L'Avenue — Restaurant in Montreal

L'avenue is the most trendy, unusual and cool restaurant I have visited in many years.

The l'Avenue brand is a small but apparently successful franchise operation, with additional branches in Montreal, Toronto and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. We visited the restaurant that started it all, on Avenue du Mont Royal.

We arrived on a rainy Sunday morning. After a long wait, during which we noticed a lot of customers exiting with doggy bags, we were served by an enthusiastic uniformed staff member by the name of "Jaws". The menu is very much a brunch type of deal, with the usual omelettes, eggs benedict, bacon, sausage and potato combinations. The maple syrup and the coffee are included and bottomless.

The portions were generous, the quality and the freshness of the food was good, but it was the atmosphere inside the restaurant that made it most interesting.

The black overall F1 pitstop style uniforms, worn by very energetic, mostly 20-something staff, the decorations on the wall, the hanging motorbike,all contributed to a different, almost rebel vibe.

The menu is simple but presented with edgy artwork, consistent with the general "we are different" look and feel of almost everything in the establishment. We used paper menus but most of the clients, on average much younger than myself, used their phones for that information.

In the same spirit, the washrooms are a must see. One is decorated with professional grade graffiti. The other one has a spinning disco ball and mirrors on the walls. Pretty interesting!

The music (techno beat) was a bit loud for me, but in this context, it was part of the intention to convey that funky, different way of doing things we are otherwise familiar with.

Overall, beyond the food that was good and generously portioned, brunch at l'Avenue was an experience.

I would go back, probably would go for pancakes this time, to take advantage of the always delicious, bottomless maple syrup. At the end of the day, restaurant are, above all else about the food :)

Well...

This place gets serious hype. The area is near other places to eat but only L’Avenue has a line out front. The interior is truly amazing. Thought provoking art work and eye catching props throughout the restaurant adds to the inner vibe that was riddled with exciting chatter, smells, and colors. A kind of mix of old and new style decor Also made the environment an experience before you even saw a menu. The menu was pretty cool. The place seems to be green in nature, digital menus, sustainable food, paper straws. We decided to change our plan and each get a main. Because the variety was overwhelming. Now is when the glitz fell off. The place is very busy so you will be within inches of the table next to you. Not a place to have serious conversations. The server was fast and I felt dismissive of us, idk why because I saw she was very good with some of the other guests. We ordered. Coffee, juice smoothie, a meat and eggs with pancakes dish, a bagel with salmon and capers. All pretty staple brunch stuff. Nothing stood out. Not the undercooked eggs, raw lemon ricotta pancake, flavorless bacon (that bummed me out), the smoked meat (brisket) was cold, dry, and over cooked. The juice was ok. Not sweet or tasty. The coffee was ok. Everything was just ok. Aesthetically, everything looked great and had great Social Media appeal. The pics look great, but the taste and flavors were not there for me and I feel I may have just ordered the wrong things. Idk but if you want my advice, the price, the wait, the vibe aren’t worth a trip. It looks like this place was a smash hit in the past and now it’s coasting off that fame and has fallen off. We left, tipped, and after going outside realized how disappointing...

Not that they need the review but holy cow, best breakfast I’ve ever had anywhere in the world except one place that is three times the cost. Everyone in service had the most infectious happy ora about them. Service was fast and attentive. The food came out really quickly and wow wow wow! I had the “Bon ben moi je prends toute!!”. Standard eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, cretons, potatoes and baguette. But guys, eggs were REALLY good. You’ve had eggs but I’m sure you’ve also tried eggs from chickens that are well taken care of. The bacon was perfectly crispy and chewy. The sausage was homemade and just seasoned right. They made the best breakfast potatoes, I couldn’t figure out how they seasoned them but there was definitely butter in the little pot they served them in. The ham! Wooow the ham was so tasty. I don’t think I’d had a ham that was prepared that way. Then I was asked if I wanted ketchup, mayo or hot sauce. I asked what kind of hot sauce and my waitress said it was homemade. Everything is homemade here, with love! It was a slightly sweet and tangy hot sauce that went really well with the potatoes. The baguette tasted like baguettes I’ve had in France, warmed just right with chew and crunch, buttered perfectly. The French roast!! How do you get that chew and that crunch and that flavour!? How?? The pancake was so close to the best you’d get at a cabane à sucre.

They care about what they’re serving you, how it’s prepared and where the ingredients come from. This place desserves every one of their almost 4000...