Best of MTL 2017: Goods & Services

Marco Di Biasio, Best Barber #1, Best Hairstylist #2 (Coifferie Paradiso, Best Hair Salon #3). Photo by Yolaine P. Bouliane

As with so many Best of MTL categories, in Goods & Services and beyond, Best Clothing Store reveals our readership’s split devotion to the independents and the pop. This year the former outweighs the latter, with Winners dropping from the Top 5 (along with Boutique Unicorn), to be replaced by two newcomers: Fans of unabashedly girly apparel boosted Boutique 1861 to #4, while his ‘n’ hers modern and minimal boutique les Étoffes squeaked in at #5.

Plateau ink specialists Tattoo Box rises to the top of the Best Tattoo Parlour category, with two of its crew making it into Best Tattoo Artist, and longtime winner Bodkin falls from the tattoo Top 5s entirely. Gone from the city are HMV, hitting an impressive #3 in Best CD/Vinyl Store despite the fact that most of our readers (like most of the planet), clearly didn’t shop there, and Drug Paraphernalia chain High Times — though that’s more a case of forgotten than gone, given that its locations were renamed and replaced by Prohibition a couple of years ago. But stoners wouldn’t be stoners without the occasional memory lapse.

Best Clothing Store (New)
1 Simon’s
977 Ste-Catherine W.
2 Frank + Oak
various locations
3 H&M
various locations
4 Boutique 1861
3670 St-Laurent
5 Les Étoffes
5253 St-Laurent
6 Winners
various locations
7 Lustre Boutique
4068 St-Laurent
8 Off the Hook
1021 Ste-Catherine W.
9 Jeans Jeans Jeans
5575 Casgrain
10 Kitsch’n Swell
3972 St-Laurent

Best Vintage Clothing Store
1 Eva B
2015 St-Laurent
2 Renaissance Fripe-Prix
various locations
3 Annex Vintage
56 St-Viateur W.
4 Citizen Vintage
5330 St-Laurent
5 Village des Valeurs
various locations
6 Empire Exchange
51 Bernard W.
7 Kitsch’n Swell
3972 St-Laurent
8 Salvation Army
various locations
9 Ex-Voto
6534 St-Laurent
10 La Gaillarde
4019 Notre-Dame W.

Best Hair Salon
1 Queen of the World
6908 St-Laurent
2 Two Horses
170 Jean-Talon W., #306
3 Coifferie Paradiso
1160 St-Joseph E., #001
4 Helmet
163 Mont-Royal E.
5 Au Premier
5487 Monkland
6 Bizarde
4051 St-Laurent
7 Bon Vivant
469 Marie-Anne E.
8 Salon Sweet William
5337 St-Laurent, #210
9 Danny’s Coiffure Unisex
3960 St-Laurent
10 Haircuts for Anyone
828 Bellechasse

Best Hairstylist
1 David Devico
Queen of the World
2 Marco Di Biasio
Coifferie Paradiso
3 Lily Julie Bédard
Au Premier
4 Julie Matson
Salon Identité
5 Mike Chacko
Helmet
6 David Landry
Salon Bon Vivant
7 Sara-Isobel Mulder
Two Horses
8 JJ Levine
Haircuts for Anyone
9 Louise Olsen
Louise Olsen Hair
10 Alexandra Apple
Unlstd

Best Barber
1 Marco Di Biasio
Coifferie Paradiso
2 Mike Chacko
Helmet
3 Dave Dumay aka Dave the Barber
Queen of the World
4 Dan Marin
Bluedog Barbershop
5 JJ Levine
Haircuts for Anyone
6 David Devico
Queen of the World
7 Peter Arcaro
Studio 84
8 Will Phaneuf
Blue Dog Barbershop
9 Guillaume Cheny
Helmet
10 Bevin Felix
MTL Barber

Best Tattoo Parlour
1 Tattoo Box
155 Pins E.
2 Two Horses
170 Jean-Talon W., #306
3 Adrenaline
1541 Sherbrooke W.
4 DFA Tattoos
1184 Ste-Catherine W.
5 Bait & Schlang
4929 Notre-Dame W.
6 Bodkin Tattoo
55 Bernard W.
7 MTL Tattoo
various locations
8 Oly Anger Tattoo
9 de la Commune W.
9 Imago
4097 St-Laurent
10 Saving Grace
5629 Sherbrooke W.

