You know those chain buckets you grab when you’re tired and nobody wants to cook? The ‘comfort food’ ones that taste fine in the car and you’ve already forgotten by the time you walk in the door?
Well, Montreal has at least 15 reasons to stop doing that.
The fried chicken here in MTL covers more ground than you’d expect. Korean double-fried with snowing cheese in NDG. Thai-spiced from a grocery store in Little Italy. Filipino-marinated in Ville-Émard. Cambodian with shrimp paste in Verdun. Kentucky-style with actual hushpuppies. Québécois with Nashville poutine. It’s not one thing. It’s a world tour that fits on the island.
Here’s the best fried chicken in Montreal right now.
The heavy hitters
Jack Le Coq
Signature Dish: The crispy chicken sandwich. Also: Nashville-style poutine, which is exactly as unhinged as it sounds.
Vibe Check: Fast-casual Québécois chicken chain that has no business being this good.
Address: Multiple locations (Mile End, Verdun, South Shore, Laval)
Why It Made the Cut: Jack Le Coq won Best Fried Chicken in Montreal at Best of MTL 2023 and sits at an impressive 4.9/5 on Google. Everything is 100% Québécois sourced and made on-site. They’re also expanding to Quebec City, which tells you the formula works. The Nashville poutine alone is worth the trip.
Roch le Coq
Signature Dish: The Korean burger, co-created with chef Antonin Mousseau-Rivard. The bun melts, the pickles snap, the kimchi brings heat.
Vibe Check: Small canteen. Friendly staff. You order, you eat, you leave happy.
Address: 1541 Avenue Van Horne, Outremont (also Plateau, Ahuntsic)
Why It Made the Cut: Roch le Coq uses chicken from Ferme des Voltigeurs, fresh, never frozen, free-range, grain-fed. You can get it by the piece, bucket, sandwich, popcorn style, or with homemade waffles. The Korean burger is the move, but honestly everything here holds up.
Dinette Triple Crown
Signature Dish: The “Big Nasty” hot chicken sandwich. Kentucky-style. Full commitment.
Vibe Check: 1920s diner atmosphere. Counter seating, a proper dining room, and summer picnic baskets you can take to the park.
Address: 6704 Rue Clark, Little Italy
Why It Made the Cut: If you want proper Southern fried chicken in Montreal, this is the place. Buttermilk biscuits, mashed potatoes with gravy, cornbread, braised greens, hushpuppies, coleslaw. The sides menu reads like a road trip through Kentucky. The Big Nasty lives up to the name.
Icehouse
Signature Dish: Double-fried chicken by the bucket (half or full, 5 to 10 pieces), tossed in a secret sweet and spicy sauce the moment it leaves the fryer.
Vibe Check: Casual Tex-Mex on the Plateau. Sauce on your shirt, nobody cares.
Address: 51 Rue Roy Est, Plateau
Why It Made the Cut: Former Iron Chef contestant Nick Hodge has been running this place since 2011. The double-fry keeps the chicken juicy inside and absurdly crispy outside. They do tacos and po’boys too, but the bucket is what keeps people coming back. Plateau staple for a reason.
The Korean wave
Half of Montreal’s best fried chicken comes with kimchi. Nobody’s complaining of course.
DaWa Chicken
Signature Dish: Boneless sunsals with snowing cheese. Also the wings in sweet and spicy Korean sauce with thin-sliced onions and creamy yogurt sauce.
Vibe Check: Cafeteria-style. Zero pretension. Just very good Korean fried chicken.
Address: 6135 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, NDG + 300 Avenue du Mont-Royal Est, Plateau
Why It Made the Cut: DaWa marinates for 24 hours before frying, and you can taste it. Two locations means you’re never far. The snowing cheese option sounds absurd and tastes even better than it sounds.
Mon Ami Korean BBQ
Signature Dish: Korean double-fried chicken with Snowing Cheese sauce. Also does Oh Honey, garlic-soy, and spicy mala.
Vibe Check: Warm, busy, packed on weekends. Summer terrace. Good lunch specials.
Address: 6290 Avenue Somerled, Somerled
Why It Made the Cut: The double-fry gives the breading real thickness and crunch. The sauce list is long enough that you’ll need a few visits to get through it. They also do all-you-can-eat BBQ, but the fried chicken is why this spot ends up on every Montreal foodie list.
Chimaek Gana
Signature Dish: Over 10 varieties. Bul Galbi, Truffle Cheese, and Yangnyeom are the ones to start with. Served with pickled daikon and onions.
Vibe Check: “Chimaek” is Korean for fried chicken and beer. That’s the whole idea.
Address: 2080 Rue St-Mathieu, Shaughnessy Village
Why It Made the Cut: Ten-plus flavours means you can come back several times and never repeat an order. The Truffle Cheese is rich and a little ridiculous. They do beef tartare and tteokbokki too, if you want to turn it into a full Korean night.
