Joe Beef
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Joe Beef
Relaxed restaurant & bar serving steaks & seafood in a compact, old-school setting.
5 pm - 10:30 pm
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Old Montreal restaurant classics in the heart of Little Burgundy. An homage to Charles "Joe-Beef" McKiernan, 19th century innkeeper and Montreal working class hero. A drunken crawl away from the Historic Atwater market. Steaks and seafood.
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Reviews for Joe Beef
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Display Alllobster(107) steak(96) spaghetti(83) recommend(71) sauce(67) wine(65) dessert(49) attentive(39) dishes(38) oyster(35) appetizer(35) tuna(35)Page 1 of 4 - 80 Reviews
Jake
I've eaten at Joe Beef twice in my life, & I've been incredibly happy with the experience both times.
The first time around several years ago (2016/17), I had a lamb steak with bone marrow mashed potatoes, which I still dream about, & tried foie gras for the first time. Still one of the best meals of my life.
Second time was in December 2025. We had lobster spaghetti, & rabbit + mashed potatoes, along with the croquettes for an app. I'd say the only thing that was mediocre were the mashed potatoes - everything else was A+. We were also treated to a free steak since another table didn't want it - & it was delicious as well.
Service has always been great. The restaurant itself is a classic. Joe Beef deserves the hype it gets, & I look forward to eating here on another special occasion down the line.
Jonathan
Yum. I am decidedly not a foodie but I absolutely adored Joe Beef on my first visit. I am a steak & potatoes man & have had that at restaurants across Montreal & in other cities, but I must say the 30 oz rib-steak I had here which I devoured was perhaps the best. Better than Gibbys or Moishes, I also loved the accoutrements, the huge piece of meat came with spinach, green salad, horse radish & fries, which were indeed enough for our 3 diners, the other two having split the lobster spaghetti. To top it off the service was perfect & the atmosphere was casual but fun. Now if only I could afford to go here more often, but once in a while does suffice. Again, yum.
Baris
My first time here & it was a marvellous experience.
The restaurant is very cozy, we were lucky to be seated across the fireplace. Lights are dim & the ambiance is great.
We ordered the tartare for starter with bread & butter. I really liked how cute the butter was in their tiny packs. Bread was fresh & tartare was just amazing.
For mains we got Steak & Duck Breast. Steak comes with gem potatoes, temperature was perfect & the steak was tender. But my favourite was the duck breast. It comes with foie gras & it was just a spreadable perfection. Duck breast was blessed with red wine jus.
& last but not least we got the chocolate mousse, it was 10/10! I loved the sauce on the side of the dessert so much I wanted to clean the plate with a piece bread.
Overall one of the best meals I've ever had in Canada.
Gary
We were 2 midweek for an early dinner. Reservations still recommended. Trio of oysters starter were good but PEI Oysters were larger & tastier. My main was hanger steak. A little chewy but wonderful flavour & red wine reduction sauce. Other main was filet mignon - very tender with umami-infused sauce. Excellent. Mushroom side dish a great addition. Main server was friendly & knowledgeable-'sous' servers all attentive too. Wine order was a little slow coming but good choices. Cheese course with whole walnuts in the shell was an amusing DIY finale. Highly recommended.
Austin
I have seen this restaurant in various food network shows over the years. It was a fantastic night. The service was incredible & will sit in my memory as one of my top eating experiences for a long time. The two of us had the croquettes, duck, hanger steak, side vegetables, & 24 layer cake for dessert. Unforgettable from beginning to end.
Matt
Amazing service - we made a mistake when making our reservation & placed a reservation for the wrong day, totally our fault however they still managed to squeeze us in at the bar.
The service was exceptional, very friendly & attentive. Excellent work translating lions mane mushrooms from french as well, very impressive. We had the hanger steak for 2 which was delicious.
I would highly recommend this restaurant if you're in Montreal.
Nina
A favourite spot that we always visit when we go to Montreal. The food is always creative & succulent . The lobster pasta is a little overhyped but go for the specials & you can never go wrong with the steak, duck or escargots. Service was super friendly & seamless.
Alex
WOW I loved Joe Beef so much we had an amazing experience with our server Alex who was so knowledgeable about everything & SO kind to us as we were celebrating our anniversary.