Best Tattoo Artist
1 Janice Beattie
Tattoo Box
2 Jessi Preston
Two Horses
3 Angus Byers
DFA Tattoos
4 Nick Oaks
Bait & Schlang
5 Graham Crowston
Tattoo Box
6 Arno Schultz
Electric Ave
7 Ola Kaya
Oly Anger Tattoo
8 Charline Bataille
charlinebataille.com
9 Esther Mulders
XS Tattoos and Piercings
10 David Brown
Glamort Tattoo

Phonopolis, Best New CD/Vinyl Store #2, Best Used CD/Vinyl Store #2. Photo by Cindy Lopez

Best New CD/Vinyl Store
1 Aux 33 Tours
1373 Mont-Royal E.
2 Phonopolis
207 Bernard W.
3 HMV
RIP
4 Soundcentral
4486 Coloniale
5 Archambault
various locations
6 L’Oblique
4333 Rivard
7 Cheap Thrills
2044 Metcalfe
8 Atom Heart
364 Sherbrooke E.
9 Sonik
4050 Berri
10 Beatnick
3770 St-Denis

Best Used CD/Vinyl Store
1 Cheap Thrills
2044 Metcalfe
2 Phonopolis
207 Bernard W.
3 Death of Vinyl
6307 St-Laurent
4 Aux 33 Tours
1373 Mont-Royal E.
5 Soundcentral
4486 Coloniale
6 Beatnick
3770 St-Denis
7 Encore Books
5670 Sherbrooke W.
8 L’Échange
713 Mont-Royal E.
9 Sonorama
260 Bernard W.
10 Paul’s Boutique
112 Mont-Royal E.

Best Stereo Store
1 Moog Audio
3828 St-Laurent
2 Son Idéal
5020 Côte-des-Neiges
3 Best Buy
various locations
4 Layton Audio
1170 Ste-Catherine W.
5 Fillion Electronique
5690 Sherbrooke E.

Best Musical Instrument Store
1 Steve’s Music
51 St-Antoine W.
2 Moog Audio
3828 St-Laurent
3 Archambault0
various locations
4 Jimi’s Music Store
5776 Sherbrooke W.
5 Long & Mcquade
8979 Lajeunesse
6 Twigg Musique
1230 St-Hubert
7 Kitts Music
5350 Jean-Talon E.
8 Diplomate Musique
311 Beaubien E.
9 Wilder & Davis Luthiers
257 Rachel E.
10 Nantel
4590 St-Laurent

Best Computer Store
1 Apple
1321 Ste-Catherine W.
2 Best Buy
various locations
3 Microbytes
625 Réné-Lévesque W.
4 Canada Computers
various locations
5 Dantech
4526 St-Denis

Best Internet Service Provider
1 Videotron
2 Bell
3 TekSavvy
4 Electronic Box
5 Colbanet
6 Cooptel
7 Distributel
8 Rogers

Best App
1 Transit
2 STM
3 P$ Mobile
4 Téo Taxi
5 Just Eat

Best Electronics Store
1 Best Buy
various locations
2 Addison Électronique
8018 20th Avenue
3 Moog Audio
3828 St-Laurent
4 Apple
1321 Ste-Catherine W.
5 Abra Electronics
5465 Côte-de-Liesse

Best Movie Theatre
1 Cinéma du Parc
3575 Parc
2 Cineplex Forum
2313 Ste-Catherine W.
3 Cineplex Scotiabank
977 Ste-Catherine W.
4 Cinéma Beaubien
2396 Beaubien E.
5 Dollar Cinema
6900 Decarie Square
6 Cinémas Guzzo
various locations
7 Cinéma l’Amour
4015 St-Laurent
8 Cinéma StarCité
4825 Pierre-de-Coubertin
9 Cinéstarz Côte-des-Neiges
6700 Côte-des-Neiges
10 Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin
350 Émery

Best Bicycle Shop
1 C&L Cycle
various locations
2 Bikurious
1757 Amherst
3 La Bicycletterie JR
201 Rachel E.
4 ABC Cycles
5584 Parc
5 Allo Vélo
141 Shannon
6 Bicycles McW
6010 Sherbrooke W.
7 Atelier Wellington Cycle
4136 Wellington
8 Fitz & Follwell Co.
115 Mont-Royal W.
9 Cycle Néron
various locations
10 Vélo iBike
2127 Rachel E.

Best Bookstore New
1 Drawn & Quarterly
211 Bernard W.
2 Indigo
1500 McGill College
3 Librairie le port de tête
262 Mont-Royal E.
4 Paragraphe
2220 McGill College
5 La Librairie de Verdun
4750 Wellington
6 Renaud-Bray
various locations
7 Concordia Community Solidarity Co-op Bookstore
2150 Bishop
8 Librairie L’Euguélionne
1426 Beaudry
9 Livre and Let Die Books
165 Pins E.
10 Argo Bookshop
1915 Ste-Catherine W.

