Here's a sad truth about the Green Mountaineers who come to this fair island-opolis: They're determined to find a party but often end up missing the best action the city has to offer. Some, it is rumored, tragically depart without having checked out Montréal noir. The cognoscenti know that the city owes its unparalleled party rep to its 140,000 black residents, who compose 4 percent of the total population and are roughly evenly divided between English and French speakers.... Read more

If this island city on the St. Lawrence has a quirky, nonconformist style, it's largely thanks to the countless eateries that serve up personality along with their solid square meals. Parts of the burg boast an oddball joint on every corner; flaky foodie joints are so predominant that city dwellers are occasionally bedazzled by the boring. Case in point: When a Taco Bell opened recently, curious customers lined up for hours to get a predictable taste.... Read more

Drink in Montréal and you sip among the immortals. We natives have spent generations cultivating our city's reputation: Sin City. Havana North. A perpetual Mardi Gras.

We love our bars. They're where we meet after work, where we fall in love, feud with friends, and conduct pub crawls - a pastime many locals consider a rite to be repeated every weekend.

In Montréal, where the legal drinking age is 18, the philosophy is that those who drink early drink more responsibly later in life. Who's arguing?... Read more