Smoked meat and poutine! Montreal restos make world's most legendary list

A cook prepares a poutine at La Banquise restaurant in Montreal on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. The restaurant has been sold to Chez Ashton owners. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

From poutine to smoked meat, Montreal’s place as an iconic food destination was just reaffirmed.

The restaurant review site TasteAtlas, which charts dishes and flavours across the globe, added two popular Montreal spots to its 100 Most Legendary Restaurants list for 2024-2025. Montreal is the only Canadian city to make the list.

Schwartz's smoked meat on Saint-Laurent Boulevard was the sole Montreal eatery to crack the top 50, landing at number 41 on the list.

At 74, the poutine-tastic La Banquise on Rachel Street made the list for it’s “late-night snacks and daytime meals.”

Montreal also ranked 65th on TasteAtlas's 100 Best Food Cities in the World, and, again, was the only Canadian city on the list.

For foodies making travel plans, the top three legendary restaurants were Vienna’s Figmuller; Napoli’s L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele and Munich’s Holbrauhaus.