La Bête À Pain draws a broadly mixed picture, with breads and pastries frequently praised for freshness and flavor while service and value are questioned. Reviewers love the croissants, breakfast sandwiches, avocado toast, and canelé, yet many note slow, unfriendly service, long waits, and mood swings tied to staff. Several comments mention price increases and smaller portions since a baker change, suggesting better value elsewhere despite occasional high quality. Temperature and timing issues also show up, from interiors that feel too hot to coffee that can be cold or under heated, and lunch service starting late or missteps like a soup order. Ambience is described as pleasant and lively at times, though efficiency and consistency can be hit or miss. Overall, La Bête À Pain remains a notable bakery cafe for its core pastries and breads, appealing to those with time to spare and a willingness to sample a range of items, while some encounters warn to temper expectations about speed and consistency.
Pretty bad service. Ordered pastries. Get coffee after 5min. Then wait another 10min for someone to put a croissant on a plate to bring to you. I could also see it waiting on the counter for 10min before I went to ask. The girl behind the counter can literally plate it for you as you request it. What a bad system. Employees look unhappy & stressed.
Jun 7, 2025
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Love this spot at Griffintown, nice bakery-cafe, decent brunch, live atmosphere which you'll enjoy to start your day with a delicious breakfast.
They bake nice breads,weirdly they don`t have slicer,but in general is a nice place. Love the tartine avocet
Croissant lacked cooking time in my opinion. It was barely browned on top & lacked the crunchy I'd be looking for. Tasted good otherwise but texture was not there for me.
Very good atmosphere to get coffee/brunch with an old friend to catch up.
I would come back to try their sandwiches & other pastries.
We ordered a sandwich of jambon beurre, a sandwich dejuner, a cream puff, hot chocolate & cafe latte.
A sandwich was really good. I liked it. The cafe latte & hot chocolate were too light for me.
The cream puff was filled of cream. The cream was also too light.
Unfortunately good coffee but staff make it the way the want which ruin the taste of the coffee. I asked for a small cappuccino they gave me large, i had to pay more plus the coffee was diluted!!
J'adore. Les pâtisseries & le café sont très bons, surtout l'éclair. Je n'ai pas encore essayé le menu sandwich, mais j'ai acheté un pain qui était délicieux. Je reviendrai ! 🫶
The heyday of Bete a Pain was definitely pre-COVID, but even then, while it had all the elements of a truly top notch bakery, somehow those elements never came together. The proof is in their better-than-average pastries & better-than-average breads that were just that - better than average, despite the amount of self-publicized expertise & crafts that went into their products. Bete a Pain is just that - a better than average bakery.
Apr 23, 2025
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Was looking forward to their fig bread. Not sure why they added rosemary to it as it doesn't go well with the fig & in fact overpowers it. Was disappointing as we make sure to drop by whenever we are in Montreal. Anise & fig or fig alone would have been better.
Our friends had the croissant ham & cheese sandwich as well as the lemon meringue. They said those were good.
They're pretty busy on the weekends, so there's a little bit of a line to order (for pastries & food/drinks) & a wait. I got a cappuccino, canelé, & the chocolate chip cookie.
Cappuccino: It was good, but nothing really special.
Canelé: It had amazing flavor, the rum really comes through. The inside was custardy & spongy, the tops & bottoms were nice & crunchy, but the sides were a bit chewy & gummy. Overall, a really good canelé.
Cookie: Also really good, filled with chocolate chips but not overly so. It had a really nice butter flavor & was crispy outside, but it's a drier cookie than I'd prefer.
I'd come back for their pastries, but wouldn't go out of my way just for their coffee.
