BYOW means "Bring Your Own Wine". The BYOW restautants (a lot of them are on Duluth street in the Plateau Mont-Royal district and Prince-Arthur in the Quartier latin district) don't sell wine but you can bring your own and drink it. It's less expensive for them since they don't need an alcohol selling license (just an alcohol serving license) and it's also less expensive for you since the wine sold in stores is less expensive then in the restaurants. By the way, this does not apply to beer, you can't bring beer to those restaurants.

What is the usual tip? is usually 15% of the meal price before taxes. Some restaurants include the gratuity on the check (but it's usually for large groups of 15 people or more). You will probably see a cup with change in it (with the word "Merci" on it usually) beside cash registers at some fast-food places or food courts. It's not free money or a way to get some change, it's for tips. Oddly enough, most servers at these places are paid the minumum wage for workers that earn tips, so they get their extra money from that cup. It is odd because the service at these places are minimal, but most people don't leave money anyway.

What is a table d'hôte (as oppose to "à la carte")? It's a meal that includes an entree, a main dish and most of the time dessert and coffee or tea. It is less expensive than choosing separate dishes from the menu (aka "à la carte"). The table d'hôte is usually three services but the more expensive restaurants have more services.

You will notice that some restaurants choose to take their vacations during the last two weeks of July, so some of them will be closed (mostly upscale restaurants). They close at this time because of the construction workers holiday (not because they are regular restaurants clients but because a lot of people take their vacation at the same time).

Many restaurants are closed on Monday nights (it's a slow night), mostly the neighbourhood restaurants or upscale italian or french restaurants, so always call before going to a restaurant on a Monday night.

There are many restaurants with terrasses in Montreal (the definition of a terrasse here seem to be an area large enough to put a table and two chairs, even if it's on a narrow sidewalk close to the street). There are three types of terrasses : street side terrasse (where you can watch people passing by.. or so people passing by can watch you), the backyard terrasses and indoor terrasses (sliding windows or garage-door like window that are opened up in the spring). The backyard terrasse are usually more quiet and intimate. You will find most terrasses on St-Denis street in the Plateau Mont-Royal district or in the Latin quarter, on Place Jacques-Cartier in old Montreal or on Bernard street in Outremont.

The taxes are applicable at all restaurants. The rate of the taxes are 7% for the GST (TPS) of the bill's total and %7.5 for the PST (TVQ) of the bill's total plus the TPS (a tax on a tax!). Most restaurant don't include the taxes in their prices on the menu, but some do (it is always written on the menu if the taxes are included). So the prices at the restaurant that include the tax may seem higher than others...

Some restaurants display newspapers clippings of their reviews in their storefront window (as in other cities...). But sometimes, they display something that ressemble a review but it's actually an advertising, so don't be fooled. If it says it's from La Presse, Voir, Le Devoir, The Gazette or one of the restaurant guides (Debeur, etc), then it's ok.

You can find coupons for some restaurants in the daily newspapers (I'm not talking about McDonald's or Buger King coupons) and in the free weeklies, just check the restaurant review section of these newspapers, that's where most of the restaurant ads are located.