Best Bookstore Used
1 S.W. Welch
225 St-Viateur W.
2 The Word
469 Milton
3 Encore Books
5670 Sherbrooke W.
4 Cheap Thrills
2044 Metcalfe
5 L’Échange
713 Mont-Royal E.
6 Concordia Community Solidarity Co-op Bookstore
2150 Bishop
7 Westcott Books
4065 St-Laurent
8 Argo Bookshop
1915 Ste-Catherine W.
9 Librairie le port de tête
262 Mont-Royal E.
10 Fripe-Prix Renaissance
various locations

Best Comics Store
1 Drawn & Quarterly
211 Bernard W.
2 Crossover
3560 Notre-Dame W.
3 1,000,000 Comix
various locations
4 Millenium Comics
451 Marie-Anne E.
5 Capitaine Québec
1837 Ste-Catherine W.
6 Librairie Astro
1844 Ste-Catherine
7 eXpertComics
various locations
8 Cosmix
931 Décarie
9 Wormhole
135 Van Horne, #212

Best Beauty Salon
1 Queen of the World
6908 St-Laurent
2 Barbarella
3833 St-Jacques
3 Two Horses
170 Jean-Talon W., #306
4 Aveda
various locations
5 Candy Nail Bar
6218 St-Hubert

Best Drug Paraphernalia
1 Prohibition
various locations
2 Utopia
159 Duluth E.
3 High Times
RIP
4 Psychonaut
3524A St-Laurent
5 Le Rock
17 Ste-Catherine E.

Best Fitness Club/Gym
1 YMCA (various locations)
2 Éconofitness (various locations)
3 Fit For Life (7503 Saint-Laurent)
4 Anytime Fitness (4117 Saint-Laurent)
5 Énergie Cardio (various locations)
6 Le Gym (Concordia)
7 Buzzfit (various locations)
8 Nautilus (various locations)
9 Gold’s Gym (3131 Côte-Vertu)
10 Pro Gym (4500 Hochelaga)

Best Health Food Store
1 Rachelle-Béry (various locations)
2 Tau (various locations)
3 BioTerre (201 St-Viateur W.)
4 Branche d’Olivier (various locations)
5 PA Nature (5029 Parc)
6 Frigo Vert (1440 Mackay)
7 Frenco (3985 St-Laurent)
8 À Votre Santé (5126 Sherbrooke W.)
9 Teva (5143 Décarie)

Best Home Decor Store
1 Zone (various locations)
2 VdeV (5042 St-Laurent)
3 Winners/HomeSense (various locations)
4 Ikea (9191 Cavendish)
5 West Elm (995 Wellington)

Best Kitsch/Antique Store
1 Kitsch’n Swell (3972 St-Laurent)
2 Marché aux puces St-Michel (7707 Shelley)
3 Monastiraki (5478 St-Laurent)
4 Mixx Authentik (3731 Notre-Dame W.)
5 Kitsch à l’os… ou pas (3439 Hochelaga)

Best Massage Therapist
1 Team Bliss (Studio Bliss)
2 Eric Digras (Mile End Massage)
3 Diane Carruthers (Spa Vert)
4 Jade Salter (Ambaa Yoga)

Best Sex Shop
1 Séduction (5220 Métropolitain E.)
2 Priape (1311 Ste-Catherine E.)
3 Romance (various locations)
4 Erotika (11 Ste-Catherine W.)
5 Sexe Cité (6325 St-Hubert)

Best Skate/Snowboard Shop
1 Empire (various locations)
2 Rollin’ (3119 Hochelaga)
3 Skull Central (4302 St-Laurent)
4 Dime (online)

Best Spa
1 Bota Bota (McGill/de la Commune)
2 Strom Spa Nordique (1001 de la Forêt)
3 Studio Bliss (3841 St-Laurent)
4 Scandinave (71 de la Commune W.)
5 Spa Finlandais (124 Labelle, Rosmère)
6 Spa Diva (1455 Peel)
7 Ovarium (400 Beaubien E.)
8 Nomad (4660 St-Laurent)

Best Sports Store
1 Sports Experts (various locations)
2 Mountain Equipment Co-op (various locations)
3 Play It Again Sports (various locations)
4 Evangelista (various locations)
5 D’un sport à l’autre (171 Bernard W.)

Best Yoga Instructor
1 Team Bliss (Studio Bliss)
2 Elizabeth Emberly (Nadaa)
3 Tanya Dawe (Yoga Vieux-Montréal)
4 Jade Salter (Ambaa Yoga)
5 Kimiko Fujimoto (Studio Breathe)

Best Yoga Studio
1 Moksha Yoga (various locations)
2 Naada (5540 Casgrain)
3 Studio Bliss (3841 St-Laurent)
4 Studio Breathe (1744 William)
5 HappyTree (4010 Ste-Catherine W.)
6 Yoga Vieux Montréal (50 St-Jacques)
7 Enso (1470 Peel)
8 Wanderlust (7 Laurier E.)
9 Yoga Club (1400 Rosemont)
10 Ashtanga (372 Ste-Catherine W.)

Best Florist
1 Dragon Flowers
159 Bernard W.
2 Westmount Florist
360 Victoria
3 Fleuriste Florateria
90 Pins W.
4 K & K Design
1001 Lenoir, #B423
5 La Floret Fleuriste
5117 Verdun
6 Prune les Fleurs
186 Peel
7 Vertuose
5409 St-Laurent

See the rest of the Best of MTL here:

* PEOPLE & PLACES
* MEDIA
* NIGHTLIFE
* MUSIC
* FILM & ARTS
* FOOD & DRINK

(To see the results from the 2016 poll, click here.)