# Montreal's Bagel Wars: Rival Bakeries Have Split a Neighborhood in Two > Montreal is famous for its bagels, and two bakeries have kept up a delicious rivalry for nearly a century. Here's the story behind the showdown. - URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/monreal-slavytsia-svoimy-bublykamy-i-dvi-pekarni-vedut-smachne-supernytstvo-vzhe-maizhe-stolittia/ - Language: en - Published: 2024-01-29 - Categories: Culture, Historic Sites, Leisure, Restaurants, Canada, Food & Drinks --- At 3am on a Sunday, a long line of eager customers spills out the door of a small bakery in Montreal's Mile End neighborhood. In the bitter cold of winter and on sweltering summer nights alike, people of all ages wait for the chance to grab a hot sesame bagel fresh out of the oven. This scene has been playing out at a bakery on Fairmount Avenue, and at another just around the corner on Saint-Viateur Street, for nearly 100 years. And while the bagel feud between Montreal and New York is well documented, this is a far more local rivalry playing out within the city itself. Born in the early 1900s with the arrival of a wave of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, the Montreal bagel has become part of the city's culinary heritage. Today, the bagels are still made the traditional way. Each one is pulled from a large batch of dough, rolled by hand, boiled in water sweetened with honey, then sprinkled with a chosen topping. They're then arranged on a long wooden baker's board (a shiba) and baked in a brick wood-fired oven, tuned just right to produce a bagel that's crisp on the outside and light and soft on the inside. Montreal bagels are best eaten fresh from the oven, straight out of the paper bag they come in, or dunked into a tub of cream cheese while strolling one of Mile End's charming streets. ![](/storage/image/prev/july-article-image-69-1-2024.jpg) ## So which bakery makes the tastiest bagels? Ask any Montrealer whose side they're on, Saint-Viateur or Fairmount, and you risk kicking off a heated debate. The case for each bakery's strengths comes up again and again, but in the end, loyalty seems to come down to gut feeling or nostalgia. "Whoever you were first taken to as a child, that's who your loyalty belongs to," says Robert Morena, one of the owners of Saint-Viateur. Food writer Marcella De Vincenzo says: "Saint-Viateur's bagels are less chewy and not as dense. They're also a little sweeter, and you can always get them warm." Gianni Pezzulo, owner of Ferlucci Café, serves his customers bagels from Fairmount. "Fairmount has been around longer, and I find it fascinating that they're still at the top of their game after all these years," he says. "Their bagels are chewy but not too doughy. It's a close call, but Fairmount is the better product." ![](/storage/image/prev/july-article-image-69-2-2024.jpg) ## How serious is this bagel rivalry in the city? The owners of both family-run businesses insist their relationship has always been, and remains, friendly. They say they're driven by an unwavering commitment to preserving the city's bagel tradition, and have even helped each other out with ingredients in a pinch. Both bakeries are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Their ovens never cool down. Saint-Viateur is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, while Fairmount Bagel will mark its 100th in 2019. Both establishments have helped make Montreal's bagel scene famous around the world. Irwin Shlafman, owner of Fairmount Bagel, recalls the day a limousine pulled up outside his bakery and a Japanese executive walked in carrying a briefcase. Inside was a map of Montreal with a dotted line running from Tokyo to Fairmount Bagel. Fairmount can also lay claim to producing the first bagel ever sent into space. ![](/storage/image/prev/july-article-image-69-3-2024.jpg) In 2008, Montreal astronaut (and Shlafman's cousin) Gregory Chamitoff carried a dozen and a half NASA-approved Fairmount bagels with him to the International Space Station. Apparently, he couldn't imagine six months without his favorite snack. When asked about the feud between Saint-Viateur and Fairmount, Shlafman compares it to the legendary boxing rivalry between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. "They're the two top contenders in the world for that particular spot, so I don't think being an Ali fan rather than a Frazier fan makes you wrong," he says. Fairmount Bagel 74 Avenue Fairmount O; +1 514-272-0667 St-Viateur Bagel, 263 Rue Saint Viateur O; +1 514-276-8044 Mayssam Samaha is a Lebanese-born food and travel blogger based in Montreal. You can check out her blog at willtravelforfood.com and follow her on Twitter @mayssamaha.