The hanger steak for two was literally the perfect amount of food, the sauces accompanying the meat were to die for, mashed potatoes perfect, I really enjoyed the creamed spinach as well.
The chocolate mousse was to die for, it was a slightly firm mousse dome with I think a chocolate ganache drizzle on top & they served it with this delicious reduction that was garnished with a tiny bit of olive oil & wow - just amazing.
Highly recommend!
Kimberly
As soon as I knew I would be visiting Montreal, i grabbed a spot on the wait list in case a reservation opened up. I was so happy when the day before our trip, a spot opened up. We really enjoyed the tuna appetizer. We also had the Escargot which were good, but not as good as some I have had. For entrees we tried the Lobster Spaghetti which is a dish they are known for, & the Hanger steak. The Hanger Steak was cooked perfectly, tender & the sauce was excellent. I am from a Seafood town & felt the lobster was only okay & the Spaghetti itself very basic, not our favorite dish. All in all it is definitley worth a try.
Eric
My number one recommendation for Joe Beef is to come hungry!!! They don't skimp on the portion sizes & you will want to try as much as you can! We enjoyed the escargot, croquettes, foie gras, hanger steak, cod, & market vegetables. It was the perfect end to a great trip. Can't wait to come back!
Alice
Julien provided truly warm & thoughtful service, adding a lovely personal touch to the evening. The ambience is charming-perfect for a special occasion. While I found most of the dishes to be fairly average, the spaghetti with lobster was a standout & the one dish I'd return for. The steak, however, didn't quite hit the mark for me. Overall, it's a trendy spot in a lively, sought-after location-definitely worth experiencing at least once.
Ivan
Look, if there were a sixth star to give, I would definitely give it to Joe's Beef. I had the tuna steak & the pork belly, & both were absolutely amazing. The flavor was incredible. Service was great & very helpful.
Do yourself a favor & go eat some delicious food here, you won't regret it.
Michael
'A great experience!!!'
On Friday August 29 my wife & I had a 7:00pm reservation at Joe Beef for a late celebration of our wedding anniversary. I had long heard about how great Joe Beef is & finally had the chance to dine there.
We were greeted by the Maître d'hotel Isabelle Savard with a complimentary glass each of delicious bubbly wine & taken to a cozy little table for two next to a front window. Laura was our waitress & her service & treatment was second to none. She assisted us with a selection of delicious appetizers & a wine selection for our tastes. Every single person that attended to our needs were kind & most attentive. We felt spoiled!!
We choose two different tuna entrees that just melted in your mouth. A flavour explosion with a delicious crunch & freshness. Another appetizer we had, something I would not have typically ordered (beef tendons - yes you read this correctly) was surprisingly delicious in the manner it was served. We ordered some bread which had a nice chewy crust & soft flavourful middle. Smothered in butter it was evilly delicious.
Laura had recommended a hanger steak, however I had my heart set on a rib steak & ordered that (it was a large steak intended for two persons). We asked for it to be cooked medium rare & it arrived perfectly cooked. We had some rich sauces with the steak, but the steak just in its own juices was phenomenal. We couldn't even finish it as it was very large along with the appetizers we had. The steak was tender & juicy from end to end!!
Regretfully, we had no space left for dessert - which I am sure would have been equally amazing. Finally, we had a complementary shot & left the restaurant full & grateful to the efforts & treatment by Isabelle Savard & her great team & Laura, our waitress. We look forward to going back & trying that hanger steak one day.
I give the food, ambiance & wait staff 5 stars for providing such a wonderful experience!!
Mike & Maria
Elina
Firstly, the ambience is cozy, intimate & beautiful. The highlight of our night was the tuna appetizer with the harissa sauce, one of the best bites of food I have ever had. For the main course we had the hanger steak & the duck- they were both good. Some of the duck was difficult to chew but the grape sauce was great. The hanger steak, it came as one skewer, was good but I wouldn't say anything special. It seems that the fish there is very fresh so next time I would come, I'd definitely focus on the fish. Overall, the service was phenomenal & a great experience.
Aliya
We came here for our one year wedding Anniversary & I really wanted to love this place, however it didn't live up to the hype.
The service I felt was very inconsistent, the main server was okay, very slow but better. We had a few other people that tended to us that barely answered when we said thank you.
