Tunnel Espresso Bar

Anyone who walks through the tunnel connecting the Eaton Centre and PVM knows that this small and — let’s face it — boring strip has seen its share of boutiques and food joints opening and closing in no time. Heck, even the Tim Hortons closed down a while back! Needless to say, this place has truly brightened up a spot that needed its share of TLC and has become popular with good reason.
The owner, who started up 2 years ago working alone every day and selling (delicious) pastries made by his mom now attracts lineups of business men and women at lunch time. Staff of baristas has since then expanded and the team is delightful. Most importantly, the coffee is great. This place is awesome and definitely here to stay (a second Tunnel Espresso Bar has since opened at Peel subway station).

This place is pretty cool pass by everyday and usually a line up. If you like super strong espresso they make a mean one for around 2 $.

So-​so coffee. Definitely not worth going out of your way for. Very disappointing given the reviews. There’s better options in the immediate area.

Excellent mocha! A true gem in the tunnel — not to mention baked goods. Highly recommend.

Went there twice and both times coffee was horrible! Espresso was weak and cappuccino was flavorless.
Totally overated!

Oula!
Ça m’a pris du temps à le trouver, celui-​là… mais ça en valait la peine.
Un des meilleurs cafés que j’ai eu l’occasion de boire. On né s’y assoit pas, on y passé, on commande, on prend une gorgée, on est satisfait et on part, les papilles au paradis!

One of the best lattes I’ve ever had. Worldwide. You must try this place! Grab your coffee and wander down the hallway a bit (past the tea place next door to Tunnel) and you’ll find a lot of seating to enjoy your drink and conversation.

Excellent café. Personnel sympathique. Enfin des commerces intéressants entre la Place Ville Marie et le Centre Eaton.
Pour les amateurs de café, ils vendent des accessoires de café comme le chemex. Je fais souvent du café avec l’aeropress, et je trouve leur café aussi bon. Sur l’heure du midi, il y a toujours une file d’attente, mais c’est rapide.
C’est le meilleur café que je connais dans les environs. Pour connaitre mes goûts, par exemple, à Montréal, le meilleur café que j’ai trouvé est celui du Pourquoi Pas Espresso Bar et à Québec, le Nektar.

Two years and about a dozen lattes later, I continue to adore this place. Pikolo remains my very favourite in town, but I think Tunnel still has the best coffee in the downtown core — better than the new Myriade in the basement of Club Monaco, but not counting the original Myriade on Mackay by Concordia a bit west of the core (more evenly matched). Delicious macadamia nut and white chocolate cookies. Today they were using Detour’s Dark Horse beans for their espresso, the same beans served at the Dark Horse cafés in Toronto. As much as I like Dark Horse on Spadina, Tunnel did it better. For those who sweat the small stuff, their payment card reader has an actually functional PayPass tap sensor which keeps the line moving speedily.

they always have a new variety/​origin of beans so it keeps things interesting. only reproach is that their frothed milk is never hot enough or at best inconsistent temperature wise. They could really benefit from using a thermometer

Tried it once, great service to go along with great espresso. I was so impress with it, for an area 8′ x 10′ to be so incredible! Wish I had the time to go back. The cup I had was so smooth, great body and no bitterness.

J’ai essayé beaucoup de café au centre-​ville et je reviens toujours à celui là, qui est probablement le meilleur. Il s’agit d’un simple comptoir caché dans un tunnel, avec des baristas exceptionnels! Un must!

Buy a coffee there whenever you can. I won’t fool you, this is not the one best coffee place Montréal. It comes 3^rd IMHO. BUT. This is the most convenient great coffee place in Montréal. What I mean is that there are thousands of reasons for you to be close to the Tunnel, and if you are there are 0 reason for you not to pass by. If you like coffee, stop, order a cappuccino, and enjoy the rest of your day.

By far the best cappuccino in Montréal. If you go on Fridays, you can even find home made cannelloni, can it get any better than this?!

HOW TO FIND IT:
Enter 1253 McGill College Street (between 3 brasseurs and Boccacino’s). Pass reception desk and elevators, go down the staircase on the left. Continue until you reach the doors, then turn right (there’s a nail salon at the corner). A few more steps and a delicious coffee awaits!
Coffee at this LITTERALLY hole-​in-​the wall spot (it’s just a counter) is stellar & addictive! The service is warm and friendly, owner is always there brewing the black gold himself.

