovens is a genuine Montréal experience.

What should I order with my bagels?

The classic combination is a sesame bagel (still warm if possible) with cream cheese (ideally plain or chive) and lox (smoked salmon). This is sold as a complete sandwich at both bakeries. You can also buy plain, poppy seed, cinnamon-raisin, or everything varieties. Eating a sesame bagel plain, directly from the bag while walking, is also a legitimate local tradition.

How much do Montréal bagels cost?

A single bagel at either bakery costs approximately 1.50–2 CAD. A half-dozen is 7–9 CAD, a dozen 12–16 CAD. A cream cheese and lox sandwich runs 10–14 CAD. These prices have risen sharply since 2022 but both bakeries remain extremely affordable by North American standards.

Is there a third Montréal bagel option worth trying?

A few other bakeries make respectable Montréal-style bagels (Bagel Etc. at 4320 boulevard Saint-Laurent is well regarded), but none has achieved the cultural status of St-Viateur or Fairmount. The two originals remain the definitive experience.

Montréal bagels: St-Viateur vs Fairmount honest comparison 2026

Why Montréal bagels are a food culture, not just a bread

Montréal has strong opinions about its bagels. This is a city where people will debate the relative merits of two bakeries that are separated by three blocks and whose products are, to an outsider, extremely similar. That specificity is itself part of what makes the Montréal bagel world worth understanding.

The bagel is not incidentally good here — it is one of the defining elements of the city’s food identity, a product of the large Eastern European Jewish community that settled in Mile End in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and brought with them a tradition of hand-rolled, wood-oven baked bread that has remained essentially unchanged for over a century.

What makes the Montréal bagel distinctive

Before comparing the two bakeries, it helps to understand what separates a Montréal bagel from everything else:

Size: Smaller than a New York bagel, thinner, with a bigger hole relative to the bread. The classic Montréal bagel fits in a hand; a New York bagel fills it.

Dough: No salt, no eggs. The dough is simpler and denser, which produces a chewier final product.

Boiling: The dough rings are boiled in honey-sweetened water before baking. This gives the crust its characteristic sweetness and slight caramelisation.

Oven: Wood-fired only. Both St-Viateur and Fairmount have been burning the same type of hardwood for decades. The wood oven produces an uneven, mottled browning and a specific crust texture that a gas or electric oven cannot replicate.

Freshness sensitivity: A Montréal bagel eaten within 20 minutes of leaving the oven is a different object from one eaten four hours later. Locals time their visits accordingly.

Fairmount Bagel: the original (founded 1919)

Fairmount Bagel at 74 avenue Fairmount Ouest is the oldest bagel bakery in North America still operating at its original location. Isadore Shlafman opened it in 1919, and the Shlafman family sold it in the 1970s — the current owners have maintained the wood-fired tradition without interruption.

The taste test: Fairmount bagels tend to be slightly rounder, with a softer, more yielding crumb. The sweetness from the honey boil is a bit more forward. The sesame seeds are generously applied and adhere well to the crust. The crust itself has a delicate crack before giving way to the chewy interior.

The experience: The shop is smaller and more intimate than St-Viateur. Bagels come out of the oven in batches throughout the day (and night). The smell in the shop — honey, sesame, burning wood — is exceptional. Cream cheese and lox sandwiches are assembled to order.

Price: Single bagel 1.80 CAD; dozen 15 CAD approximately.

St-Viateur Bagel: the institution (founded 1957)

St-Viateur Bagel at 263 avenue Saint-Viateur Ouest was founded by Myer Lewkowicz, a Holocaust survivor who learned bagel-making in a Polish labour camp. The shop opened in 1957 and has not closed since — the ovens have not gone cold in nearly 70 years.

The taste test: St-Viateur bagels are perceptibly denser and chewier than Fairmount’s. The crust is slightly thicker and more pronounced. The sweetness is present but less forward — the flavour is more complex, with the char from the wood oven more detectable. Sesame seeds on St-Viateur bagels are applied in a slightly higher quantity and produce a nuttier flavour after baking.

