The Best Cafes & Bars in Montreal

Note: This is a guest post by Marinella Yule of My Open Passport.

I wanted to give readers 3 places to hang out during the day and 3 places to hang out during the evening in Montreal. I do recommend doing these in the winter as summers outdoors in the city are marvelous, but they could definitely be summer activities as well.

Cafes

There are many cafes throughout this city, but here are some cute ones that the normal traveler may not get to see or hear about.

1. Le Loupe Bleu

This cozy cafe has a variety of things on the menu and even serves ice cream during the summer. Le Loupe Bleu is hidden in a residential area, which makes it very quiet for chats with close friends or work responsibilities.

2. Cafe Neve

The opposite of Le Loupe Bleu in terms of quiet, Cafe Neve has buckets of people coming and going, chatting, and working. Their menu is full of the normal suspects along with some yummy treats on the side.

3. Insider’s Cafe

This cafe is interesting because you pay for your time rather than for what you consume. The first hour is the most, and then each additional hour is a few dollars more for up to 5 hours. After that, the rest of your time is free. Eat, drink, chat, or work to your heart’s desire. The owner can make you a simple coffee or a fancy one- choice is yours!

Bars

Montreal has many speakeasies and regular bars, but the speakeasies are super cool!

1. Le 4 Mur

In order to get the precise location, you need to email Le 4 Mur and they will give you the address. You can also google map search it, but the secrecy of the email is fun. Once there, find the brick that opens the door. It will swing open revealing stairs. The menu has some fun Clue like suspects that you can talk about with your bar buddy. If you’re having trouble finding the place, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

2. Cold Room

There are two entrances to the Cold Room (which is actually quite a small, warm basement room). You can either enter through a big metal door with no signage or through a nearby restaurant (If you need the bathroom, you use this restaurant’s). After a flight of stairs, you will have reached your destination. The menu is very small, but the drinks are exceptional. This isn’t the place to go if you need your personal space, however.

3. Cloakroom Bar

This is probably my favorite bar of all. Upon entering the Cloakroom Bar, you will find a random lobby. To the side, there is a clothing store, but if you are wondering where the bar is, one of the mirror panels here will open and a host will seat you after taking any coats. Once seated, a barista will come over and ask all your favorite flavors. In theory, each drink should be different every time you go even if you say the same flavors because it depends on the barista. I haven’t gotten enough to provide you a statistical data, but I know each time that I have gone, it’s been different!

I hope these hidden gems intrigue you enough to search them out– especially the speakeasies!

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