Quite delicious coffee parked in a smart and unconventional location served by nice people. Total win for the metro warrior downtown, or anyone lost in the city underground.

Like me, there is a chance you have passed this place hundreds times but never noticed it! If you are passing the tunnel between Eaten Center and Ville-​Marie, look around, you will see a tiny espresso bar that offers authentic Italian style Macchiato.

Le centre-​ville né manqué certainement pas de café. Mais de BON café? Ça, il n’y en pas à tous les coins de rue! C’est pourquoi j’ai été agréablement surprise de découvrir le Tunnel Espresso Bar la semaine dernière. Génial!!!
Perdu dans le tunnel qui lie le Centre Eaton à la Place Ville-​Marie, j’ai déniché ce petit trésor grâce à l’application mobile Unilocal.Tout ce que j’ai à dire est que c’est probablement le meilleur café dans la zone du «Mile Carré Doré» avec le Café Myriade! C’est vraiment tout petit et ils connaissent bien leurs affaires.
J’ai aussi été bien heureuse de voir qu’ils offrent du lait d’amandes. C’est TELLEMENT une des meilleures astuces pour donner un p’tit kick à votre espressso. Je vous conseille fortement d’essayer!
Bref, avec Tunnel Espresso Bar plus besoin de se contenter du café des grandes chaînes quand vous êtes au centre-​ville!

My nephew discovered this place while on a visit to see me here in montreal a couple of weeks ago. While he waited in Place du Canada for me to finish work he looked up a decent coffee shop in the vicinity on Unilocal and went and got himself a latte. On his recommendation I dropped in at the start of this week to try them out.
I ordered a flat white which was not on the menu but the guy didn’t make any further enquiries as to what I wanted so I assume everything was okay. What he served me was a large cup Latte which was disappointing. I am not the type either to complain, the coffee itself was exceptional but too milky.
On my return I asked for a flat white in a small cup — hoping they got the message that I wanted more coffee and less milk. Again I got a latte in a small cup. I guess I am going to have to just pluck up the courage to explain what exactly it is I want.
I must say tho the coffee is excellent. Wonderful balance in the roast.

Tunnel is one of my favourite coffee shops in town! The owner Andrew is super friendly and the coffee is great. Mocha is my favourite and they just had a new menu recently. I tried the honey latte and it was pretty good! They have a selection of pastries (e.g. brownies, cookies, apple cake etc) and they are all homemade by the owner’s mum! Most of the baked goods are usually sold out in the early afternoon, so it’s better to go there in the morning. Tunnel also has a great selection of tea, try the Amour if you like soothing tea!

Un super bon petit café, super bien situé pour un boost en plein milieu d’une bonne session de magasinage. Il est un peu difficile à trouver, mais si vous prenez le passage entre le Centre Eaton et Place Ville-​Marie, vous y serez. C’est plutôt un comptoir qu’un café car il n’y a pas de place pour s’asseoir et siroter son latte tranquillement. Par contre, même si votre commande né prendra pas plus que 5 – 10 minutes, et donne l’impression que c’est de style «fast food» vu l’emplacement, vous aurez quand même un service à la clientèle assez exceptionnel!

Phil & Sebastian coffee from Calgary, and cool guys making the coffee!
Very unsual location but convenient if you work at eaton center! I will come back!

Great coffee and Andy is super nice. Best option downtown.

i loved the idea and the look of the place. simplicity of the menu. everything just on the go.

I visited Tunnel Espresso Bar as part of my quest to complete the Montréal Indie Coffee Passport. Having tried out their delicious coffee, I really can’t wait to go back! This coffee at Tunnel is awesome — an unforgettably rich and flavourful taste. The coffee beans are also responsibly sourced (roasted in Canada, I believe).
As far as I know, the only person who works there is the owner, Rob. He’s tremendously knowledgable about coffee, and a fantastic person to have a conversation with.
There doesn’t seem to be fixed hours of operation. They are typically open in the morning on weekdays.