Montreal/South West

Montreal South West (Le Sud-Ouest) is the area west of Downtown, on both sides of the Lachine Canal, bordered by the districts of LaSalle, Verdun and Westmount.

It is made up of the neighborhoods of Petite-Bourgogne-Griffintown (Little Burgundy), Saint-Henri, Pointe-Saint-Charles, Côte-Saint-Paul and Ville Émard.

Historically a blue collar neighborhood, it used to be called "Smokey Valley" because of a high concentration of heavy industry and other sources of pollution. Those days are long gone, and the Lachine canal cleanup and conversion into a park and bike path, as well as many of the old industrial buildings being gentrified and turned into luxury condominiums have changed the face of Sud Ouest forever.

Get in

By metro

Lionel-Groulx, the transfer station for the Orange and Green lines is at the northern edge of the South West, two blocks from Atwater Market and easy walking distance to the Lachine Canal bike path. Don't get confused by the Atwater metro-- it's several blocks north, across the busy Autoroute Ville Marie. The Charlevoix metro is on the south side of the Canal on the Green line. Further west, Place-Saint Henri is on the Orange line.

By bus

The 36 Notre-Dame runs east-west from Bonaventure metro and train station in downtown and the Atwater 108 runs north-south from Atwater metro across the canal, terminating at Lasalle metro station.

Do

• <do name="Lachine Canal Bike Path" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" email="" fax="" url="" hours="" price=""></do>
• <do name="Ugly Ass Bikes HQ" alt="" address="1953 de l'Eglise" directions="" phone="" email="" fax="" url="http://www.uglyassbikes.com" hours="" price="">Just your typical artist workshop-slash-indoor-bike-rink with the occasional punk show thrown in for good measure.</do>

Buy

• <buy name="Atwater Market" alt="Marche Atwater" address="" directions="" phone="" email="" fax="" url="" hours="" price=""></buy>
• <buy name="Pages" alt="" address="3255 St-Jacques" directions="" phone="" email="" fax="" url="" hours="" price="">Eclectic bookstore-cafe where you can while away a morning-- or a day. Stop by in on a Thursday evening for their Summer Concert series (7pm)</buy>
• <buy name="Perfide" alt="" address="4217 Notre-Dame W" directions="next to Lionel-Groulx metro" phone="" email="" fax="" url="" hours="" price=""></buy>
• <buy name="Eco-logic" alt="" address="5024 Angers" directions="" phone="" email="" fax="" url="" hours="" price="">Recycled, retro, or just-plain used-- call it what you will, Eco-logic is full of funky treasures including cloths, books, and furtinure, </buy>

Eat

The Petite-Bourgogne neighborhood has recently emerged as Montreals gourmet gulch-- though it's yet to overtake the Plateau in terms of sheer number of restaurants.

Splurge

• <eat name="Restaurant Joe Beef" alt="" address="2491 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest" directions="" phone="514-935-6504" email="" fax="" url="http://www.joebeef.ca" hours="" price="">British bistro/pub gone nouveau, featuring roasts, ribs, and seafood accompanied by seasonal produce. If that sounds too heavy, head to the oyster bar in the back.</eat>
• <eat name="Liverpool House" alt="" address="2501 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest" directions="" phone="514-313-6049" email="" fax="" url="http://www.liverpoolhouse.ca" hours="" price="">A second offering by the owner of Joe Beef, Liverpool house offers Italian-inspired meals under walls covered in paintings and odd artifacts.</eat>
• <eat name="" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" email="" fax="" url="" hours="" price=""></eat>

Drink

• <drink name="Centre St-Ambroise" alt="Terrasse St-Ambroise" address="5080 St-Ambroise" directions="on the Lachine canal bike path, part of the McAuslan Brewery complex" phone="" email="" fax="" url="" hours="" price="">Hidden along an unlikely strop of shipping yards, this outdoors microbrewery takes advantage of its remote location to host everything from outdoor movies to folk concerts of all-night DJ events.</drink>
• <drink name="Le Black Jack" alt="" address="3814 Notre-Dame W"" directions="" phone="" email="" fax="" url="" hours="" price="">Cheap beer and punk rock.</drink>

Stay safe

Petite-Bourgogne is, for Montreal, a high-crime area. Be careful after dark, especially around closing time when bars empty out.