Café Pista's Masson café is in Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, northeast of downtown Montreal. Rue Masson is a neighbourhood high street with shops and restaurants; the café has seating for coffee and food.
Pista has two other Montreal cafés. Beaubien is the smaller original, and the Saint-Laurent shop is the more central option. Masson is the room to choose for a longer brunch in Rosemont.
Pista began as a bicycle coffee cart and opened its first cafe on Beaubien. The larger Masson location combines a cafe with roasting, quality control and training.
Coffee style
Pista serves Montreal-roasted specialty coffee and provides origin, producer, processing and roast details on retail labels. The café serves espresso and filter coffee, with beans to take home.
What people go for
The Masson café serves coffee, brunch, lunch, pastries, bagels, chai and hot chocolate. It has seating for meetings and work.
Pista is a neighbourhood café where people work on laptops, meet friends, buy beans and come for brunch. Its roastery supplies the coffee, but the room is livelier than a quiet tasting bar.
The feel
The Masson café is bright and more open than the compact original location. It can get crowded at peak brunch times. Laptop zones and time limits appear to be in place, making it better for a short work session than a full day.
Why Café Pista is shortlisted by Filter Notes
The Masson cafe serves house-roasted espresso and filter alongside brunch. It can get crowded, and laptop use is restricted to certain areas and times.