Bootlegger Cocktail Bar & Cuisine earns praise for its creative cocktails, an impressive whiskey selection, and a welcoming, knowledgeable staff that can turn a visit into a memorable experience; the venue combines a stylish speakeasy vibe with vintage decor, live jazz, and a focus on fresh ingredients and precise mixology, including oysters during happy hours. Across many reviews, the atmosphere and drinks are highlighted as consistently well balanced and thoughtfully crafted, while occasional notes of slower service, crowding, or higher prices appear, along with occasional menu quirks or dishes that miss the mark; overall the place is seen as unique and worth returning to for the drinks, the ambience, and the sense of discovery it provides.
This cocktail bar is fantastic. The cocktails are all made with fresh ingredients, syrups & juices made in house, & a very professional touch. The cocktails were so well balanced, with complex flavors & we both LOVED what we ordered!
I rarely write bad reviews but im writing this for the safety of consumers. I ordered oysters. I immediately noticed that they smelled sort of like a dirty bathroom. I'm from the coast of maine. I know oysters should not smell. Especially like that. I knew they were bad & sent them back. Politely I may add. & they STILL CHARGED ME for them. Plus, they need to learn how to better shuck an oyster as well. Then, my friends & I ordered a pour of cask strength whiskey. Being part of a whisky club & having tried many whiskies, that was not cask strength. & not only was it not cask strength, it tasted like a gold rum. We Politely asked to see the bottle that he poured from & he wouldn't show us. Then he reluctantly told us he did not pour the cask strength whiskey we ordered. So, naturally we asked the tender to pour us what we ordered, & he had the scruples to ask us if we were going to pay for both. Technically he had already committed theft & fraud. So, no we were not going to pay for something we did not order. It's one thing to just have a one off or a bad night at a restaurant/bar, but this was just unsafe, unacceptable, & bad for business as a consumer. Unfortunately this will not be a business I will tell others in the industry or in my community to visit. Although my friends see it as a funny story, I'd prefer to stay alive & know what im eating & or drinking at all times.
Dec 19, 2025
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I came in on a Wednesday night vibes were immaculate, got surprised by a jazz band,! i was welcomed by the LOVELY Rita sat at the bar in front of Tyler, made fantabulous drinks hit all the the tongue palates then Paul makes amazing creations. Just to mention RITA one more time, she's hilarious.
Drinks overpriced. Advertised as a jazz bar with live performances, there were no live performers nor jazz or blues music related to the theme of the bar. If you're willing to spend a lot on a night out, this is your place.. otherwise, there are options with better atmosphere, affordable food & drinks.
1 ere experience. J'ai réservé 1 mois d'avance pour une table pour finalement me faire installer au bar. Après avoir insisté a plusieurs reprises on nous a offert une table haute avec des'chaises' tellement inconfortable que j'en ai mal partout. Même après avoir commander pour 300$ de nourriture a peine mangeable & qu'il y est des tables'normales' vides a proximité, ils ont refusé de nous permettre de changer de table. Aucunes excuses rien. Service de merde, 1 ère & dernière fois que je vais.
$30 for cucumbers & bread that supposed to be a Salmon gravlax!! It was very disappointing (just look at the picture )I was sitting at the bar counter & not even that way I could get offered a drink for the first 15 minutes.It's sad because the place is beautiful, the ambiance is cool & the cocktail was good.
Nov 15, 2025
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A wonderful experience & quite fascinating! The staff were all great & the DJ was exceptional. The bartenders were extremely talented, fun to watch, & professional. The food was delicious & the best I've ever had at any bar. The drinks were all very good, although not much alcohol in the cocktails. Kudos to the chef(s). Overall, a splendid evening!
Really cool spot! We were added to the waitlist since the restaurant was full, but it only took about half an hour to be alerted for a table.
I would recommend trying their absinthe-based cocktails. I ordered their Starry Night Van Gogh-inspired cocktail which was really fantastic. The outside of the glass had some fine sugar which gave the appearance of a starry sky. The taste was amazing, & it was not excessively strong for my liking.
My partner ordered their Sin City cocktail, but was not quite as impressed with it because the beetroot syrup was a bit overpowering. It was still a cool drink though.
The atmosphere is really cool, with eclectic decor all around & good music. It was quite loud & tables are close together, so you had to almost yell to talk. I was okay with this since it was a Saturday night at a bar.
