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.
The whole experience at the bootlegger was amplified by our server Antoine. Based on his recommendations both of our cocktails Naked N Famous & Aku Aku were delicious & boozy. Definitely a must visit cocktail bar.
This was our second time here in the last two months or so, & we went on a Sunday night to catch some jazz & oysters. We were seated promptly, however it took about another 15 minutes for our waiter to come to our table. Eventually we ordered some cocktails & oysters, but it was than another 40 or so minutes to receive our drinks (essentially, an hour after being seated to get a round on the table) Halfway through the wait for drinks, we were informed that they were out of'regular oysters' & would only be serving'premium' for the rest of the night. I asked about the price difference &, instead of being 12 dollars for a dozen, it was closer to 48 dollars (I declined the upcharge). I was a little surprised they were completely out, as we only arrived about 15 minutes after the music started. Our server was a nice enough guy, although obviously new & inadequately trained for the amount of tables he had to juggle that evening. They were completely understaffed aside from behind the bar (where there seemed to be not one but 3 bartenders). When we did receive our drinks, they all were very well made, aside from a bruised orange peel in my Manhattan. The jazz was nice, & atmosphere was also nice. Just be warned that if you're going on a busy night, you'll be waiting quite a while for your drinks, food (if they have it in stock), & pretty much anything else that requires service. We brought a friend from our of town as we were pretty impressed the first evening (aside from the employee who had his night off or something & seated beside us. He was incredibly belligerent & was clearly overserving the two ladies seated with him).
We loved this place! Visited Montreal for the first time & this was our favorite place! The prices aren't bad, but they are definitely a little higher due to the overall atmosphere, service, & ambience. Which was sooo much fun! Make a reservation if you visit on a weekend! 10/10 recommend this place.
We went on a week day. Ordered wedges & a chicken starter both very not great. Cocktails were average It's recommended to visit on Sunday for live show so plan only for Sunday else it's just a regular ba
What a great experience this was. A very relaxed, enjoyable spot with an astounding amount of spirits. The service was very friendly. Pedro was very welcoming & informative. The perfect outing for our first night in Montreal.
The server was the sweetest & nicest! I don't frequently drink alcohol & they helped me pick just the right cocktail for me which turned out to be the best alcohol drink Ive ever had! It was called Nice Paloma. I also loved the atmosphere, they have this vintage vibe going on all over the place, truly feels like you're back in time. Too bad we got there at 2am, only an hour before they close so we didn't really experienced everything about the bar. But it was still the best & will definitely visit again the next time we visit Montreal!
Apr 2, 2024
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The charcuterie board was good but a bit underwhelming for 30$ in my opinion. Cocktails were well made. I had the smoked lisa & the presentation with the hickory smoked at the table was great. The place was unfortunately under staffed for Thursday night ahead of a long weekend. It took a solid 30 minutes to receive our poutine. We ordered the bootlegger poutine & it was quite disappointing: big wedge of potatoes feeling dry & overwhelming sauce. There was no sign of cider & maple flavor & I failed to find the wine reduction. I would not recommend it
The nachos we ordered is decent. The waiter seemed to work too hard, we felt pushed to purchase drinks. My suggestion is maybe observe your clients, sometimes if they are 100% into the conversation, no need to come in & say "is everything ok?" cuz clearly things are ok, we were enjoying the date, the conversation etc.
Excellente équipe, cocktails déliecieux & bien dosés. Ils ont aussi un très grand choix de whisky. Vraiment très belle experience. Je n'ai pas mangé donc je n'ai pas d'avis sur la nourriture. À améliorer : la musique est un peu trop forte à partir de 23h, on a du mal à s'entendre.
Fantastic experience! The setting is inviting & cool. The drinks are beautiful & delicious. Our server, Antoine was attentive & impressively knowledgable about all things cocktail. I highly recommend for a fabulous night out!
