olive et gourmando

had the opportunity to go there in mid-february with a friend. it was freezing cold outside, about -25 celsius, but since this place has such a hype around it, we decided we would wait until we got in to understand what the hype was all about. we waited for approximately an hour outside, despite it being 2 pm. 

one thing there is to know about this place is that it's tiny, even the seating area is tiny. they made us sit in an area in front of a window where we were next to each other and not in front of each other, which felt weird. if we were to wait for a table, it could've taken 10-15minutes more. it's also very crowded, and in the winter, it gets fairly loud and hard to hear the conversation you're trying to have. 

the food itself is good, but a bit overrated and overpriced. i'm eating a sandwich and a soup and i'm paying almost as much as a full meal at other restaurants. also, it's not like it was the best sandwich i've ever had for it to be priced that way.... so i didn't get that part. i had the mr. miami sandwich with the soup of the day (which i specified to remove cilantro from and i guess they forgot). i wasn't surprised or really excited about the food, but the desserts were delicious and totally worth the price. i've had a blueberry danoise and a latte. 

theservicewas acceptable, they were very crowded so the waitress had a hard time going from table to table in a decent amount of time. it took 30 minutes to get the sandwich after we received the soup...

perfect breakfast place. we walked in around 10:30 am and waited 10 mins to be seated. theservicewas good and staff was indeed super friendly and cheerful. loved the egg panini and the oeuf coquette dishes we ordered. even the way they served the cafe latte was interesting. i enjoyed my raz lemonade.

wow, i'm so glad i ventured into this cafe on and on a rainy day to boot. being that it was a holiday and right around brunch, the little restaurant was exploding with diners. the food was phenomenal, and theservicewas just as great. i'm also glad the staff were able to translate in english. i ordered "the pomme" sandwich, a couple of their fresh pastries on display and an earl grey tea latte. it's a shame i don't have any pictures to share but the sandwich was pure perfection: crispy bacon, layers of thinly sliced apples, and a walnut spread sandwiched between freshly toasted bread. my mouth waters just thinking about it. the tea latte i ordered could have been a little more substantial for what i had paid, but it was a warm beverage on a cold, wet day, so i'll take it. i would recommend increasing the size of the space as the cafe is limited in seating, congesting the main entrance with people coming and going, but otherwise, a true win for a dining experience in old montreal area!

long wait to get in. nice decor and atmosphere! the food we had was good but not that great. coffee and almond croissant are average, but i liked their blueberry scone.servicewas not pleasant as the manager was very arrogant and rude when i had a small suggestion. anyway,serviceis very important to me :)

best panini i've ever had in my life. crispy bread. soft-baked cookies are also very nice.serviceis excellent and staffs are so cute too!!!

a must try!
very busy on sunday, so plan for it.
food andserviceis top notch.
panini was super , door man was very organized and called us on the phone when our table was ready.

really enjoyed this place. they have very good sandwiches. wished they didn't put cilantro on almost everything on the menu...serviceis pretty good, except for the part where our server went on break without telling us or another server - we ended up waiting a little long to get our bill. overall, pretty good.

i visited this place with my wife for brunch on a sunday during my stay in montreal and we both loved the place even though we had to wait for a long time to get a table. we ordered for poached eggs and panini along with cappuccino. poached eggs were really delicious. theserviceis good too here.

olive et gourmando montreal is a quick easy soup and sandwich cafe in old montreal near le westin hotel. there are long line ups for take out. tableserviceis quick with plenty of bar counter seats. last time we were in montreal, we had no itinerary, no “must eat list”, and no “10 things to do in montreal” plan. this time, i find myself combing thru tripadvisor and yelp, geo-tagging every restaurant, cafe and little boutique. perhaps, it comes with age. perhaps, occupational hazard. i’m always trying to find the next best thing. yet, i always go back to comfort. it’s like having 20 pairs of shoes but always wearing the two.

defintely more on the $$ side but really tasty food. their hot chocolate is to die for. viennoiseries are great! tableserviceis also good but it's a small space so there isn't always room for everyone and the wait can be long. salads and sandwiches are very good.

4.5/5 for olive + gourmando. everyone needs the type of neighbourhood place that serves great hot drinks and wonderful down-to-earth pastries in their lives. such a place exists in old montreal and lots of people are talking about it, such as maclean's magazine naming it as one of the 50 best restaurants in canada 2012, national geographic magazine calling it one of canada's 50 places of a lifetime, and it was also one of the stops in the insane day of gluttony: 24 montreal restaurants in 24 hours video. they only serve breakfast and lunch, so plan to pay them an early visit.

we stopped in early on a saturday morning, and considering how busy it was at that hour, i can only imagine how packed it must become later on. the decor and feeling of this cafe is simply glorious! it feels as if you're settling in at home, except this home is more beautiful than your own home. i absolutely loved the hip rustic vibe, the chalkboard walls, bright natural light, and heaping amounts of incredible-looking pastries behind the glass at the front. once we were seated at our table, i found it difficult to focus my attention because i was too busy looking everywhere and taking it all in. this is the kind of place that makes you feel good.

first, a beverage to start the day! my choice was pretty easy and i ordered a dirty chai ($4.00). what makes it dirty? that would be the shot of espresso added to the chai latte. they serve it either hot or cold, and i obviously got the hot version due to the freezing temperatures outside. this drink was pretty good! i'm not much of a coffee person and i am a big chai latte person... so maybe i would have preferred to keep the coffee out of it. they also carry freshly squeezed oj - a must, and elixir iced tea that sounds pretty great.