Nov 3, 2025
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I mean, j'ai vu d'autres bar a cocktail similaire 🤔 Still great, dont get me wrong, mais j'espère que t'as du cash à mettre en titi dans ton alcoolisme pour boire là-bas lol
5* mais perso je pense pas y retourner sauf si je gagne a la loterie lol
#purazarmedieval #bootlegger festival de rue lets goooo
Bière, drinks, cocktails, rhum, vodka, mots clés pour que mon review est plus de reach, tequilas, whisky, absinthe, bar, boisson 🔥🙏💦
Nous étions une table de 6. Service très lent, très froid avec plusieurs erreurs dans les commandes (& les factures). On a eu l'impression d'emmerder la serveuse avec chacune de nos demandes! Nos bières sont arrivés alors que les plats étaient quasiment finis (& on a dû les réclamer pour qu'elles arrivent enfin). Les cocktails étaient très quelconques pour un bar soit disant spécialisé dans les cocktails. Il manquait un élément distinctif à l'ensemble des cocktails que nous avons goûtés. Celui que nous avons pris qui était servi sous une cloche avec de la fumée est bien jolie mais il était sans saveur, vraiment trop cher pour 19$. Même les spritz étaient inintéressants.
Le service est tellement lent que nous n'avons pas réussi à commander deux cocktails durant le 5 à 7 alors que nous étions assis à 18h. Idem pour les huîtres à 1$. À ce demander si ce n'est pas fait exprès pour éviter que les clients puissent réellement profiter du 5 à 7…
Dans les points positifs : les huîtres étaient vraiment bonnes, les hamburgers étaient corrects & les portions sont plutôt généreuses
De TRÈS gros efforts à faire pour augmenter la qualité du service.
Première fois & certainement pas la dernière! Accueil très chaleureux à l'entrée!
Au bar, Tyler a rendu notre expérience mémorable! Il a très bien pris soin de nous. Il était à l'écoute, n'hésitait pas à répondre à nos questions, prenait le temps de nous expliquer certaines choses & très professionnel. Il nous a concocté de délicieux cocktails personnalisés aussi beaux que bons. Le groupe de Jazz a très bien performé ce dimanche. Belle découverte!
Oct 22, 2025
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« Super belle découverte ! L'ambiance est chaleureuse, intime & parfaite pour passer une bonne soirée. Les cocktails sont originaux & vraiment bien travaillés, on sent la passion derrière chaque création. Le service est attentionné & sympathique, on se sent vite à l'aise. Je recommande ce bar sans hésiter à tous ceux qui veulent vivre une belle expérience à Montréal!
Great prices for happy hour, wonderfully attentive service, but my girlfriend contracted depression from the lack of cohesion between the stylistic choices of the bar. Most elements are well intentioned but poorly executed & feel cheap.
Martinis given out in glasses too small with decanters carrying the remaining portion, the high top booth seating not having foot rests, dollar store jars with stickers of the company logo among a myriad of other sins give the bar an uncanny feel.
Les cocktails sont très bons & les barmans sont prêts à nous faire découvrir des cocktails. J'ai découvert le sidecar la dernière fois que j'y suis allé, une belle découverte.
I visited Bootlegger tonight & overall had a great time with the food, drinks, & especially the service.
The Bootlegger burger was absolutely amazing-juicy, flavorful, & something I'd definitely order again. The pulled pork burger stood out as well, tender & satisfying. The side salad with sun-dried tomatoes was a refreshing touch & paired nicely with the mains. On the other side, the wagyu burger was a bit disappointing; it came out quite dry & there was no option to have it cooked more rare since that's left to the chef. Also, some condiments would've made it better & flavourful.
For sides, the potato wedges were tasty but a little plain. They really could've used more sauce what came with them was barely a spoonful, not enough to go around.
On the drinks side, I really enjoyed the Donkey King. The banana-vanilla flavor profile worked for me, though I can see why some people (like my friends) would find it unusual for a cocktail. The Agent Orange was good-nothing particularly special, but solid.
The service was fantastic. Our servers were professional, attentive, & funny, which made the whole experience more enjoyable.
The only other drawback was the table setup. The tables themselves are really small, & the plates are fairly large, so we ended up shifting things around constantly to make everything fit. If we had been a group of four instead of three, I don't think it would've worked at all-I'd recommend smaller plates to help with space.
All in all, Bootlegger has some good burgers, creative cocktails, & top-notch service that make it worth a visit, but a few tweaks (especially to the wagyu burger, sauce portions, & tableware) would really take the experience up a notch.
