The Montreal to do list

Dainius Sileika stepped up to the plate and provided one hell a geat list of things to see and do in Montreal.
Here is his list. Hopefully we will be able to do one of each.

Eats

• Schwartz's - notably not actually kosher, but still a Montreal classic
• Eduardo's - small Italian place I like to go to, on Duluth and St.Denis. Cheap, down to earth, and downtown, in the Plateau/Latin Quarter district.
• Stash Cafe - polish joint in the Old Port. A little expensive for traditional food, but it's a decently bopping place, often have live piano music, and it's a decent Old Port hangout.
• Chez Jose - classic, alternative, breakfast place on Duluth and Hotel de Ville. Great crepes, nice little downtown location, funky staff.
• Divan Orange - On St. Laurent. Alternative/hipster bar, but with a surprisingly good Vegan menu. Decent place to bring a dame, especially if she's not a meat-eater.
• Fairmount Bagel - Fairmount and Ontario St, take the 80 Parc bus up from Place Des Arts Metro. One of the best bagel joints in Montreal. A must-see, just like Schwartz's.
• St. Viatur Bagels - just up from Fairmount, on St. Viatur and Parc, or thereabouts. Main competitors to Fairmount. Less variety, but comparable bagel.
• Olive et Gourmando - St. Pierre and St. Paul, where Christine works. Come for lunch. Long lines, but Gucci food--even Bono goes to eat there when he's in Montreal. Contact Christine for more details.

DRINKS

• Foufs (Foufounes Electrique) - St. Laurent and St. Catherines. Whether you dig that stuff or not, it's a classic bar/club to go to. Used to be a skate park in the 80's and 90's, NIN opened up there. Grungy but friendly, rocker/punk styles. Worth visiting just because it's practically historic at this point.
• Elsie's - Roy and St. Laurent, 3 blocks "west." Great little pub that it bopping without catering to the the more rowdy, student, crowd. Expensive-ish drinks, but a decent scotch selection. Relaxed, good ambiance, possible to have a good conversation there, and right downtown.
• Barfly - One of my favourite pseudo dives. Blue Grass night on Sundays, kicking off at around 2200 HRS or so. Mixed crowed, incredibly mixed age-range, from 16 to 65. Fantastic music on a Sunday. Bartender's name is Kim, piano player is polish and his name is Peter.
• Cafe Montenegro - A real, 100%, dive. $3.00 for a shot of Jameson and you can still smoke inside. St. Laurent and Roy, on St. laurent, east side, next to Schwartzes. Nevertheless, an interesting and eclectic crew pass through there. 
• Saphir - St. Laurent and Des Pins. $5 cover, 80's New Wave on the main floor and Synthpop on the second, $3.50 or so beers. Bartender upstairs is named Bill, and he has family that was in the military. Small place, but excellent music. Takes a while to fill up, and then I suppose you have to be in the 80's New Wave mood, or 90's-2010's synthpop/darker electronic mood, but I really dig that place.
• Cafe Gitana - St. Denis and Sherbrook/Ontario St. Great, bopping, Shisha bar. Fantastic Baklava. Owner's name is Anna. Mixed crowd, good atmosphere, ethnic music, decently priced drinks. 
• Crescent St. - Crescent and St. Catherines. Where most of the English bars are. Decent, but a little expensive, mostly typical pups, and often full of American tourists. Nevertheless, important to know. Decent place to bring a dame.
• Bishop St. - Close to Crescent St, many more English pubs and bars. Army boys often go to McKibbons, but their pints are 6 or 7 dollars, which is a bit much in my mind.
• The Old Dublin - Good music. Don't recall the intersection. Expensive pints, but decent scotch selection. Mixed crowd, and good, live, music. Classic Irish pub, probably one of the best in Montreal.

PLACES TO SEE/TOUR

In my opinion, Montreal is meant to be walked, and in doing so, one can discover much. Therefore, I propose a few main routes:

• St. Catherines - probably between Guy-Concordia Metro as the Westward limit, and Beaubien or closer west as the maximum Eastern limit. Walk that strip to see the stereo-typical, touristy, Montreal, and to make detours to some of those aforementioned English-pub streets. Runs eastish-westish.
• St. Laurent - great downtown French strip. Runs northish-southish. Limit of exploitation North would be Bernard St, nothing super interesting farther up; going south, you can just keep going until you hit the water, which will bring you past the main drag, st. cars, then China town, then the old port.
• Old Port. Now this is a walk in and of itself. I would say to walk St. Paul, West to East, starting from University or so and going until the old port "ran out," and then turning south, walking to the water, and then following the water back West. Lots to see and wander about in there, the old port will explain itself.
• St. Denis. North-Southish. Can walk from the Old Port up to Bernard. So-called "latin quarter" in the middle, with some decent bars and restaurants. Another must-see strip.
• Tam-Tam's - Sunday morning, Parc and Duluth. Hundreds if not thousands of drummers and pot smokers gather every sunday in the summer to drink beers, play drums, and smoke pot. Whether or not one is into such things, it remains a classic montreal tradition, and worthy of seeing.
• Montreal is the Vice City of Canada, and maybe even the States, regarding what's allowed in "dancing" bars and the like. Depending on what one seeks, much can be found.