Services
All servicesSeven industries, one city
Websites built for your trade, in Montreal Your regulator’s rules, Bill 96, Law 25 and the way your customers actually search. All industriesIndustries
All industriesHomeIndustriesRestaurants & cafés
Industries · Restaurants & cafés
For Montreal restaurants, cafés, bakeries and bars: an HTML menu in French and English, simple reservations, and opening hours that keep up with the seasons. Fixed price, written quote.
The essentials
The context
The OQLF confirms that the French-language rule for products also covers menus and wine lists. English can follow, as long as it doesn’t outrank the French. Online, same logic: a complete French version, with English as the translation.
Source: Office québécois de la langue française ↗A permit for a terrasse on public property is renewed every year, and the operating period varies from borough to borough. Your hours change in spring and again in November. Your website should keep up without anyone nagging.
Source: Ville de Montréal ↗In 2026, avenue du Mont-Royal, Duluth, Wellington, Bernard and Sainte-Catherine Est are pedestrian for much of the summer. The person eyeing your terrasse checks their phone before they sit down.
Source: Tourisme Montréal ↗What usually goes wrong
The food is good and Saturday is full. The website, meanwhile, tells a different story.
You pinch to zoom on a phone, Google reads it poorly, it dates from last fall and there’s no English version. Or the reverse: English only, which is its own problem in Quebec.
The site says closed Mondays, Google says open, Instagram is announcing the holiday brunch. Customers pick the version they like, then meet a locked door.
Delivery platforms bring visibility, but they keep the customer, the data and a commission. Without a menu and an order link on your own site, you’re renting your clientele.
A reservation that asks for a birth date, a newsletter box ticked by default, an ad pixel firing before anyone agreed to anything. Law 25 is not a fan.
The rules that apply
You don’t need a law degree to open a café. Here’s what we build into the site from day one, with the official sources.
Menus and wine lists must be in French, and may be translated as long as no other language outranks the French. A website’s commercial content follows the same logic: a complete French version, at least as easy to reach as the English one.
Official source ↗ (www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca)A privacy policy in plain language, published on the site. The privacy officer’s title and contact details posted. Forms ask only for what’s needed, the newsletter gets its own checkbox, and cookies that enable profiling stay off by default.
Official source ↗ (www.cai.gouv.qc.ca)Under a restaurant permit, alcohol sold for takeout or delivery must come with food you prepared, in a sealed container, between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. No spirits, except ready-to-drink cocktails at 7% or less. Your online ordering has to follow all of it.
Official source ↗ (www.racj.gouv.qc.ca)A merchant who suggests tips must calculate the percentages before GST and QST, offer a custom-amount option and present every choice the same way. If your ordering tool suggests a tip, we set it up accordingly.
Official source ↗ (www.opc.gouv.qc.ca)General information, not legal advice. Check with the relevant regulator.
What we build
A fast WordPress site your team can update between services, without calling us.
Dishes, prices and wine list entered in WordPress, with French and English versions linked. Readable on a phone, indexed by Google, and editable in two minutes when the fish of the day changes.
A link to the booking tool you already use, or a short form: date, time, party size, email. Nothing more, which Law 25 appreciates too.
Schedules by period (winter, terrasse season, holidays) plus one-off closures, published with structured data so Google shows the right hours.
A page for office dinners, birthdays and buyouts: capacity, packages, photos of the room and a request form that lands in the right inbox.
A small shop for gift cards, custom cakes or holiday boxes, with GST and QST calculated and a clear receipt.
A prominent order link to your own system, next to the delivery apps rather than behind them. If you sell alcohol with meals, the RACJ conditions are built in.
Found in your neighbourhood
Local search for restaurants happens mostly in Google Maps and your Business Profile. People type a dish and a neighbourhood, in French or English: “brunch Villeray”, “best bagel Mile End”. We line up the site, the Google profile and the menu (same hours, same address, French and English pages that each answer their own searches).
Line Restaurants & cafés
Checklist
FAQ
Another question? Write to us in English or French.
info@webdevelopmentmontreal.caNo. The menu has to exist in French, and so does the site’s commercial content. An English version is welcome, as long as it isn’t more prominent or easier to reach than the French. We design the site French first, then link every page to its English version.
The Quebec government says food businesses have a duty to inform customers about allergens, and that for unpackaged food the information should be available at all times or provided, for example by staff or a sign. Nothing specifically targets websites. We can flag the main allergens on your online menu, with a note asking guests to confirm with staff.
Under a restaurant permit, yes, with conditions: the alcohol must come with food you prepared, in a sealed container, between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m., with no spirits (except ready-to-drink cocktails at 7% or less). Third-party delivery needs a written agreement. Check your permit with the RACJ, then we set up online ordering to match.
They bring customers, but the customer, their contact details and a slice of the bill stay with the platform. Your website belongs to you. We keep the apps for reach and put your menu and direct order link front and centre.
No. What we share here is general information, not legal advice. For a specific situation, contact the OQLF for language, the Commission d’accès à l’information for Law 25, the RACJ for alcohol, and the Office de la protection du consommateur for pricing and tips.
Useful services
Other industries
Your project
We’ll reply with a fixed-price written quote: every page, the dates and the total. We work remotely from Toronto, in your time zone, over video calls.
