Which bakery rolls the best Montreal bagel: St. Viateur Bagel Shop or Fairmount Bagel? Every Montrealer has his or her allegiance when it comes to this decades-long rivalry. Although the sides are trenchantly defined and defended, there is one point on which this divided city can agree: Montreal Bagels are better than New York bagels. Heartier, humbler, and a little bit sweeter.

I, like most Montrealers, declare my fidelity without qualms. I'm partial to St. Viateur Bagel Shop. There's nothing I like more than waking up on a Sunday morning and winding my way over to St. Viateur. Although, I must admit, the bagels make an excellent midnight (or 2 am) post-drink snack. St. Viateur Bagel Shop is open every day, all day and all night. In fact, they seem to be busiest in the wee hours when surrounding bars flick off their lights and start kicking people out.

The key to the St. Viateur bagel isn't exactly a secret. It's certainly not the recipe, given that it's posted on the wall, right next to the table where the dough is kneaded and shaped into rings. The trick is the wood-burning oven, which takes up most of the back wall. In the winter it keeps the shop deliciously warm too.

Despite a fire in the 1970s (which the oven thankfully survived) the shop has changed little across Joe Morena's now more than fifty-year reign at St. Viateur Bagel Shop. Morena has kept the oven burning at St. Viateur since 1963, when he took over from Meyer Lewkowicz, the original owner who opened the shop in 1957. He can often be seen poking around, easily recognizable from the several portraits and mass of photos and newspaper articles that cover the walls. Among the photos are a number of celebrities, and the name St. Viateur Bagel shop resonates far beyond the city. For example, a certain movie exec once had the bagels flown overnight from Montreal to Los Angeles just to satisfy a craving. Like I said, better than New York bagels.

Yet, for all its renown, the St. Viateur Bagel Shop is still a hole-in-the-wall neighborhood joint. Having watched over the Mile-End neighbourhood from under its green awnings for years, it would blend into the landscape if it weren't for the exquisite smell it pumps out. The classic flavors—sesame and poppy seed—remain the most popular, and in my mind the best, but a few different flavors have been introduced over the years. I always ask for one of whatever flavor has just come out of the oven. While there are variety of dips and even lox for sale now, the bagels are best eaten on the spot, with your fingers, straight from the oven.

If you're planning on seeking out a St. Viateur bagel each morning during your stay in Montreal (a fantastic idea) I recommend staying at the Hôtel Park Avenue, which is an easy 15 minute walk from St. Viateur.