BarBara is described as a cozy, stylish spot with a warm vibe and a popular terrace, where the focaccia, burrata, arancini, and fresh pastas earn frequent praise along with a strong wine list and attentive, friendly staff. The food is often noted as delicious and well balanced, with sharing plates that suit groups, and several reviews highlight standout items like cacio e pepe and the daily focaccia. The atmosphere is a consistent draw, described as lively and charming, sometimes a bit loud, especially on weekends or on the terrace. Service and value receive mixed notes, with many experiences praising quick, cordial service and good value, while others report slow pacing, crowded spaces, higher prices for smaller portions, and occasional miscommunications or delays during peak hours. Overall BarBara is seen as a neighborhood favorite to visit for a meal, drinks, and good vibes, with many looking forward to return, even as a few visits suggest timing and crowd control can influence the experience.
Las pastas almenos a nosotros nos encantaron
El servicio no nos agrado mucho no estaba lleno pero habia 3 meseras y tardaron en tomarnos la orden
El café esta Rico tambien
Mar 3, 2026
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Food was great it took the shrimp pasta, bus music was way too loud to speak comfortably. The service was questionable took 10-15 min to come to come take our order. Again same thing for the payement took 10-15 min before they noticed us & come with the receipt.
We've been going to Barbara for years. No matter who serves us, they are always incredibly friendly! We love their pasta so much, & their pistachio lattes are to die for :)
The only quality go-to spot in the hen for amazing food & a night out. Always quality, amazing date atmosphere. Cacccio peppe, Meatballs, oysters, every pasta.. Hit it. Now.
The lowdown: one of the most beautiful resto bars in the city especially on the terrace in the evening. Been twice for dinner; the two pasta dishes I had tasted good.. the sauce spot on. However, for the price, a bit larger portion would be fair. I would also suggest to swap the type of pasta of the cacio e pepe to something like penne for a visually pleasing dish. The only real issue I experienced at this resto was the service for the terrace. It's a bit disorganized because different staff manage this. They've sat other people first who arrived after us..& there are no reservations for the terrace... & they got a choice of the better located table. This was strange because there clearly was a line up inside (which is where they ask customers to wait). So it makes sense that only one employee handles the seating for the terrace, especially at peak times. One last thing is there are a few servers who are polite but a tad impatient. My first experience here was dinner inside & the server was great.
Aug 9, 2025
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Good dinner with friends but really nothing special apart from the ambiance.
The appetizers « to share » were really super small & left us disappointed.
Our main pasta dish were good but they have 6 options only.
Wine list was exhaustive & nothing below 60$.
We were told by the server to kindly leave since people were waiting in line to get in (we were there for only 1h45).
I came on a Monday June 30th at 2:45 pm . We were seated & immediately told we had 5 mins to order for the lunch / kitchen was closing at 3 pm !!! We felt super stressed as we cycled from the old port . This was a special occasion as my wife was 8 months post opened heart surgery . We wanted to celebrate but felt super stressed as we were immediately told to order otherwise we were screwed for food !! Ordered a sandwich , pasta a glass of wine & beer . Was given one menu which we were sharing quickly etc etc . We were sitting at the window inside & noticed other clients ordering from the terrace after we finished our lunch so of course I asked the menu & ordered a entree which we missed in the rush of being told to order . Ordered a ricotta foccacia Honey snd more drinks etc later the person who greeted us brought us two chocolatine in a paper bag to take home . I guess he realized it was inappropriate ! Later another server asked if we wanted one or two bills . I said one & brought us the bill & came with payment machine . I told her the lunch bill is 150$ & we will be ordering more stuff as we just wanted to listen to the music & feel humble & grateful be there healthy etc The server said the paper bag on the table made her think we were leaving ! Finally I didn't order anything else & decided to leave ! I gave you 5 stars all around as we are grateful to be healthy & appreciate everything life has to offer . You really need to look at your workflow as many different people came to our table & missed the interaction flow & service from the previous person . I was ordering drinks all along etc Gracias for the chocolatine but you missed out on the human component of why we came to your place . Its was not only about the food the reason we came . In all the moving parts it takes one person to look at the floor & tables & quickly see what experience each table is looking for . It's special when you tune into that as you make a difference in a day of a person / create memories etc Great summe
It's a very pretty restaurant, & you can see all of their bread & pasta on display. The food is not bad, especially if you like Italian food, such as focaccia & pasta. We had the focaccia of the day (tomatoes), burrata, & a pasta dish with morel mushrooms.