theservicewas friendly and the food didn't take very long to arrive. i found myself getting up to peer into the glass case near the entrance, mesmerized by the beautiful golden baked items spilling over their pedestals. and these aren't snooty pastries, these are the more hearty and rustic kind like croissants, brioches, muffins, and scones. they each come in a variety of flavours. any of these would be perfect to grab with a coffee on the go. we ordered a butter croissant ($2.50) to sample their "base model." light and buttery layers with a flaky top, this was quite perfect.

since we were there for a more substantial breakfast, i chose the "poached egg on your face" panini (spicy poached egg salad with sriracha, mayo, green onions, chives, comté cheese, speck (smoked prosciutto), and confit tomatoes - $11.95). this sounded like a sandwich that was made up of a bunch of my favourite things! it also seemed like a pretty unexpected twist on the typical breakfast-type sandwich. it arrived piping hot and ooey-gooey melty! i loved that they took the idea of egg salad - normally served cold - and turned it into a hot sandwich. it seems almost obvious, yet no one does it! the panino bread had a great toasty crunch and the molten cheese was otherworldly. i loved that some of the cheese had gotten fried to a crunchy crisp - just heavenly. the spice from the sriracha was just enough and the salty, smoky cured prosciutto added yet another level of flavour. plus the juicy tomatoes and the creamy eggs. just all of it! this sandwich was a big and loud flavour party and everyone was definitely invited.

i can see why everyone loves this place so much. their lunch sandwiches sound incredible (they make a mean cuban that sounds excellent) and i also noted items like the truffle mac 'n cheese. if you're out for a stroll in old montreal and feel like grabbing a bite, i can think of no better place than olive + gourmando to get that done.

enchanté - no. quick note about our july 1st visit. my family (four total) stopped in for a light lunch (around 3pm) and received extremely poor service. the young woman who was responsible for our table (apparently grudgingly) was not knowledgeable about the contents of the menu items (although she made it known that she was a "vegetarian"). when the meals arrived our table did not receive a customary two-minute check back - which would have been helpful because my table setting contained a spoon with baked-on food residue. the room was approximately one-third capacity and she was not the only staff member in the room so over-work was not an issue. in fact if it were not for other staff members we would not have received an additional napkin or had plates removed as meals were finished. she did however return to inform me that i could pay at the register. poorserviceleaves a bad taste.

i was super excited to try it......but not as excited when i got there!most of the menu was "sold out" so i couldnt eat what i really wanted.i was told that this happens often which honestly makes no sense to me.theservicei must say was amazing.they even ran out of regular filter coffee!!!!!!!!!!i was glad to give it a go but i doubt i will return and if i do,ill try to make it before 11 am because i was told that thats when they have everything still available on the menu.btw,i was even told to watch my purse because many people had been robbed,grand.so,12$ for parking,not the food i really wanted and the possibility of getting robbed.....eventful afternoon!!

don't understand the hype. i've heard so much about o&g that i really really wanted to love this place. which (sadly) i did not :-(

i've tried two of their sandwiches (the cuban & the rubeunesque), their casear salad as well as some of their baked goods.

baked goods - was delicious! but extremely overpriced

the sandwiches - were okay. nothing earth shattering, nothing that i would ever go back for ... i've had much better sandwiches

the salad - it was good, nothing extraordinary. they never mentioned that the salad had bacon bits in it (i should probably have paid attention too) but generally people always ask & they didn't. i don't eat bacon so i was not happy to find bacon all over my salad. i ate around it since i didn't want to throw the whole thing out, especially when it cost me $20!! it wasn't bad but for the price i expected something much better.

theserviceis good & the atmosphere is definitely fun (if a little crowded). if you're in the mood for an overpriced okay meal at a trendy restaurant this is a good place to go. otherwise i strongly recommend going elsewhere.

i also wish they had more options in their menu.

i've been there 4 times now (because i wanted to really give it a shot).. and won't be going again unless it's to pick up a random croissant for $3.75 plus tax.

pas sympa, pas pour les enfants! don't go with kids!!!!. cet endroit n'est pas pour les enfants ni pour les familles. il n'y a pas de chaise haute ni de siège rehausseur. de plus, ils ont des règles très strictes qu'ils appliquent avec un zèle et une intransigeance remarquable. je demande une table pour 4 personnes car une amie vient me rejoindre avec sa fille. après avoir fait la file quelques minutes avec ma fille de deux ans, une table pour deux se libère et elle est transformée en table pour 4. je me dirige vers la table en question lorsque l'hôtesse m'informe que je ne peux m'asseoir car nous devons tous être arrivés. je lui assure que mon amie arrivera dans 5-10 minutes maximum. elle me dit qu'elle doit donner la table à quelqu'un d'autre et que je dois retourner faire la file. d’un: j'ai déjà fait la file; de deux: ce n'est pas évident de faire attendre un enfant de 2 ans en file; de trois, je vais commander en attendant mon amie et je ne ferai pas perdre de temps au restaurant, qui semble si empressé à passer le plus grand nombre de clients et le plus rapidement possible ($). l'hôtesse envoie la manager car je lui demande la permission de m'asseoir, ce qu'elle ne peut m'accorder, car elle doit suivre les 'ordres'. la manager arrive, me demande à aller discuter dans le vestibule à l'entrée....déjà là, je sais que ça s'annonce très mal. je tente de lui expliquer la situation, elle me répond bien vite : 'vous n'allez pas m'apprendre à faire mon travail.' elle en a long à apprendre sur leserviceà la clientèle et sur l'empathie! bref....j'ai quitté sans un bon café au lait, sans un croissant....et très fâché. c'est la première fois que je vis une expérience aussi désagréable à montréal, en fait, au québec! le personnel, en particulier la manager, est antipathique et intransigeant. la bouffe est excellente, mais cet endroit n'est ni chaleureux, ni sympathique, ni sensible à la réalité des familles. don't go there with kids!!!!!!!