We found this place in Old Montréal & what a find. It looks like the foyer to an old train station you would see in movies. High arches with beautifully designed ceilings & details with high, arched windows for lots of daylight. The seating in the front is mostly cafe style, bench & padded chairs, but if you look for the doorway to the seating area behind the counter, you'll find a quieter area full of sofas & big, comfy chairs. I ordered a chai latte & the three cheese grilled cheese sandwich with a puckle relish. The bread was light & crunchy & the relish was a nice touch. A very relaxing, & pleasant place for a rest & bite. 10 out of 10.
What an experience! A must if you want my opinion. Olivier was an amazing waiter : polite, helpful & with amazing service & suggestions. I would rate it 10/10 just for his service, the beautiful interior architecture & the amazing drinks that he recommended. You should give it a try!
Superbe lieu & très original pour un café & espace événement! Ambiance très chaleureuse & personnel aimable. L'espace est très grand, & se compose aussi d'espaces de travail privée sous forme de box pour du co-working. J'ai choisi de manger une salade César & elle était très copieuse & bonne.
I really wanted to like this place. It was on my Montreal bucket list for months. Unfortunately, I will NEVER recommend it. It's easy to come in & take pictures of the lovely architecture - the ceiling is gorgeous. But the beauty stops there.
The Crew is a total tourist hotspot, & be prepared to wait in line for AGES for mediocre, overpriced food & lukewarm coffee. There are two lines: I assumed one was take-out & the other for dine-in, but no, both are for ordering; it's then up to you to find a seat.
Once you manage to place your order, good luck finding a seat. It's an absolute ZOO. Every Instagrammer & YouTube wannabe is here, along with about a bajillion visitors ahead of you in line. But first! You must WAIT. You must wait for ANOTHER half-hour while the overworked & understaffed baristas prepare your coffee. & all those Instagrammers? They already ordered theirs & are ALSO waiting, ready to pounce with camera in hand on the disappointing matcha lattes. So lucky you can park yourself by the coffee, joining the endless squabble of human seagulls for the never-arriving foodstuffs, & get hopelessly wrestled & jostled by all 1,000 people who will walk by you with their backpacks, jackets & wide shoulders.
I unfortunately thought it would be a good idea to treat my out-of-town guest to a matcha latte & cookies. I ordered a matcha latte & two baked goods (a cookie & a small blondie-style square) - & it came to $23. Geez! Considering the matcha is priced at $6.75, that makes the cookies $7 EACH!! & the cashier did not make a mistake - $23 was indeed the correct amount for 3 items. HOLY COW! I need to sell a cow in order to afford to come here again. & the $23 is before tip, so you might as well sell your chicken too if you want to afford this place & tip the servers.
My guest searched high & low for two seats for us, circling around. No luck. & then, a small group left! Alas, jostling is not just for the coffee area. Two ladies physically PUSHED my friend out of the way & launched themselves into the seats. WOW. Welcome to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Oh, sorry, I meant Welcome to the Crew Collective: home of people auditioning for football linebacker positions on the team!
My guest managed to MIRACULOUSLY find a booth to sit in (it took 40 minutes), but then, just as I stupidly thought the matcha latte might one day arrive from the baristas before I died of old age, a dude came along & told her (nicely, at least) that he had reserved said booth. So much for that. Apparently, this is a thing - you can buy a membership if, for some reason, you WANT to pay $23 for the privilege of coffee & cookies & make a habit of coming here. Clearly, I'm not lining up for THAT supposed privilege.)
Two ladies vacated the bar just then, so we sat ourselves down (well, my guest did - I still had to wait for the godforsaken matcha latte that I already regretted ordering) beside their half-empty wine glasses (maybe they got tired of the endless noise & jostling from strangers - it can't bode well that they didn't even finish their drinks!)
As for the ambience, well, good luck hearing your friend speak in this insanely loud cafe. The ambience is about what you'd get at a zoo food court, which is full of crowds &, occasionally, seagulls. But at least at the zoo you can watch animals. Here you're just watching crowds of people. I'll take the zoo animals any day over the cafe.
To make matters worse, the matcha latte was not even lukewarm (& I was not going to battle that double line-up to tell the barista) so we did our best to savour the treats considering their astronomical pricetag. I couldn't wait to leave. This place is AWFUL. Crappy food, uninspired menu, cold'hot' drinks, $7 cookies, super loud voices, nowhere to sit, crowds endlessly jostling you.... I could go on. ONLY the architecture is worth seeing! But guess what: you can go in, snap a picture, & then leave - I highly recommend that you find a different place to actually enjoy a coffee. This place is TERRIBLE.
Le café est magnifique, mais on peut pas étudier avec un ordinateur le café est vide mais bien sûr toutes les places sont prises dans le spot pour étudier avec l'ordi, ils cherche juste à nous expulser le matcha goûte l'eau & on a pas le droit de s'asseoir seul à une table alors que je rappelle le café est vide
