Schwartz's Deli

Marco

4.0

I'm traveling with my family, & trying this sandwich is pure gold for my taste buds , I could never get tired of it. The only downside is the service, which is fast & a bit careless, but of course I understand, as it's a busy place with lots of people coming & going.

CHANDANPREET

5.0

Best service

Laura

5.0

Our experience here was so great. Immediately helped to a seat & had drink orders & water right away. They are so busy so expect that it will be packed. Everything was very streamlined & we had a delicious meal. Our waiter even asked if I wanted our picture taken & took the best picture, without even being asked. He was not bothered, I am guessing he has taken lots of pictures 😂 definitely recommend stopping in if you have the opportunity.

Scott

5.0

Memory, like smoked meat, requires the proper cure.

At Schwartz's, Montreal's famous Hebrew Deli, both have been marinating since 1928, & I've been sampling the meat & the memory since the 1960s, when my father led me through a blizzard into what appeared to be an entirely male domain wreathed in steam.

I was seven, perhaps eight. The windows were opaque with condensation, as if the deli were keeping secrets from the street. Inside: old men, everywhere. Serving, eating, talking in that particular Montreal patois where French & Yiddish & English form an uneasy trinity.

The original owner moved among them like a presiding deity who happened to know both my grandmothers. That first sandwich - strange, tangy, accompanied by what I remember as'yummy friends' (fries, presumably, though the phrase suggests a child's more profound insight about the fellowship of food) & coleslaw & pickles & a black cherry soda that tasted of artificial everything & absolute happiness.

Then the changing of the guard. New management. The windows no longer steamed. Across the street, the Main, where my uncle Jerry had landed after abandoning high school for the immediate rewards of the service industry. A pragmatic choice that probably made more sense than it should have. His offer of a free Main smoked meat couldn't lure me away from Schwartz's - the place I was smitten with.

Schwartz's endured through its transformations. By my university years, there was Frank Silva, dark-haired & mustachioed, barely older than we were, serving us at 1 a.m. with the air of someone dispensing not just smoked meat but narrative. His daughter now waits tables, another layer of sediment in the archaeological dig that is this place.

The restaurant sold again. Bought by the Nakis & Angelil-Dion families, though everyone says it's owned by Celine.

The lines grew longer, a mixed blessing, like fame. A takeout shop materialized next door, because even tradition must eventually bow to efficiency.

& now, in 2025, the final indignity: Schwartz's has been listed in the Michelin Guide. The countercultural haven where we huddled at 1 a.m., where steam obscured the windows & old men held court, has succumbed to its own fame & glory. Legitimized. Validated. Reduced to a destination for culinary tourists with their tire-company-approved itineraries. One can almost hear the ghost of the original owner sighing into his pickle barrel.

I've brought my children. They love it as my grandmothers did, as my mother did, as my father especially did & many friends we brought there. Four generations united by cured brisket & the persistence of a single address - though now we must queue alongside people consulting their phones for the Michelin star count.

What Schwartz's teaches: that some things - not many, but some - deserve to survive. That a good sandwich is a form of time travel. That inheritance isn't always genetic; sometimes it's culinary. & that recognition, like preservation, always comes at a cost.

Go. Take your children. Let the smoke & spice seep into them as it has into the walls, into the city, into all of us who return again & again to this shrine of meat & memory. Just don't tell them it's in the Michelin Guide.

Mohammad

5.0

Great dish we had as the famous smokey beef sandwich. Very good taste & not that much expensive. The place was crowded but had good vibes. Definitely a must go

Anthony

4.0

First time trying Schwartz, it was a solid sandwich. Got the smoked meat on the classic rye with a side of coleslaw. It was very filling & good.

Alex

5.0

Amazing food. Amazing service. & old school, but supppper good food. Their fries are also super tasty, homemade.

Scott

5.0

This place came highly recommended & it did not disappoint. A very old-school deli/diner style. I ordered the smoked meat sandwich, the pickle & a cherry cola. This food was well priced & tasty 😋🤤. Love classic style joints like Schwartzes & would recommend.

K

4.0

It was ok. More nostalgia than a wow experience.

Stephane

5.0

Une véritable légende à Montréal ! Schwartz's Deli est un arrêt obligatoire. Le smoked meat est d'une tendreté & d'un goût inégalables.
?Petit conseil d'initié : plutôt que le sandwich, je vous recommande vivement l'assiette de smoked meat pour vraiment savourer la générosité & la qualité de la viande sans être limité par le pain.
?Un must absolu si vous visitez la ville ! 😋👍👏👏👏

A true legend in Montreal! Schwartz's Deli is a mandatory stop. Smoked meat is of unrivalled tenderness & taste.
Insider tip: Instead of sandwiching, I highly recommend smoked meat platter to really savor the bounty & quality of the meat without being limited by the bread.👍👏👏👏