The experience: The original Saint-Viateur Ouest location is larger than Fairmount and has become somewhat of a tourist landmark in its own right — there is usually a mix of locals and visitors, particularly on weekend mornings. St-Viateur has also opened two additional locations in Montréal (on avenue du Parc and in the Plateau), but the original location on Saint-Viateur is the one to visit.

Price: Single bagel 1.75 CAD; dozen 14 CAD approximately.

The verdict: an honest comparison

The bagels are different in ways that matter to enthusiasts and are subtle to first-timers. Here is the most accurate way to frame it:

If you prefer a softer, sweeter bagel with a more yielding texture, Fairmount is your choice.
If you prefer a denser, chewier bagel with a more assertive crust and slightly more complex flavour, St-Viateur is your choice.
If you are visiting once, eat at both. They are three blocks apart. Buy a sesame bagel at each location, eat them while walking, compare.

The “which is better” debate is ultimately cultural rather than qualitative. Both bakeries produce excellent bagels that are entirely different from anything else available in North America. The correct approach is to enjoy both.

How to eat them: the definitive guide

Plain, warm, from the bag: the purist option. A sesame or poppy bagel straight from the oven needs nothing.

With cream cheese: plain or chive cream cheese is standard. Both bakeries sell it. Apply generously.

With cream cheese and lox: the full treatment. Fairmount and St-Viateur both assemble this sandwich on request. Cold-smoked salmon (lox), cream cheese, sometimes capers and red onion. 10–14 CAD.

As a sandwich base: both bakeries sell whole bags for people taking them home. They hold up reasonably well for a day but should not be refrigerated (they harden). Freeze immediately if taking them home.

Getting there

Both bakeries are in Mile End, within easy walking distance of each other:

Fairmount Bagel: 74 avenue Fairmount Ouest (Metro Laurier, then 15-minute walk, or Metro Place-des-Arts and a longer walk)
St-Viateur Bagel: 263 avenue Saint-Viateur Ouest (Metro Laurier, then 10-minute walk)

The neighbourhood between them — the core of Mile End — is also worth exploring for its restaurants, coffee shops, and general character. See our Plateau-Mont-Royal guide.

Food tours that cover bagels

The Montréal bagel tour visits both bakeries with a guide who can explain the history and differences in context — a good option if you want more background than just showing up and eating.

Mile End foodie walking tour with 6 tastings covers the broader Mile End food culture including the bagel bakeries alongside other iconic local stops.

Frequently asked questions about Montréal bagels: St-Viateur vs Fairmount, an honest taste test

What makes a Montréal bagel different from a New York bagel?
Montréal bagels are smaller, denser, and sweeter than their New York counterparts. They are hand-rolled, boiled in honey water (rather than plain water), and baked in a wood-fired oven rather than a steam oven. The result is a thinner, chewier product with a distinct sweetness and a caramelised, slightly crisp crust. They contain no salt or eggs in the dough, which is another key difference.
Are both bakeries open 24 hours?
St-Viateur Bagel (263 avenue Saint-Viateur Ouest) is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — it has never closed since opening in 1957. Fairmount Bagel (74 avenue Fairmount Ouest) is also open 24 hours. Both are legitimately staffed through the night, with bakers working continuous shifts. A late-night visit to watch the bagels emerge from the wood-fired ovens is a genuine Montréal experience.
What should I order with my bagels?
The classic combination is a sesame bagel (still warm if possible) with cream cheese (ideally plain or chive) and lox (smoked salmon). This is sold as a complete sandwich at both bakeries. You can also buy plain, poppy seed, cinnamon-raisin, or everything varieties. Eating a sesame bagel plain, directly from the bag while walking, is also a legitimate local tradition.
How much do Montréal bagels cost?
A single bagel at either bakery costs approximately 1.50–2 CAD. A half-dozen is 7–9 CAD, a dozen 12–16 CAD. A cream cheese and lox sandwich runs 10–14 CAD. These prices have risen sharply since 2022 but both bakeries remain extremely affordable by North American standards.
Is there a third Montréal bagel option worth trying?
A few other bakeries make respectable Montréal-style bagels (Bagel Etc. at 4320 boulevard Saint-Laurent is well regarded), but none has achieved the cultural status of St-Viateur or Fairmount. The two originals remain the definitive experience.

Montréal bagels: St-Viateur vs Fairmount, an honest taste test