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.
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.
Sep 21, 2025
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Excellent service & the oysters were such a great deal & very yummy! Drinks are exquisite & the staff truly goes above & beyond! Make your reservation in advance & thank yourself later.
So happy we found this place! Fun atmosphere & well-balanced cocktails. I really enjoyed the Shape de Poire drink. Our server Remi was very knowledgeable & gave us great recommendations. We liked it so much that we went two nights in a row.
We did not love Bootlegger contrary to many of the other reviews. We came in on a mildly busy Friday night for a night cap, & two of the drinks we wanted were unavailable. The drinks we ended up with were just ok, we've definitely had much better craft cocktails elsewhere in the city. The music was good though & the service was also ok.
Aug 2, 2025
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I was that person at the bar asking a million questions about the drinks, & Felix answered every single one with patience & a smile. The service was top-notch, & the food & drinks were absolutely amazing. Highly recommend this place - I'll definitely be back!
Their 2 for 1 promo on the drinks is attractive. The descriptions of the cocktails are very exciting. Went there twice & had 2 cocktails each time. They always seem not well balanced. Not sure if we will visit again.
EDIT: I meant Tuesday night cocktails promo (cocktails at 10$) instead of 2 for 1 promo
This bar is a gem! I usually only visit a place if it has popular reviews from RedNote. But this is the closest bar near my hotel. (I'm from Toronto & visiting a friend here.) So I just walked in to get some food for the night. Nonetheless the food & drinks are absolutely fantastic, probably the best I had during my stay here. I went to this place twice. Every single dish & drink is amazing!
If I visit Montreal again, I will definitely come here another time.
Impressive cocktails like any great city, & truly EXCEPTIONAL service from Tony. Walked us through drinks & life in Montreal. Glowing recommendation here!
We came in on a Wednesday & the atmosphere was excellent & super chill. Drinks were delicious as well as the food we got, but best of all our waiter Tony was super friendly & made it all the better! Thank you!!!
Jun 12, 2025
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Bootlegger Cocktail bar was highly recommended to my partner & I by our good friends who often visit Montreal. The decor is very cool, a total throwback to the prohibition era. The menu is vast, which can be intimidating but our server, Tyler, who was extremely attentive, friendly & knowledgeable, saved the day. Tyler made several excellent recommendations for tasty cocktails & we both loved our drinks. The food menu offers quite a variety. The East Coast oysters were delicious & the'piece de resistance' was the fabulous Vegge share platter. The tomato tapenade was mouthwateringly good! Bootlegger is a great destination for a great date night!
Great bar with an amazing selection of whiskey! Vincent, the bartender, was very knowledgeable & friendly. He recommended the Talisker whiskey flight, & it was very good. I think I've found a new favorite! The Shelby Lte was also very good. We really enjoyed our after dinner drinks here. Everyone was very friendly!