Olivia’s Authentic Chicken
Signature Dish: Honey garlic fried chicken. Marinated 24 to 48 hours, hand-breaded to order.
Vibe Check: Clean, straightforward takeout spot. Everything is egg, dairy, and peanut-free.
Address: 6563 Avenue Somerled, NDG
Why It Made the Cut: Olivia’s does the long marinade thing (up to 48 hours) and is one of the few fried chicken spots in town that’s actually safe for people with egg, dairy, or peanut allergies. The honey garlic and garlic soy sauces are both worth trying. Open daily, noon to 9 PM.
Restaurant Coréen Luna
Signature Dish: Korean fried chicken tossed in sweet-tangy sauce with orange peel and peanuts.
Vibe Check: A revamped French bistro turned Korean kitchen. Bring your own wine. Small and charming.
Address: 917 Rue Rachel Est, Plateau
Why It Made the Cut: Olivia’s orange peel and peanut combination is unlike anything else you’ll find on this list. Bring a bottle, order the chicken, sit in what feels like a Plateau apartment that decided to become a restaurant. It works better than it should.
The global wildcards
Pumpui (Épicerie Pumpui)
Signature Dish: Thai fried chicken. Spicy, crispy, cheap.
Vibe Check: A Thai grocery store that also happens to serve food. Shelves of ingredients on one side, some of the best fried chicken in the city on the other.
Address: 83 Rue Saint-Zotique Est, Little Italy
Why It Made the Cut: Tastet called Pumpui’s fried chicken “one of the city’s best” and “addictive.” It’s particularly spicy, it costs almost nothing, and it comes from a grocery store in Little Italy. You tell people about this place and they don’t believe you until they go.
Les Street Monkeys
Signature Dish: Khmer fried chicken drumsticks with shrimp paste, kaffir lime, lemongrass, and garlic sauce.
Vibe Check: Cambodian night market street food on Wellington Street in Verdun.
Address: 3625 Rue Wellington, Verdun
Why It Made the Cut: Cambodian fried chicken with shrimp paste and kaffir lime is not something you’ll stumble across anywhere else in the city. The drumsticks are fragrant, crispy, and totally unlike the other entries on this list. Reservations available if you want to plan ahead.
Poulet FOU et Frit
Signature Dish: Filipino-inspired fried chicken. Each piece marinated for hours in a house recipe, then coated in seasoned batter and fried to order.
Vibe Check: Neighbourhood takeout in Ville-Émard. Loyal local crowd. Over 700 online reviews.
Address: 6021 Boulevard Monk, Ville-Émard
Why It Made the Cut: The Filipino marinade is what sets this apart. Hours of soaking before the batter even goes on. Halal certified. Big portions. The sleeper pick on this list. Ville-Émard locals already know about it. Now you do too.
Satu Lagi
Signature Dish: Crispy ayam goreng drumstick with house sambal or fermented chilli honey.
Vibe Check: Malaysian and Indonesian. Small, colourful, and the entire menu is gluten-free.
Address: 1361 Avenue Mont-Royal Est, Mile-End
Why It Made the Cut: Ayam goreng is Indonesian fried chicken, and Satu Lagi does a great version of it. The fermented chilli honey is sweet, spicy, and funky in a way that catches you off guard. The full menu being gluten-free is rare for a fried chicken place. Good option if you’re already on Mont-Royal and want something different.
The ones that sneak it in
These aren’t fried chicken restaurants. They just happen to make some of the best fried chicken in the city.
Rufus & Anna
Signature Dish: Double-breaded fried chicken with spicy honey.
Vibe Check: Modern rotisserie in Hochelaga. Creative cocktails. Date night material.
Address: 3882 Rue Ontario Est, Hochelaga
Why It Made the Cut: The double breading gives the chicken serious crunch, and the spicy honey ties it all together. Rufus & Anna is a rotisserie first, but their fried chicken keeps up with spots that do nothing else. Hochelaga doesn’t get enough food attention. This is a good reason to head east.
Nouveau Palais
Signature Dish: Fried chicken with cider BBQ sauce and kale salad. At brunch: fried chicken and waffles with maple syrup.
Vibe Check: 1950s retro diner on Bernard in Mile-End. Late kitchen on weekends.
Address: 281 Rue Bernard Ouest, Mile-End
Why It Made the Cut: The chicken and waffles with maple syrup at brunch is one of the best weekend moves in Mile-End. The cider BBQ sauce on the dinner version is tangy and sharp. Nouveau Palais has been around for years and the fried chicken is one of the reasons it stays full.
Go ruin a chain bucket for yourself
Fifteen spots across the Plateau, NDG, Little Italy, Verdun, Hochelaga, Mile-End, Ville-Émard, and Shaughnessy Village. Korean, Thai, Filipino, Cambodian, Malaysian, Southern, and Québécois. All on one island.
Next time you’re thinking about a drive-through bucket, pull up this list instead. You won’t go back.
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