Reviews describe Diese Onze Jazz Bar as a cozy basement venue that punches above its weight with outstanding live jazz, a warm intimate atmosphere, and a crowd that keeps coming back for both the music and the vibe. The performances are often intimate and energetic, with sound that stays clear from most seats and a small stage that makes the musicians feel up close. The food and drinks are praised for quality and a thoughtful selection, including cocktails and cheese, though some guests note prices can be high and the menu lacks more side dishes. Reservations are frequently recommended because the place fills up, especially for popular nights like big band or Tuesday shows. Service is generally described as friendly and efficient, with staff handling busy nights well, though occasional slowdowns or staffing constraints are mentioned. Overall, Diese Onze Jazz Bar is seen as a true Montreal jazz institution with a distinctive vibe that blends great music, a cozy setting, and dependable hospitality, making it a go-to for jazz lovers and a memorable night out.
Excellent service de la part de notre serveur Pierre qui à été courtois, rigolo, agréable & approprié. C'est rare ces jours-ci de voir des serveurs avec de la classe & du charme comme lui. Excellent équipe, les cocktails étaient délicieux & bien préparés. Nous avons fait une réservation pour trois & nous avons étés placés très proche de la scène en dessous du speaker mais le volume était très agréable.
La nourriture était délicieuse & bien préparée, & le band Jazz très talentueux. Je recommande!
Oct 27, 2025
on Google
🍽️
Know where to eat in Montreal before everyone else.
Get the first look at the hottest openings, secret menus, and RestoMontreal.ca's weekly top picks. Join 50,000+ foodies.
A classic jazz club with outstanding music. Also friendly helpful waitstaff & reasonable food at reasonable prices. Basement location provides an atmosphere that's a nice mix of bar vibe, intimacy, & wood-panel elegance.
$15 cover.
We suggest you reserve for dinner so that you get a good seat with a view of the performance. Otherwise you'll likely still get seated but no great view.
This is truly a Montreal institution for jazz lovers. Wide variety of music showcased each week, from big band jazz to intimate duos & trios, all top notch. Sound is excellent from almost anywhere - it's a very small club (& reservations are definitely recommended) with a small stage which makes for interesting layouts for the larger groups. Cover charge is reasonable (varies but averages $20) with a reduced price if you stay for the second set. Note if you do make a reservation you are expected to order at least some food.
It's easy to miss the basement entrance walking by though there's a small signboard. Note that due to the structural reality of a basement, there is a column that can partially obstruct certain seat views, especially from the curved middle off the bar. (That's the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars for atmosphere, otherwise it's a fantastic place)
My experience is that the staff are professional, friendly & provide good service (some others have apparently felt otherwise). It's a small place with few staff so the busy servers & bartender have a lot to juggle & do it well.
The bar menu (including mocktails) is pretty extensive, my recent house specialty cocktail order was excellent & generously sized, yet still only $15, pretty standard.
I've read that the food menu was upgraded recently. I can say that my'tapas' (small plate) chowder bowl - yes it was big bowl - was fantastic & very reasonably priced ($20) - rich flavorful broth, generous portions of fish, mussels, clams, shrimp, calamari, & octopus - all very fresh, hot & served with four toasted baguette slices. I also had an amazing chocolate mousse cake with an attractively plated side pool of berry sauce & berries - a large portion again reasonably priced at $15. My friends had a couple of the plats (main dishes) that looked great. (Menu is available at their website.) They come often & love the food so that is another vote of confidence!
The total bill (drink, food, cover charge, Quebec tax & tip) came in at around $90 & it was money well spent for a superb evening of live music & food. Friendly customers too. It's an institution for good reason!
Note that while the staff are all bilingual, usually the performers (if local) only will talk in French from the stage.
Diese Onze is a great jazz bar with amazing live performances & a cozy vibe! We had the burger & scallops-both pretty good. Definitely recommend calling ahead to make a reservation for the best seats (plus you get a small discount!). A must-visit for jazz lovers!
