Frite Alors!

C’etait ma première poutine, et je reviendrai a Montréal!

This is a difficult one for me… Oh the agony… Being from Belgium, once in a while I get this craving for a good «cornet de frites» or worse a «mitraillette»… Good belgian fries are really hard to find on this side of the ocean and Frites alors! is the closest you’ll ever find.
There are secrets to making belgian frites and we do not allow it to leave the country, fearing to be forever deported or worse sentenced to eating north american frites for the rest of our lives.
The agony being that I am happy having Frites alors! answer my belgian cravings but always leave homesick for the real thing/​frites.
Having said that, I will head there and eat my mitraillette.
PS: Please Frites alors! could you also answer my prayers for a fricadelle, a pouly-​croc and a bicky samurai, please, please, please!

Leurs frites sont toujours excellentes! J’aime moins la sauce à poutine (trop salée à mon goût) mais si vous prenez la tacos ou celle au porc effiloché vous serez enchantés! Le service est souvent plutôt lent, il faut pas être pressé!

honestly, i have no idea how their burgers or other dishes are but the fries. THE FRIES! its the only thing i buy from them. usually, with my bike during summer, i make a quick stop for takeout fries and head straight to parc jarry a block over for some tanning fun.
crispy gold perfectly fried fries. with ketchup is great but by itself is just as good.
now, i went back for poutine week for some poutine which was a poutine tacos. its actually a poutine nachos. how did they not be able to tell the difference between tacos and nachos? we’ll never know!
so that poutine came with the usual fresh squeaky cheese curds, their golden crisp belgian fries and that lovely gravy. on top of it, ground beef, tomato/​salsa, sliced avocado, pickled jalapeño peppers, sour cream and some tortilla chips.
all i can say is that i’m happy i went with a small one for it is extremely filling. its what you’d expect from a decent nachos, good and earthy with a zing from the jalapenos. and the poutine? its very good poutine. melting curds, part of the fries still crispy while the ones soaking the gravy are soft bites of goody goodness.
besides food and soft drinks, they do have beer and wine which i didn’t partake in. maybe next time.
depending on what you’re getting, it can be a bit pricey and its best to share because if you want poutine, you won’t be able to eat anything else

Great poutine, and fantastic burger. Wow that Kebab Burger was so tasty… Madly seasoned, but just a tad too small. The dipping sauces for the French Fries were succulent as always in any Frites Alors joint.
The service was very slow, and we waited a long time for food, but it was worth it, I’d catch a grenade for that burger.

My experience is limited to a binge order of poutine my friend and I stopped by to eat on the way home.
Firstly, parking is easy at least… at the time of the evening I came in. The location is tiny with a dozen seats or more. It looked somewhat of a dive in the garage of someone’s home. Sadly, as it is winter, even with the front door drapes for when it opens and closes doesn’t do a whole lot of its clientele and I was pretty cold in my seat furthest to the door. Needless to state, I ate with my jacket on.
We ordered small poutine called «L’Eau a la Bouche» and the «Cochonne». The main reason is that we thought the poutine price was a bit exaggerated. Once we received our portions we truly realized that our small poutine, is pretty small. Considering it’s close to $ 10, we didn’t think we got a great deal.
How did it taste? It was pretty decent but nowhere near the quality you’d get at really popular locations. It wasn’t McDonald’s quality poutine but it wasn’t anywhere close to what you’d get at Poutineville and with that location allowing you to order what you want and their «small» being twice as big as what I was served here (and the price tag being somewhat similar), let’s just say, I won’t be back.
Service was decent and amiable.

Love having this burger joint on my street. Plenty of options on the menu and the service is quick. Love their fries

It was the final hours of our trip to Montréal, and if we hadn’t found poutine before departing, I’m pretty sure I would have had divorce papers waiting at home. Enter Frite Alors, which saved the day!
We got off to a bit of a rocky start when we sat, chatted with the friendly waitress, admired the mod interior, perused the graphicutesy menus and then had to leave because we weren’t carrying cash. (WE NEVER CARRY CASH. Neither do most savvy travelers. Get with the times, people!) However, once we’d found an ATM, we circled back, because not only does Frite Alors have poutine: in fact, it boasts an entire menu of poutines. Diners choose from close to a dozen variations that include sausage, bacon and /​or grilled vegetables in addition to the golden standard of gravy and fresh cheese.
I was craving classic French food and swooned over the Croque Monsieur: ham, cheese, and mustard on toasted bread, though this one also came with fresh lettuce and tomato (they were added after the toasting, so it was a nice crispy-​melty contrast. But what really tugged at my heartstrings was the option to substitute a small salad for half the fries that came with the sandwich. I’ll repeat that in case any American restaurant happens to be listening: Instead of a GIANT PILE of fries, they allow the option of a reasonable number of fries and a small salad — full of fresh, crunchy vegetables and drizzled with a creamy vinaigrette. I had been dreaming of that perfect healthy-​junky equilibrium for years!
I was really craving a Belgian beer, but thanks to our shortage of cash (we were trying to use it all up before recrossing the border) it remained a dream. That silly, needless inconvenience is the only reason I can’t give five stars for such a fantastic experience!

I know this is a chain. But it’s a very very good chain. They have great burgers (on delicious bread). Great beer. Great service. And AMAZING exotic poutine (not just your regular — although they have that too). The gravy might not be the best of all the plain poutine options in Montréal, but the special ones are truly special. Try the Frite Alors! Poutine (they’re own special one) — you will not regret it.
This particular restaurant in the chain seems small compared to others. just, fyi if you need a lot of space. I thought it was intimate and nice, though.