Depends what your taste is. I’m not a huge fan of third wave; I’d rather opt for old school Italian stuff. You can’t go wrong with Olimpico or Club Social on St-Viateur, Caffé San Simeon on Dante.

I’m a third wave guy so my go-tos are;

Helico

Aube

Paquebot

Pista

Jato

Yo&Co

Escape Lab

Might be a little too funky for you but it definitely won’t be whatever the hell they served you in that cup.

Caveat being that I’m not a coffee drinker, but my former co-worker who was a huge coffee snob used to drive across town to get his coffee at the roastery inside the Atwater Market.

Thanks for the suggestions, I’m saved!

I’m assuming you’re not really willing to travel around to get an espresso so perhaps a general idea of which neighborhood you’re in might help?

Otherwise as other have suggested a very traditional one is Olimpico, they have a couple of location around now (original is in the Mile End).

Mintar on Park, The Standard in Westmount