Hey all, my wife and I will be staying at the Westin for two nights right after Xmas and looking forward to bundling up and tromping around drinking and eating and sleeping while my parents watch our toddler (YESSSS). It’s been many years since my prior visits and I’ve read the threads in this forum so I’m just looking for a few more tips. I’d like to get to Dieu du Ciel and Schwartz’s and possibly Mabrasserie and Vices et Versa. Pit Caribou holds some interest and seeing where we’re staying we’ll probably go out in Chinatown at least once (in addition to touristy stuff like visiting Notre Dame and Christmas markets in Place Jacques Cartier). are there any decent bottle shops within walking distance of the hotel? Is uber or Lyft an option? Seems like that’s an iffy proposition. We like to walk, even in the cold, but might want to grab a car now and then. ANY tips regarding your must see beer spots (generally like brewery visits a little more than bars), food, particularly delicious but not necessarily fancy or too upscale, and even general things to do would be amazing, keeping in mind we have about 48 hours and want to keep it within walking distance whenever possible. cheers!
For bottleshops, and admittedly, for good beer your hotel is kind of in a dead zone. Pub Brewskey is the closest spot to you to drink. They have a cool location, solid beer and are about your only option there. There is a new place called Point Carré in Chinatown that has a decent little beer selection and natural wines that is worth checking out. Likewise it's about your best only option in that area. As for the rest of your ideas, here goes, keeping in mind you probably want to maximize time doing stuff since you're only here a couple days: DdC, Schwartz's/The Main/Lester's/Bagels can all be very easily combined as they are all close to one another (Mile End neighborhood) Mabrasserie, Vices et versa and Isle de garde can be similarly combined. (Petite Italie/Rosemont) Both of the above options are very close to good bottleshops (Depanneur AS, Veux-tu une bière?, Bièrotheque, Peluso Beaubien). Both are also in good areas for restaurants and are walkable. Uber is a good option for getting around especially between your hotel and there. Based on what you want to do and all that, I'd say Mile End is your best bet. Especially in the sense that there is touristy non-beer stuff to do all around. Look up Festival Murale and there is a map of the dozens of very nice street art murals all along st-laurent around that area. That is a very nice cold weather walking activity.
Just to add to the great recs from the doctor above- I was in Montreal last week and enjoyed brewskey. Two locations above each other. The original pub serves just their beer while the new tasting room has their beer plus other Quebec beers. 30 beers in all. Different vibes and worth checking out. Brasserie Harricana up by Jean-Talon is a good spot as well. Dieu du Ciel can be very busy at night along with Vices et Versa. Afternoons seemed a better bet. Uber is an good option but the metro is very good and cheaper.
Apologies for the tangent here but the mention of of The Main Steakhouse brings back great memories. 25-28 years ago, after drinking $6.50 pitchers of Boreale Rousse and Noire up at Loonies on the corner of St. Laurent and Rachel - where the bartender would let his gigantic Rottweiler walk along the top of the bar, in a glorious middle finger to sanitary regulations - my friends and I would hit The Main at 3:30 AM for the 14oz Rib Steak Special ($9.95). You got a tender, well cooked rib steak covered in large chunks of garlic and spices, a boiled potato in a separate dish (kosher), a stack of white bread, a dill pickle, coleslaw and an appetizer of an all beef tube steak (hot dog) and slice of beef liver. Add a can of Cott Black Cherry soda to wash it down (because last call was at 3)....... It was fantastic! I’m glad it is still there. Back then, when I’d be recommending smoked meat places to visitors, and after Ben’s had closed down (always my favourite), it was Schwartz’s if you were planning to order medium or fatty meat. The Main if you wanted it lean. Schwartz’s lean sandwiches had a reputation for being too dry. Also, the scolding you got from the octogenarian waitresses for ordering lean meat could be embarrassing. I’m not sure if that remains the same, regarding the lean option. All that said, medium is the way to go. I need to get back to The Main.
Maybe a dumb (and predictable) question from An American beer tourist - any chance of Finding cantillon bottles in Montreal these days?
You mean for take home or drink in? For take home, firm no. For drink in, I don't have much insights. A few years ago the Bier Markt by the Bell Centre had a few Cantillon selections to offer, no idea if that's still the case.
I will be in Montreal today and tomorrow...not quite sure which bottle shop(s) I’ll find myself at. I’ve Followed these threads closely so I have some ideas but anyone care to chime in with top recommendations of quebecois breweries or specific beers I’m likely to find? I am particularly into stouts and barleywines, especially barrel aged varieties. if I had to guess I’ll be closest to experience biere today and then tomorrow make it over to DDC and veux tu une biere. cheers and merry xmas!
For Cantillon to buy forget it and to drink a few places will have it but for a price. If I knew I could have done an exchange. Well if you go to DDC; I would suggest Siboire who is just next door. Style wise it wont be as fancy as DDC. Then go up north on Saint-Laurent for Vice Versa now in 5min walk you will have Birra and Harricana. Also near your hotel you have Brewsky in old Montreal Now for barrel aged; you will find some interesting find due to the holidays season
@TheDoctor @tavernakhione thanks for the tips! We had a nice albeit short trip and unfortunately my wife was pretty under the weather so it wasn’t very ambitious and involved a lot of hunkering down in a luxury hotel suite (sans toddler). I did get to BreWsky and was really impressed with their beers and location. Also ate a huge amount of smoked meat at Lester’s and took a morning drive over to Deppaneur Peluso and got a whole bunch of interesting barrel aged treats. I will be back before long , hopefully! Only about two Hours from my parent’s adirondack house.
Awesome to hear that you had a good time. Not nearly enough people report back back here on what they actually got to do so thanks for that. Next time you're up let me know I'll buy you a beer. Happy new year!
thanks again and happy new year to you as well! I haven’t always been great about reporting back on my visits after getting guidance from locals, I know that’s an all too common problem here and other such forums (such as chowhound where people seem to get called out on it more frequently). really appreciate the tips and wish I could have gotten to more places. One of the two days we were there the entire city seemed to be a sheet of ice so that was a limiting factor too. Almost totally bought it walking back from Tommy with our lattes and avocado toast and whatnot