The venue is very nice: small but cozy basement setting & the service was attentive. But that's where the positive notes end, I'm afraid. We (my wife & I) had reserved a table for two for the dinner & show event on a Sunday night to see & hear jazz singer Kim Richardson, who came highly recommended. We opted for the 7PM seating instead of the 2nd show which started at 9PM. When the show finally started at 19h30 (why? why not start at 7PM, as advertised?) we were told that Kim Richardson couldn't be there for "personal reasons" & a replacement singer was taking her place. Granted, he was good, but he's not who we paid the $14 ticket price for to see. The show lasted one hour, which I did not find very long. Diese Onze could/should have told us when we got there at 18h30 that there would be another singer. They did no such thing & simply advised everyone once we were seated & had ordered or finished our dinner. I found this misleading. Which brings me to the food: we ordered the burger, the most affordable item (by far) on the menu. Well, it was a minimalistically small burger, served without condiments (no ketchup, no mayo, no relish, no mustard, etc), accompanied by at most a dozen small fries & a small bowl of green salad without any dressing. The whole thing, including ticket price & one pint of beer each, cost us over $ 100 for two, before tip, which I find excessively expensive for what we got. No value for money & quite frankly I felt ripped off. It was our first & last time at Diese Onze. I'd rather spend that kind of money on a nice new Blue Note vinyl & a bottle of whiskey to enjoy my jazz at home.
Arrived with a half hour to spare before 9:30 start but only single seats near the door available. So...reservations recommended even on a snowy bitter cold night. But it is the music that counts, & this club has proved itself as one of the best to hear live jazz indoors. Some seats partial view. Excellent Olde Fashion & house gin off the drink menu.
À Montréal, une des meilleures places pour vivre le jazz dans toute sa splendeur est sans aucun doute cet endroit. Son ambiance envoûtante, son service impeccable & tous les petits détails font de chaque visite une expérience mémorable. Je le recommande vivement à tous les amateurs de jazz & de blues en quête d'authenticité.
Mar 11, 2024
on Google
🍽️
Know where to eat in Montreal before everyone else.
Get the first look at the hottest openings, secret menus, and RestoMontreal.ca's weekly top picks. Join 50,000+ foodies.
Mystique ! Un des endroits les plus mythiques de Montréal. Des soirées de jazz presque toute la semaine. L'endroit est relativement petit ce qui lui donne plus de charme. Je vous recommande fortement de réserver une table avant d'y aller. Placer votre commande avant le début de la présentation idéalement pour prendre le temps d'apprécier la musique. Touriste ou local , un endroit a visiter absolument.
Basement jazz club. Reservations strongly recommended, at least for the weekend. We came on a Saturday of the Labor Day long weekend & all of the seating, including at the bar, with visibility to the band was full. There was also seating without visibility that was mostly empty.
J'ai été assez décu de ce restaurant, l'endroit est charmant & la musique excellente, mais la nourriture est décevante, petites assiettes, TRES petites & le prix est cher. Mon entrée était bonne pour la saveur, mais portion trop petite & mon plat principale était aussi trop peu. Le couple a la table d'a cote ont mange leur assiette en moins de 2 min....
L'endroit est trop petit pour autant de table, les tables sont a 50cm les unes des autres.
L'entrée donne sur la rue, donc a chaque fois que la porte ouvre un courant d'air glacial parcoure le restaurant, super recette pour tomber malade. Il pourraient très bien faire un entrée fermée qui monte jusqu'au trottoir.
Enfin 100$ pour deux personnes pour 2 entrées, 2 assiettes & deux verres de vin. Pas de bouteille, pas de cafe, pas de dessert,, c'est totalement exagéré...surtout quand on quitte & que l'on a encore faim...
Je retournerais peut être pour la musique & boire un verre, mais jamais plus pour manger & je ne le recommande pas non plus!