One MAJOR thing to note is that the service is slow. I am not sure if this is how they usually are, or if they are only slow when the restaurant is busy, as it was when we visited. It took a while for our focaccia & burrata to arrive (15-20 minutes), & while they tasted good, I would've preferred for the focaccia to be served warm rather than room temperate/slightly cold. It took even longer for our pasta to arrive (almost an hour after we ordered our food & long after we had finished our focaccia & burrata). The pasta itself was very good.
Our waitress was also very nice. My dining companion & I do not speak French fluently, & our waitress kindly switched to English for us. I would've preferred if she checked in with us more frequently, but I understand that she was busy & she did let us know when our pasta would shortly arrive.
It can also be rather loud & hard to hear if you sit outside & there are a lot of other people as the outdoor dining space is rather cramped.
Overall, I would come here again only if I had the time to wait. If you have no issue waiting a longer time for your food to arrive, then I think you will enjoy this restaurant.
I've heard good things about Barbara ever since moving to Montreal five years ago. At 17:30 on a Friday my group of 8 got seated immediately without a reservation. Service was good, food was great. The focaccia & pastas were highlights!
May 22, 2025
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I used to LOVE this place but unfortunately will not be in my favourites anymore. The waitors don't come see you often & i was very thirsty waiting for water, to order dessert, drinks, i even had to wait 30 minutes to finally request the bill. I stopped multiple waitors to request for salt, or water, a drink. The atmosphere is VERY LOUD. The music, the people, so if you're looking for a calmer environment this isn't your place!!! Waiting times are also very long & the thing i appreciate least is HOW TIGHT THIS PLACE IS! Sit on the terrace if you want more space because inside you will sometimes sit with strangers on tables that are stuck, or can sit on 4 people table with 2 strangers if you're 2 people. The pasta is amazing but the shrimp pasta was a dish i did not like at all. The ragu, the cacio e pepe, the ceasar's salad, foccacia, all BANGERS. Unfortunately i rated this place a 2 because after sharing my disappointment with the taste of shrimp pasta sauce (taste like fishy sea water), the person in charge was very deceived/resentful & said they'd still charge me for personal taste. I come from a family of fishers, i love shrimps but this sauce was not it. Pros: food is good (except for shrimp pasta in my personal opinion) & the drinks have virgin drinks & freshhhh food. Cons: too tight, too loud, long waiting lines (although outside of their control) & rude response from person in charge if you dislike/have an opinion based on certain foods!
This place is 100% worthy of the hype. The service is as phenomenal as the food. I took my partner here for a birthday lunch & it was a perfect, cozy spot. The restaurant is packed but not oppressivly so: the layout is great & it's packed because people are enjoying the experience & lingering. Friend: This is a place where you want to linger. First up, we got the focaccia, the daily special (i think it was a potato/tomato/chive w/ melted parm) & the honey, ricotta. The special was light, fluffy & savory. Honestly one of the best focaccia in the city, second, of course, to the honey ricotta. I will be dreaming about this focaccia. It was salty & sweet. Heavier than the daily special (likely because of the ricotta). I will be going back again to get that focaccia. Next up, our lunch mains: I had the roasted mozzarella with almond pesto. It was light, citrus -y & delicious. It wasn't at all what I was expecting! The mild cheese was a great pairing for the zesty pesto & the arugula! My partner got the cacio e pepe: it was perfect. It was creamy & peppery & the pasta was the perfect texture. A delightful classic. Finally: dessert. The only thing we weren't a fan of was the pistachio tiramisu. This was absolutely an'us' thing & nothing to do with the dessert itself. It's a mild, rich, almost cheesecake pistachio marscapone layered with a espresso cake. It was a nice texture & a great flavor (just wasn't my thing). If you like less sweet desserts & love espresso: This will be your heaven. All in all - a great experience & i look forward to coming back to try the coffee & the rest of the menu!
We enjoyed our selections & the atmosphere. We had the pistachio latte, Caesar salad, fried mozzarella sandwich & two of the pasta dishes. We especially liked the pistachio lattes, Caesar salad (seriously the best I've had) & the fried mozzarella sandwich. Service was slow, but the hostess did tell us upfront they were short-staffed. We were impressed. We will come back.
Love their wine list! Personally, I prefer their appetizers over their pasta. The cacio e pepe lacks a bit of flavor. The focaccia, arancini, parmesan fries & polpettes are all delicious. Since they do not take reservations, do expect to wait 45 minutes on busy evenings.
