Here Are The 33 Food Trucks Approved by The City For This Summer [Updated]

UPDATE (April 20) — The City granted seven more permits in addition to the first round of 26 announced back in February — that means 33 trucks in all will be allowed at the city’s official parking locations this season (find the map of locations over here). The additions are as follows (see the first 26 permit holders further down the page):

• Café Mobile Dispatch — Dispatch Coffee’s truck
• Le Cheese — grilled cheeses and such
• Chez Tomio — details are scarce, but it appears to be from Centre-Sud sushi restaurant Tomio
• L’Assommoir Mobile — from the Notre-Dame tapas spot of the same name
• La Cage Sur La Route — the truck version of sports bar La Cage
• Le Quai Roulant — seafood with a Quebec bent
• Mignon — kind of a mystery

February may not feel like the ideal time to be talking street food, but food truck season isn’t far off at all this year, with the city allowing (most) trucks to hit the streets on April 1. City officials are now done selecting who’s allowed to peddle food from the window of a large van on the streets of Montreal.

This being Quebec, where few public activities happen without first getting tangled in the tentacles of bureaucracy, it bears mention that one can’t simply apply for a food truck permit. This year, those wanting to operate food trucks had to convince three people — a nutritionist, and two culinary experts (one with a focus on food, the other with a focus on management) — that they are worthy of a permit.

Those permits allow trucks to sell at the city’s official locations — which are also the only public spaces where food trucks may park (as with past years, trucks aren’t allowed to simply roam the streets).

That committee took six factors into account: the creativity and originality of a food truck’s concept (including their dishes), whether a truck prioritizes local produce, the professional experience of the people running a truck, a truck’s ability to use eco-friendly packaging, the visual appearance of a truck (or at least the plans for this), and the overall quality of the application.

A small handful of trucks received two-year permits in 2016 and didn’t have to re-apply, but others — even the trucks that had previously operated — had to jump through that hoop.

In any case, here’s a list of everyone approved, split into the newcomers and the returners. A lot of big names are absent from the returners list — including Pizzeria No 900, Lucille’s, Green Panther, and St-Viateur Bagel. They will not be able to sell at the city’s designated food truck locations, but could show up at private events, festivals, and First Friday food truck rallies at the Olympic Stadium.

The city could issue more permits once food truck season begins, but there’s no indication that this will happen at this stage.

The city is still working on approving food truck locations for this year — there will be 25 locations the trucks can sell at (down from 27 last year), across six boroughs: Outremont, Sud Ouest, Mercier Hochelaga Maisonneuve, Rosemont–La Petite Patrie, Verdun, and Ville Marie.

UPDATE — A previous version of this story included a list of trucks that do not have city permits for this year, suggesting that those trucks were out of operation. Many of those trucks are still operating at festivals and events that do not require city permits, while some are only operating at private events, and a smaller number have permanently shut down. The lists below have been updated to make this clear — the list of new and returning trucks entitled to permits has not changed.

New Trucks

• Cholo 58 — Peruvian street food (Cholo operated last year but only at private events that didn’t require city approval)
• Mandy's Gourmet Salads — fancy salads from Westmount salad magnates Mandy’s
• Ô Sœurs du Lac — a mystery truck, although the name suggests it might be connected to existing meatball-and-salad truck Ô Sœurs Volantes

Returning Trucks

• Boîte à Fromages — raclette and grilled cheese
• Burger Truck — burgers, mostly, from Villeray restaurant Le Gras Dur
• Cuisine Authentique Polonaise — perogies and other Polish eats from a truck that operated under the name Pyza and Europolonia in past years
• Damon — Indian food from the truck formerly called Atma
• Dim Sum Montreal — dumplings, steamed buns, and other Chinese snacks
• Duck Truck MTL — various plates from burgers to empanadas, all with duck meat
• Europea Mobile — Quebec chef Jérôme Ferrer’s upscale restaurant, in pared-down truck format
• Gaspésie Je T'aime — dishes from the Gaspésie region of Quebec, including plenty of lobster and other seafood
• Gaufrabec — waffles, mostly
• Grumman ‘78 — the city’s original taco truck, who fought to get
• King Bao — Asian-style sandwiches in steamy bao format
• Landry & Filles — upscale, American-leaning fare from fried chicken to smoked mussels
• L'Express Mobile — Chinese food and sushi, no connection to the Plateau French restaurant
• Mi Corazon — tacos, and some other Mexico-meets-Quebec specialties
• Ô Sœurs Volantes — a partly meatball, and partly salad-oriented truck
• Phoenix 1 — naan sandwiches, originally put on the road by now defunct bar Royal Phoenix
• Pinokio — Italian food
• Point Sans G — an all-gluten-free truck focused on comfort food
• Queen B Bol Burrito — Tex-mex burrito bowls with hints of the Meditteranean
• Schnitzel Truck — breaded, fried meat, and other German fare
• Traiteur Guru — Indian dishes
• Tuk Tuk — Thai food from Rosemont’s Une Nuit à Bangkok
• Winneburger — burgers from Nouveau Palais in the Mile End

Trucks You Won’t See Much Of

• Air de Bœuf — operating outside Montreal
• Alexis Le Gourmand — only doing private catering
• Bleu Homard — operating outside Montreal
• Le Boite à Grillades — operating outside Montreal
• Camion Au Pied de Cochon — closed down
• La Cabane à Crêpes — operating outside Montreal
• Le Coureur des Bois — operating outside Montreal
• Lola’s Petits Gâteaux — closed down
• Le Nice Truck — closed down
• Mr. Puffs — operating outside Montreal
• La Queue du Diable — operating outside Montreal
• Zoe’s — only doing private catering

Returning Trucks Without City Permits (May Sell At Festivals, Etc.)

• Le Bacon Truck
• Baekt — not allowed a permit as it’s a food cart
• Bagel St-Viateur
• Café Pista — not allowed a permit as it’s a food cart
• Ça Va Barder Mobile — not allowed a permit as it’s a food cart
• Crêpes Mobiles Kebreiz — not allowed a permit as it’s a trailer
• Jerry Ferrer
• Lucille’s
• Mr. Crémeaux
• P.A. & Gargantua
• Panthère Mobile
• Pas d’Cochon Dans Mon Salon
• Pizza No. 900
• Pops Art — not allowed a permit as it’s a food cart
• Le Quai Roulant
• Route 27
• Le Smoking BBQ
• Smoothfruit — not allowed a permit as it’s a trailer
• Le Super Truck
• Temaki Mobile

• Liste des camions [Ville de Montréal]
• Cuisine de rue [Ville de Montréal]
• Where to Find Food Trucks in Montreal: 2017 Edition [EMTL]