The Plateau Now Has A Hybrid Café-Bike Store

Montrealers who need an espresso-based beverage, but also want a new helmet, bike lock, or need a flat tire repaired are in luck — the Plateau now has an all-in-one café and bike shop on St-Denis Street.

Le Club Espresso Bar opened its doors Saturday, one of a small number of mixed bike store-cafés, like Griffintown’s Allo Vélo. That’s not to mention various other hybrid stores around, most notably in the Mile End, which has two clothing store-cafés (one even has a barber), along with a bike shop-slash-barbershop.

Le Club appears to be committed to a solid coffee game, particularly for milky espresso beverages, as they have a supreme milk steaming machine on hand, the Slayer Steam. The coffee comes from Montreal roaster Kittel. Coffee shop eats like pastries and sandwiches are available, alongside some more health-conscious options such as smoothies and chia bowls.

In addition to selling cycling accessories and offering repairs and service, Le Club will screen major cycling races (live, where possible) — that included the Tour de France, which ended over the weekend. They’re also doing events like a “coffee ride”, which is exactly what it sounds like — as such, there’s no shortage of serious lycra-toting bike folks on hand around the more cycling-oriented parts of the café, but Le Club is quite obviously open to non-cyclists, and the less hardcore ones.

In an unusual success for budding business-owners, Le Club’s team got the café off the ground with the help of funds raised on Kickstarter, scoring $11,474 after asking for just $10,000 — typically, restaurants and cafés in Montreal haven’t turned to crowd-sourcing for new businesses, or haven’t succeeded in attempts to do so.

STATUS — Le Club Espresso Bar is open at 3801 St-Denis from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends.

• Le Club Espresso Bar [Official]
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