Café Souvenir — Restaurant in Montreal

My friend & I wanted to go this Sunday morning, Sept. 22nd for breakfast to Brasserie Bernard, but unfortunately, it was closed for renos and a nice and polite gentleman told us what’s going on apologetically for today and tomorrow (Monday) only & kindly directed us to go to Le Petit Italien a few doors to the west. We went there, but they only opened at 5PM. Strike 2. Right next door, we decided to give Café Souvenir a chance and entered. A pleasant-looking middle-aged woman greeted us “Bonjour comment ca va ?” I answered her politely and in a very friendly tone, “I’m great & You ?” Her quick reply, “Tres bien Merci !” indicated that she totally understood what I said. At that very moment, I wasn’t going to stay there and spend any money there, if only for the reason that she clearly didn’t even want to try to speak my language. It is my opinion, that she was trying to make a statement and I was going to have none of it, period. I don’t care if she’s not capable of speaking the language that I spoke to her in; she could make an effort at an attempt, and I would gladly assist her and make her feel at ease, but to not make any attempt is unacceptable. I’m not going to tell any businessperson what he/she should do to correct this so that this never happens again. I’d defend any person’s job integrity until they refuse to do what’s best for the company and the customers who actually pay their salaries. Business is not a place to make any statement other than, how can I best serve you and make as much...

I have been going to Cafe Souvenir for decades. It has always been consistently great even when the ownership changed a few times. While the former concept was fantastic with the passport menu and more choices than you could ever try, I love this current ownership and iteration of the cafe and menu. It’s owner run, so they know what they’re doing and the attention to detail is there. Warm milk with your coffee, omelettes brought straight from the pan, to name a few details I appreciate. They know how to cook; French from France style. So many restaurants in Montreal have gone up in price and down in value. Not Cafe Souvenir! They are doing it well and I highly recommend them. Great, friendly service. One of my regular...

We had breakfast outside on the extra "patio" created by the closing off of the street. The restaurant interior looked funky and there was a sidewalk patio area as well. The food was fantastic! I had a small serving of the granola and yogurt dish and the yogurt was so tasty it reminded me of homemade I used to make. Every dish we saw had a little tablespoon of fresh fruit unless fruit was part of the dish, then the serving was larger. The crêpe was folded like a burrito and the potatoes were nicely seasoned. Everything was super tasty and I cannot wait to find an excuse to go for another meal! There was a full bar inside, suggesting lovely afternoons...