Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Montreal for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Montreal for grown-ups.
Le Mal Necessaire is a green-lit tiki cocktail bar hidden down a Chinatown staircase in Montreal, mixing rum drinks served in carved pineapples.
Signature drink: Tiki cocktails served in a pineapple
Food: Chinatown snacks
Tip: Look for the green pineapple sign off Saint-Laurent; the pineapple cocktail is the one to photograph.
Cloakroom is a tiny speakeasy hidden behind a downtown Montreal tailor shop, where bartenders build bespoke cocktails to your taste with no printed menu.
Signature drink: Bartender's-choice bespoke cocktail
Food: None
Tip: There is no menu; tell the bartender a spirit and a mood and let them build the drink for you.
Atwater Cocktail Club is a moody, low-lit Little Burgundy bar in Montreal, a North America's 50 Best listee pouring polished seasonal cocktails off Avenue.
Signature drink: Seasonal signature cocktails
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Enter through the alley off Atwater; the seasonal menu is where the bar shows off, so order from it.
Bar Furco is a buzzy downtown Montreal bar in a former fur warehouse near the Quartier des Spectacles, pouring natural wine and cocktails after work.
Signature drink: Natural wine and cocktails
Food: Small plates until 23:00
Tip: It packs out after work near the theatres; the kitchen serves sharp small plates until eleven.
Big in Japan is a hidden, candlelit cocktail bar behind an unmarked Saint-Laurent door in Montreal, pouring exacting classics in a hushed golden room.
Signature drink: Precise classic cocktails
Food: None
Tip: There is no sign; look for the plain door on the Main and expect a quiet, drinks-only room inside.
Bar Datcha is a tiny, dark dance bar in Mile End, Montreal, where cocktails and a serious sound system pull a late crowd for DJ sets on Avenue Laurier.
Signature drink: Cocktails and DJ sets
Food: None
Tip: It is more dance floor than lounge; go late on a weekend when the DJs and the room hit their stride.
Le Darling is an all-day bar and restaurant on Saint-Laurent in Montreal, moving from coffee to cocktails and shared plates in a plant-filled Plateau room.
Signature drink: Cocktails and natural wine
Food: Shared plates
Tip: It works from morning coffee to late cocktails; the leafy back room is the spot for an evening drink.
El Pequeno is a pocket-sized Cuban bar on a cobbled Old Montreal lane, mixing rum daiquiris and mojitos in one of the smallest, warmest rooms in the city.
Signature drink: Rum daiquiris and Cuban cocktails
Food: Snacks
Tip: It seats barely a dozen; go early or midweek, and order the classic daiquiri done properly.
Nhau Bar is a hidden Vietnamese-inflected cocktail bar on the Old Montreal edge of Griffintown, pairing Southeast-Asian flavours in drinks and snacks.
Signature drink: Southeast-Asian-inflected cocktails
Food: Vietnamese snacks
Tip: It is tucked away and easy to miss; the Asian-accented cocktails and snacks are worth seeking out.
Bar Pamplemousse is an easygoing bar and kitchen on the Main in downtown Montreal, pouring cocktails and craft beer alongside hearty comfort food.
Signature drink: Cocktails and craft beer
Food: Comfort plates
Tip: It is a solid pre-show stop by the theatres; the kitchen runs later than most downtown neighbours.
Bootlegger l'Authentique is a two-floor Prohibition-themed cocktail bar on the Main in Montreal, mixing classic drinks over live jazz in a dim room.
Signature drink: Prohibition-era cocktails
Food: Bar cuisine
Tip: Come for the weekend jazz sets; the upstairs is louder, the downstairs bar better for the cocktails.
Notre-Dame-des-Quilles is a beloved Mile-Ex dive in Montreal with two vintage bowling lanes out back, pouring cheap drinks and pizza to a local crowd.
Signature drink: Cheap beer and cocktails
Food: Pizza
Tip: The two mini bowling lanes in the back are the whole gimmick; go on a quiet night to actually get a game.
The Coldroom is a hidden speakeasy down an unmarked Old Montreal lane, a North America's 50 Best listee mixing precise cocktails in a snug brick-vaulted room.
Signature drink: Bartender's-choice cocktails
Food: None
Tip: There is no sign on Rue Saint-Vincent; look for the small buzzer door and book ahead on weekends.
Philemon is a handsome exposed-brick bar on Rue Saint-Paul in Old Montreal, a long-running after-work and late-night spot for cocktails, oysters.
Signature drink: Cocktails and oysters
Food: Oysters and snacks
Tip: The oyster-and-cocktail happy hour is the move; it turns into a busy late-night bar as the evening goes.
Flyjin is a moody basement izakaya and cocktail bar hidden in Old Montreal, pairing Japanese-inflected drinks and small plates with late-night DJ sets.
Signature drink: Japanese-inflected cocktails
Food: Izakaya snacks
Tip: Head downstairs late; it shifts from izakaya dining early to a DJ-driven bar as the night goes.
Le 4e Mur is a hidden Quartier Latin speakeasy behind an unmarked door in Montreal, run by a bartending school pouring precise, technical cocktails.
Signature drink: Menu-driven signature cocktails
Food: Snacks
Tip: There is no sign on Saint-Denis; ring the buzzer and let the menu of house signatures guide the order.
Waverly is a buzzy Mile End bar on Saint-Laurent in Montreal, pairing cocktails and Asian-inflected snacks with DJ nights in a room that fills late.
Signature drink: Cocktails and Asian-inflected snacks
Food: Asian bar snacks
Tip: It gets loud and packed on weekends; the Asian-leaning snacks are better than most bar food here.