Montreal already has a reputation for its diverse coffee scene, but a new international ranking is putting some hard numbers behind that claim.
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops has released its 2026 list for the Americas, and four Montreal cafes made the cut. The ranking is considered a reference point in the specialty coffee industry.
This year’s edition evaluated more than 4,600 establishments across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, with input from over 200 judges and more than 200,000 public votes. Results were announced at the World of Coffee event in San Diego earlier this month.
A total of 16 Canadian cafes made the cut. Leading the Montreal pack this year is Café Pista at number 34, followed by Café Saint-Henri at 60, Micro Espresso at 89, and Café Éclair at 91.
Here’s a closer look at each one.
Café Pista — #34
Founded in 2014, Café Pista started as a single coffee bike and has since grown into a multi-location roastery. The ranking describes it as a café “focused on quality, transparency, and community” that sources traceable coffees, roasts in-house, and “creates welcoming spaces that connect people: from producers to coffee drinkers.”
Locations:
- 1587 Boulevard St-Laurent
- 500 Rue Beaubien Est
- 2650 Rue Masson
Café Saint-Henri — #60
Nestled in the heart of Villeray, Café Saint-Henri’s former roasting headquarters has been transformed into a flagship café and coffee lab.
The ranking calls it “a dedicated space to explore, taste, and learn everything about specialty coffee,” with workshops, tastings, and hands-on brewing experiences designed to bring producers and consumers closer together. T
he mission, it notes, is to create “an environment where the craft of coffee is accessible to everyone, fostering a deeper understanding of the journey from farm to cup.”
Locations:
- 7335 Rue du Mile End
- 3632 Rue Notre-Dame
- 4327 Rue Wellington
- 260 Place du Marché Nord
- 1001 Boulevard Robert-Bourassa
- 3353 Rue Masson
- Square Victoria-OACI metro station
- 2265 Avenue de Vitré, Quebec City
- 849 Rue Saint-Joseph Est, Quebec City
Micro Espresso — #89
Micro Espresso is where, as the ranking puts it, “Montreal’s true coffee lovers come for their daily cup — no gimmicks, just precision extractions, consistent drinks, and genuinely great service.”
The coffee program is built around beans from producers like Wilton Benitez and select farms worldwide, with batch brew rotating through seasonal single-origin harvests. Signature drinks range from a Canadian maple latte and spicy chai to oat strawberry flat whites and a decaf that “never feels like a compromise.”
What the ranking highlights most is the café’s commitment to removing the gatekeeping from specialty coffee: “whether you want a simple daily coffee or something more expressive and rare, their goal is always the same — to serve a better drink than you expected.”
Locations:
- 417 Rue Saint-Pierre, Suite 102
- 4803 Avenue du Parc
- 5707 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest
Café Éclair — #91
Tucked into Mile End, Café Éclair is a small specialty shop with a specific point of view: all their coffees are roasted outside Canada to “introduce clients to the different visions of the coffee industry in other parts of the world.”
They run a slow bar and serve one coffee at a time, and the goal, as the ranking describes it, is simple: “to brew every coffee carefully using high-quality beans and high standards to provide a very intimate and personalized service to everyone who wants to enjoy specialty coffee.”
Location:
