Café Olimpico

Rocco Furfaro opened Café Olimpico on Rue Saint-Viateur in 1970 as a spot for the neighborhood's Italian community to watch football and drink proper espresso, and more than fifty years later the Furfaro family still runs it largely unchanged. The espresso itself follows old school Italian conventions rather than newer trends, pulled fast and strong on well worn machines, with the room's soccer memorabilia and worn wooden counters intact from its earliest days.

The patio out front is a Mile End fixture in every season, packed with regulars sipping espresso or an iced coffee even in the middle of winter. Bags of the house espresso blend and capsules are sold at the counter and online, though most people come for a coffee to drink on site rather than beans to take home. It remains one of the few Montréal cafes where a small espresso and conversation, not a laptop and an outlet, are still the main draw.