After being crowned champion two years in a row, Montreal’s Mon Lapin has fallen to second place in the annual ranking of Canada’s best restaurants. Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants released its list for 2025 on Monday evening and nearly a quarter of the eateries are in Montreal. Two local spots made the top 10 — Little Italy’s Mon Lapin and Verdun’s Beba. The 2025 edition of the yearly list included an all-time high of 160 judges, who rated their top 10 restaurants last year based on service, decor, depth of the cellar and, of course, the quality of the food. “Broad judge support will promote a restaurant onto the top 100 list. But a restaurant requires passionate endorsement — expressed as first-, second- and third-place rankings on individual ballots — to earn a spot in the list’s upper echelons,” the magazine noted. “We believe that the 2025 list is an accurate measure of which restaurants excelled in 2024, which makes them great dining choices for today.” Taking the number one spot this year was Restaurant Pearl Morissette in Jordan Station, Ont. The full list is available at canadas100best.com/best-restaurants. Here are the top five Montreal restaurants that made the 2025 list. #2 Mon Lapin This renowned restaurant on Saint-Zotique Street in the heart of Montreal’s Little Italy was ranked the best in Canada in 2024 and 2023. “Dishes are often delightfully surprising. These might manifest as buckwheat-and-corn polenta taragna, leeks served in a can ‘like mussels’; habanada peppers stuffed with baccalà; or strudel with confit shallots and a slice of Samuel le Bleu from the Eastern Township laid lovingly on top,” according to Canada’s 100 Best. “A star is shining on our little restaurant today,” Mon Lapin wrote on Instagram on Monday. #7 Beba At the corner of Éthel and Hicksons streets in Verdun is Beba, a restaurant that blends Italian and Spanish cultures in Argentina. It was ranked in the eighth spot in 2024 and moved up one spot this year. #11 Le Violon Nestled in the restaurant-dense Plateau neighbourhood, Le Violon’s menu is rich with seafood and local produce. As noted by Canada’s 100 Best, this Montreal restaurant works closely with local farms and coastal fisheries and has been a “smash hit from the get-go last summer.” “In summer months, bluefin tuna from the Gaspé meets heirloom tomatoes in a reimagining of pan con tomate, while gnocchi cavolo nero is tossed in a pesto made from Parcelles’ farm greens.” #17 Monarque Come to Monarque where “service is deft, the wine list extensive and contemporary,” says Canada’s 100 Best, and the interior is “decidedly modern, with industrial flourishes that pay obvious tribute to the work of late local architect Luc Laporte.” The Old Montreal brasserie on Saint-Jacques Street is co-owned by Richard Bastien and his son. Last year, it was ranked in the 11th spot in the annual list. #20 Montréal Plaza Nestled in Montreal’s La Petite-Patrie neighbourhood, Montréal Plaza fell down a few spots this year from the 13th best restaurant in Canada. “Co-chefs and co-owners Charles-Antoine Crête and Cheryl Johnson are committed to having fun, but they also share unassailable credentials and an intense commitment to quality,” Canada’s 100 Best notes, adding that they serve up French and Japanese cuisine with a focus on local, seasonal ingredients.
