Under all those bagels, poutines, and smoked meat sandwiches, Montreal is (also) a hot dog town. And it always has been, since the advent of the steamé (with mustard, chopped onion, and coleslaw s'il vous plaît), and the diffusion of riffs like the toasté (bun and dog made crispy on the flattop) and the sloppy joe-like Michigan. Montreal still teems with vintage diners where you can enjoy the city's singular takes on the frank, but the sausage scene has been gaining ground with new and notable hot dog makers.
Read More/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60484829/26731705_1551619288227129_5114338058935063526_n.0.jpg)
The Essential Montreal Hot Dogs
Wiener winners

1. Chez Ma Tante
QC H1H 1H4, Canada
If a Montrealer grew up in Ahuntsic, this was where they ate hot dogs. A tried and true veteran of the hot dog scene, Chez Ma Tante is worth the pilgrimage for a steamé.
2. Chez Tousignant
QC H2S 2T3, Canada
At new wave snack bar Chez Tousignant, chef Yann Turcotte makes the kind of hot dogs he loved as a child, except from scratch, and with no fillers it’s been wowing critics ever since. Try the eponymous Tousignant dog with American cheese melted on top, bacon, topped with special sauce and pickle slices.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470948/36761020_1734715806584142_3160000408252841984_n.0.0.jpg)
3. Mont-Royal Hot Dog
QC H2J 1X7, Canada
Dimitrios Goulpegazis and Constantinos Psaradellis opened Mont-Royal Hot Dog in 1965. The diner is now managed by Nickolaos Psaradellis, but Mont-Royal Hot Dog's flagship roteux-moutarde-chou has not changed one iota, save for a $5 prix-fixe menu that features its delicious dogs.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470949/10407130_853138721412973_2701785599463027187_n.0.0.jpg)
4. Chez Claudette
QC H2T 1G7, Canada
Before ordering a poutine like everybody else at this Mile End diner, consider Chez Claudette's very respectable hot dog tout garni.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470950/o.0.0.jpg)
5. Lester's
QC, Canada
Lester's is where a lot of Montrealers were weaned on smoked meat and other Jewish deli staples. That includes toasted kosher franks with ballpark mustard.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470951/34648780_10155633110145677_8559447535448489984_n.0.0.jpg)
Also Featured in:
6. Pataterie Chez Philippe
QC, Canada
While famous for a stacked burger, or the local favourite Zeke sandwich, this classic Village diner serves every style of Montreal dog: steamé, toasté, Michigan rôti and vapeur, and Pogo.
7. Majestique
QC, Canada
This upscale take on the hot dog "is a masterpiece," wrote Lesley Chesterman in a March 2015 review that still holds up. "Imagine a foot long hot dog made with Gaspor pork meat snuggled in a sesame-seed crusted hot dog bun (custom made by baker-du-moment Hof Kelsten) and topped with a red cabbage, apple and fried leek slaw. Finish it off with a bit of that lemony mayonnaise and plain ol’ yellow mustard and you have the hot dog to end all hot dogs."
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470952/18194207_1493972260634644_1694115513231874135_n.0.0.jpg)
8. Dirty Dogs
QC H2X 2V5, Canada
This hot dog upstart in the Plateau departs from traditional Montreal steamés and toastés in a major way. No ingredient is unfit for a hot dog in this eatery, with the wide variety of ingredients piled on so high that the sausage is, at times, buried below. Something for everyone’s to be found here.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470963/hotdogdirtydogs.0.0.0.jpg)
9. Decarie Hot Dog
QC, Canada
A poster child hot dog peddler since 1969. Unchanged over the decades, Decarie Hot Dog is a Ville Saint-Laurent legend.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470953/o.0.0.jpg)
10. Montreal Pool Room
QC, Canada
Montreal Pool Room keeps chugging along after it cleaned up its act and moved across the street after a century on the west side of the lower Main a few years ago — and many still consider it the place for a classic Montreal steamé.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470954/o.0.0.jpg)
11. Hotto Doggu
QC H3B 1A1, Canada
Before Hotto Doggu arrived on Montreal’s hot dog scene, ingredients like nori and kewpie mayo had been barely explored as meat-tube garnishes. Its Japanese wares have been making waves since it first opened in May of 2018.
12. Olive et Gourmando
QC H2Y 2A7, Canada
Perhaps a nod to the famous and extravagant hot dog found in the Plateau, Olive and Gourmando’s daily menu features their own Majestique: a bacon-cheddar sausage, with apple coleslaw, pickled corn and jalapeños, fried shallots, all topped with creamy mustard on a house bun.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470955/20229191_1393188314050032_7412480932983812720_n.0.0.jpg)
13. Chien-Chaud Victoire
QC H3B 0A7, Canada
Victoire served toasted dogs and spruce beer for decades downtown before a 2011 move to a downtown tower’s food court. Probably the most clandestine hot dog on this map.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470956/hotdogvictoire.0.0.0.0.0.jpg)
14. Gibeau Orange Julep
QC H4P 2H4, Canada
A singular Montreal landmark built by Hermas Gibeau to serve his trademark orange drink — and hot dogs. Gibeau's original restaurant on Sherbrooke East was torn down in 2009 after 80 years in business, but the big orange on Décarie still looms large.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470957/o.0.0.jpg)
15. Moose Bawr
QC H3H 1M2, Canada
Hot on the trail that Dirty Dogs blazed, this bar situated alongside Concordia University’s downtown campus makes a point of offering different stacked dog options: Try the Frito Burrito with its tequila lime sausage, or the Philly cheese option, with a cold one pulled from the tap.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470958/18157826_1187493088040531_8525716705594595924_n.0.0.jpg)
Also Featured in:
16. Restaurant A.A.
QC, Canada
Steamés by day, toastés by night, and Michigan dogs all day figure prominently at this popular Saint-Henri greasy spoon from casse-croûte stalwart André Annoussos. Open since 1962 and counting.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470959/o.0.0.jpg)
Also Featured in:
17. Greenspot
QC H4C 1N9, Canada
Very little has changed at this Saint-Henri diner, notable for steamés, in almost 70 years. It has since expanded its menu into new territories of new toppings, prompting Montrealers for a refresher course.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470960/o.0.0.jpg)
18. Paul Patates
QC H3K 2Y2, Canada
Few places scream Pointe-Saint-Charles quite like this corner vendor of bière d'épinette, poutine, and no-frills steamés. An unforgettable neighbourhood establishment.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470961/10401337_771347512914220_865550617209588163_n.0.0.jpg)
19. Pierrette Patates
QC H4G, Canada
Corner snack bar Pierrette Patates serves up the best in classic blue collar Québécois hot dogs for the borough of Verdun.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62470962/o.0.0.jpg)
Loading comments...