Good point. So, when ordering in a restaurant make sure to say such things as “Whoo heee. Y’all sure got some nice poutine on this here menu!”
“Hey, where’s the restroom at?”
“Y’all got some ketchup for this here steak?”
“What’s with this here TPS tax on my bill?”
There’s a wonderful gay area between Rue Ontario E., Avenue Papineau, Boulevard René Levesque E. and Rue St. Hubert. You don’t have to be gay to enjoy the many shops and restaurants.
Don’t let the language thing get in your way of enjoying the city. There’s plenty of English, and I didn’t meet anyone who spoke exclusively French.
The Gay Village (also called just The Village) is nice in the summer, particularly along Ste-Catherine street, where they close it off to cars and you can just walk around and they decorate it. Picture here.
Oh my! If you like pizza, Montreal is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the best tasting pizza in the entire world.
I have visited perhaps 20 big cities and never tasted food like that in Montreal. Yum! Yum! Yummy! It is just the best food anywhere - especially their pizza. It is to die for!
The second best pizza that I have ever tasted was from a restaurant called “Sympaticos” on 4th Ave in Kitsalano (a suburb of Vancouver). But do try the pizza in Montreal.
The third best pizza was the “deep-dish” pizza from Chicago. People from Chicago are just a cut above the rest of the population. They are just so much more interesting and so much more enjoyable.
I love good pizza and never have tasted any better than the pizza made in Montreal.
In 1967, they held the World’s Fair in Montreal and they sold pizza there that would make your mouth water. It was just so delicious.
I fear I will never taste pizza as good as the pizza I tasted in Montreal in 1967. It was just so delicious! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yummy! Yummy! Yummy! Pizza from Montreal. Knock yerself out! So wonderful!
Why is it by the way, that Organized Crime seems to flourish in cities with the best tasting pizza?
Why oh why is that?
Hello Emily. You beautiful musical babe!
So nice to hear from you - like always!
Thank you ever so for your contribution from Montreal. It is always so lovely to hear from you. You are just such a peach!
I’ll have what he’s having.
And the always popular “Look at me, everybody! I’m a cowboy! Howdy howdy howdy!”
Worth it for the penguins alone. But I looove penguins.
It’s very, very easy to figure out the system. Every station has several maps and you just need to figure out which color line you need and which direction (final station in that direction). So you’d take the green line towards Angrignon if you were trying to get From Berri to Peel.
You’ll make out okay without French. As others have said, official signage and announcements may be in French only, but you can ask pretty much anyone near you on the Metro platform and they’re likely to be able to give you the gist of it. Most folks in Montreal speak at least passable English. Especially in the downtown area, people working in shops and restaurants will often be bilingual. Many restaurants have an English version of their menus, too, so don’t be afraid to ask.
Tipping is the same as in the States.
As for things to do, I always recommend some time in the Old Port area because it’s oldey-timey and pretty and has good food. Get yourself a Queue de Castor (beaver tail) while you’re there. Cinnamon sugar & lemon is the best, but Nutella is a close second. Also, try and find time to walk around a bit on Rue St-Denis, near the Berri metro stop. TONS of outdoor terraces to sit and enjoy a drink or an ice cream or a brunch… it’s the part of Montreal that feels most “Montreal” to me, besides the McGill campus and the fountain outside Place Ville Marie.
And now I’m homesick.
Don’t forget bagels. Montreal is quite famous for those. They’re a bit different than NYC bagels, but I especially enjoyed them. But the smoked meat was the high point during our visit, plus the Hungarian sausages at Charcuterie Hongroise just down the street from Schwartz’s.
So, you wouldn’t advise saying:
Does anyone in the hoose speak English, eh? 
Montreal is a cool, big city, but I’d recommend you think about Quebec City instead (or in addition too). We found it to have much more character than Montreal. Not that Montreal isn’t nice, too. It just seemed a lot most other big cities.
Um, thanks. 
A side trip to Quebec City would be nice, though I think they speak less English there than in Montreal.
pbbth - Do you know yet on which days you’ll be going?
My experience with the language as a tourist in restaurants and such was that people would say “Hello bonjour!” and then wait to see which language you answered in. I went with my mom, and we both know a reasonable amount of French, but we never had to use it.
That was only to find out whether or not they should spit in your food. 
Yes, we will be there August 13th-16th.
Yeah, this was the same for us when we went through.
I don’t think driving was too bad, fwiw. I was 24 and driving an SUV for the first time and I made it through with no incident. But being that the OP is a New Yorker, she’ll be better at the Metro than I ever could be!
The only french that we needed to know was “east” and “west.”
Nord, sud, est, and ouest are all pretty easy to figure out. And being as Montreal is an island, it’s good to know pont means bridge.
Another thing about being an island: our cardinal directions are a bit screwed up compared to most of the world. “North”/Nord is the top of the island instead of real north. But it’s not as confusing as it sounds.
Reader’s Digest: Top 10 list of things to do in Montreal and Quebec
Thought I’d bump this thread as the time approaches.
pbbth, have you found a hotel yet?
