Mexico · CONCACAF
Mexico Hosts the World Cup. The 3 Best Mexican Restaurants in Montreal.
Three group games. Three Mexican tables. From a Plateau cantina to a Verdun taqueria, where Montreal eats when El Tri plays. The hosts open the tournament.
Published
Mexico hosts the 2026 World Cup. The opening match is against South Africa at Estadio Azteca on June 11, the same stadium that hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals. El Tri play in front of home crowds for the first time in forty years. Veteran coach Javier Aguirre runs the team in his third spell after taking over in 2024 and winning the 2025 CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup. The squad is built around midfielder Edson Álvarez, striker Santiago Giménez, and a goalkeeper Memo Ochoa who keeps refusing to retire, with both Álvarez and Giménez's club form and fitness under the microscope through the spring. Group results are expected. Knockout-round performance is the question.
Montreal's Mexican community is smaller than its Latin American counterparts but the cuisine has built one of the most active corridors in the city. Saint-Henri's Notre-Dame Ouest stretch has become a taco belt. Verdun has its own pocket. The Plateau holds the sit-down cantinas. Pop-ups and ferment kitchens have been showing up faster than the city can track.
These three restaurants will be doing match-day specials. Tacos Frida will run extra spits. La Selva will pour margaritas on the slow build. El Sabor de México will hold the brunch crowd into the early afternoon. The tortillas will be fresh. The salsas will be at the right heat. Somebody at the bar will be predicting a Mexico run.
Three group games. Three Mexican tables. Pick one per match.
The three picks
La Selva
Plateau · 862 Rue Marie-Anne E, Montréal, QC H2J 2A9, Canada
Homey cantina on Marie-Anne, run by people who cook the way their grandmothers cooked. Mole on the menu when the season allows. Pozole some weekends. The salsa rotation tells you which week it is. The dining room is warm, the music is loud enough, and the margaritas are honest. Order whatever the chef says is on today.
Tacos Frida
Saint-Henri · 4350 R. Notre Dame O, Montréal, QC H4C 1R8, Canada
Saint-Henri taqueria built around tacos al pastor done on a vertical spit. Pineapple slips off the top into the corn tortilla. Salsas come in three heats, all of them earned. Margaritas and palomas hold the cocktail menu. The room is bright and quick. Eat at the counter or grab a booth, but get there before the dinner rush.
El Sabor de México
Verdun · 5013 Rue Wellington, Verdun, QC H4G 1Y1, Canada
Family-run Mexican in Verdun where the menu reads like a translation guide for first-time visitors and the chilaquiles read like proof of pedigree. Brunch crowd is regulars. Salsa verde is genuinely green. Tortillas pressed in-house when the kitchen has time. Walk-ins are fine. The owner will ask you how it was.
Frequently asked questions
Where do Mexican Montrealers actually eat?
The community has dispersed but the food sits along Notre-Dame Ouest in Saint-Henri, on Wellington in Verdun, and on Marie-Anne and Saint-Laurent in the Plateau. Taquerias are the centre of gravity. Sit-down cantinas are growing year over year.
What should I order on a first visit?
Tacos al pastor with pineapple, a salsa flight, and a margarita on the rocks with salt. For a bigger plate, chilaquiles or mole if the menu has it. Skip the burritos. They are an American invention.
Where to watch Mexico play during the 2026 World Cup?
Mexico opens the tournament at Estadio Azteca on June 11. Saint-Henri taquerias and Verdun cantinas will be running screens. Sports bars downtown will be packed for the opener. Game-day jerseys are normal.
Is Mexican food spicy?
The base is balanced. The heat sits in the salsas, which come at the table. You control the dose. The cuisine itself is built on corn, chiles, slow-braised meats, and a few thousand years of refinement that has nothing to do with Tex-Mex.