Crew Collective Café sits inside a grand, historic bank building in Old Montreal, and it feels like stepping into a museum while you order coffee or work in private rooms and bookable coworking boxes. The space is praised for its stunning architecture, soaring ceilings, marble details, and abundant seating, though some areas restrict laptops and others fill up quickly, making it easy to miss a seat. Reviews highlight strong coffee and tasty pastries and bagels, with a few days showing inconsistency in drinks or food quality and some prices seen as high for what is received. The atmosphere and photo opportunities draw crowds, and many visitors treat it as an experience as much as a cafe, a must visit for architecture lovers and a good spot to work or relax, even if service speed or queue length can vary.
This is the first time I've ever felt the need to leave a negative review on Google.
This afternoon, my friend & I came in to buy coffee. There are two counters for ordering, & while I was trying to pay for both of us, I was briefly standing between them.
Instead of politely asking me to move, one of the staff members made a very rude hand gesture toward me without saying a word. A simple'Excuse me' or'Could you please not block the other counter?' would have been completely understandable, & I would have immediately apologized & moved.
What concerns me is not the situation itself, but the way it was handled. Basic courtesy in communication should be the minimum in customer service. Gesturing at customers in a dismissive or impatient way is unnecessary & unprofessional.
I don't want to assume the reason behind her behavior, but regardless of the cause, it reflects poorly on the overall experience. It's disappointing, especially because the place itself is otherwise quite nice.
Apr 19, 2026
on Google
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Belle place, bon café mais service à la clientèle vraiment nul! La personne qui prend les commandes est non souriant & na pas l'air de vouloir être la. J'ai posé une question sur le menu & c'est comme si je le dérangeais & ce n'est pas mieux du côté du personnel qui prépare les cafés & qui nomment votre nom. L'expérience client gâche le café de qualité & le très beau décor/architecture
I have mixed feelings about this place. The space itself is incredible. It feels like you are inside a beautiful, old, high end library.
What makes me hesitate about going back is the service & the coworking setup. The coffee was just okay, & the guy with the beard serving seemed annoyed & had an attitude.
He didn't even attempt latte art lol
On the positive side, the staff overall was kind. One of the girls was very helpful & assisted me in getting a booth, which costs $15 per hour.
Something important to know is that if you are not paying for the hourly rate, you are not allowed to use your laptop. They will ask you to put it away, which can be inconvenient.
It also seems like a popular spot for photos. I saw a lot of people there just taking pictures.
If you need to take a meeting, make sure to plan ahead & give yourself at least an extra hour, since it gets very busy. I had to wait about an hour to get a booth.
In total, I paid around $50 for a coffee, a small sandwich, & one hour in a booth.
'Cafe Crew' is utterly gorgeous, but not much else. I chose a iced lemon peach tea from their impressively uninteresting menu, & sat in the gallery behind the coffee bar. You'll find yourself surrounded by average upper middle class nuclear families, corporate drones on their lunch break, & shutter-happy late 20's failing influencer types trying to make something of themselves before it's too late. The space is breathtaking, for sure, but you only have a couple videos & some long glances at the ceiling before the drab crowd, generic'FREE CAFÉ JAZZ VIBES' youtube playlist, 20$ an hour booths for rent, & the'no computers' policy (explicitly created to drive away students) sours the experience. Café Crew is worth visiting if you're with your grandparents, a haughty date you dont care too much for, or a cinq-à-sept with your medium favorite coworker. This place has little more to offer than the charm of gentrifying its beautiful architecture.
Apr 17, 2026
on Google
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Amazing space. But the service is super unfriendly & the food was stale. Coffee was meh. They need to work on getting their staff to apologize for when messing up orders. Brutal service.
Disappointed with my cappucino. Expecting a nice feather design for a first time experience post. Instead got a simple broad banana leaf decor. I should have given 1 star, but liked the architecture design.
I was really disappointed with my experience at Crew Café. The space itself is beautiful, but the policies around working there are not transparent at all.
You're not actually allowed to use your laptop in most of the café. There is a small designated area for it, but it's extremely limited & fills up quickly. The larger seating areas & booths-where you'd naturally want to sit & work-require you to pay $15 per hour, which is honestly surprising for a café setting but again I wouldn't mind paying if there was space.
What's frustrating is that none of this is clearly mentioned on their website, & there are no signs in the café either. You basically only find out after you've already opened your laptop & started working, which feels misleading.
On top of that, the staff attitude didn't help. Instead of being welcoming, some employees were giving off judgmental vibes, almost like you're doing something wrong just by sitting there.
Overall, it looks great, but the experience doesn't match the aesthetic. Definitely not a good spot if you're planning to get work done. These employees what appears to be managers really act like they own the place. Like calm down its not that serious & worth giving your customers attitude. You still have your job cause of us customers.
Their attitude definitely doesnt match the beauty of this cafe, it diminishes it instead.
Apr 13, 2026
on Google
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Service nul, café médiocre, vraiment de très mauvais goût.
Pourtant, le café est censé être leur produit d'appel… mais il est loin d'être à la hauteur. Le cadre est magnifique, certes, mais la qualité des produits est franchement décevante.
J'ai pris un américano très dilué, sans saveur, & un espresso beaucoup trop corsé & amer, au point qu'on ne goûte même plus le café. Le tout pour un prix exorbitant.
À visiter peut-être pour le décor, mais pas pour consommer.
Stopped by Café Crew in Old Montreal & the space is absolutely breathtaking. It's set inside a former bank, & the architecture is stunning - from the grand staircase to the detailed ceilings, it truly feels like stepping into another era.
There was a very long lineup, so I didn't stay for coffee. Even after being inside for about 15 minutes, the lineup was still long. I've heard the coffee is great though, so if you have the time, it may be worth the wait.
Even if you don't stay, it's definitely worth going in just to see the space.
A famous café, I thought I would hated waiting in line just for a photo of the ceiling, but the experience turned out to be quite pleasant :) coffee & service are both decent 👍
Crew Collective & Cafe is such an amazing experience! The atmosphere is incredible, & it has some gorgeous architecture as it is situated inside of an old royal bank. The dulche de latte & brown sugar latte were very delicious. It did take around 30 minutes to get our drinks & pastries, but it was definitely worth it. Highly recommend!
I had an excellent experience at Crew Collective & Café. Although it was quite crowded, it was completely understandable given the Easter weekend-& honestly, it just added to the lively atmosphere.
The vibe was absolutely amazing. The space is stunning, with a unique & beautiful setting that makes the visit feel special from the moment you walk in. It's definitely one of those places where the ambiance alone is worth the visit.
The food was also fantastic-fresh, flavorful, & very well prepared. The only suggestion I would make is to offer a bit more variety on the menu, but what they do have, they do exceptionally well.
Overall, a memorable experience & a must-visit spot in Montreal!