Food took forever, almost 90 minutes from the time we ordered, our server checked on us once to tell us'its coming soon'.
We order the bread & pickles which was fine, the roman gnocchi which was good, the hanger steak which needed more seasoning & the $71 Lobster spaghetti which was not at all worth the price. I found most of the food lacked basic seasoning which should have not been the case given the price & time it took to cook.
Dessert was truly the highlight, we did the chocolate mousse which was amazing, I will say.
Otherwise, this was a disappointing visit, I will also say it was so hot in there, I hope they can take a look & refine some things because it seems there is a level of inconsistently in the food.
D
From Ontario. We dine a lot at High end & Not your average restaurants. We also work at a high end steakhouse where we live
Came here based on recommendation. Don't know why it was so highly recommended. Place was clean & packed. Just confused as to why.
First. Hostess was sweet. So thank you for that.
Menu was alright.. was looking forward to the rib eye. Honestly. That was basic. Don't know if there's salt or seasoning anywhere in that building.
The crab feature... not good.
Bone marrow, boring.
Birthday was never recognized even though it was mentioned in the reservation.
Now, the waiter... julien, I hope you tip out your food runners & bussers considerably because they deserve it more than you. You were arrogant & need a lesson on being a server. Your shirt was just as lame as your attitude.
Eva
Mon avis: fortement apprécié par les touristes en tant qu'institution, moins par les locaux. (D'où les avis positif qui semblent exagérés)
Avis d'une locale: la quantité vs le prix est à revoir. Le bone in strip était excellent. Le service était exceptionnel. Digne d'une danse bien organisée malgré la lenteur pour sortir les plats.
Déception sur l'entrée de flan à la moelle ainsi que sur les pâtes au homard qui goûtaient principalement très salé. Je m'attendais à une sauce rosée avec un arrière goût de homard & d'agrume. Mais ça goûtait que le sel. Également en terme de portion, le prix est exagéré pour un demi homard sur des pâtes. Ce plat peut également se manger seul donc rien ne justifie 71$ pour ça. Idem pour les desserts, bon mais j'avais plus d'attente pour le prix. 300$ plus tard, nous sommes restés perplexes.
Si vous vivez à Montréal & que vous avez une envie de steak, foncez. Pour le reste, vous prendrez une chance.
Hicham
I wasn't blown away buy anything especially the drink they offered as their special for the night. The steak was very good but the appetizers left some to be desired. It's a nice spot, for the ambiance & as the name implies, the meat.
Ruqayya
To be quite honest, this was a restaurant I have been looking forward to trying since I came to Montreal. Reservations are incredibly difficult to get, you have to plan weeks & weeks ahead… so when we finally went we were so disappointed with our experience.
The food is very mediocre, we ordered the coquettes, specials (savory eclair, & some eggs Benedict with crab?), lobster pasta, fries & hanger steak.
The lobster is as if you took a frozen lobster, boiled it, then served it on a plate. The pasta sauce was curdled & had no flavour. Fries were stale tasting. Eclair was good, croquettes needed a kick like lemon or salt or some flavour (they were shrimp), & the snow crabs eggs Benedict was good but also had minimal flavour.
For a restaurant of this alleged calibre, you would expect so much more. I would've said maybe it was a bad day for them, but 4/6 dishes being mediocre? I don't think so.
Service was good but shame that the food was not. Don't think I'll be coming back.
Lucas
Disappointed at Joe Beef - Expected Greatness, Got Mediocrity
We recently dined at Joe Beef with high expectations & an appetite to match. Our meal included several appetizers - Boston scallops (served raw), a dozen oysters, escargots, & croquettes - followed by mains of lobster pasta, guinea hen, a 26 oz ribeye steak, & two orders of fries. We shared a bottle of German Riesling & skipped dessert. The total bill came to just over $700 CAD, including an 18% tip.
Unfortunately, the experience didn't live up to the restaurant's reputation.
Appetizers:
The scallops were delicate & fresh - easily the highlight of the evening. However, the oysters were surprisingly dry & underwhelming. The snails were enjoyable but nothing memorable, & the croquettes, while decent, felt like an afterthought on the plate.
Mains:
The ribeye was generously sized but excessively fatty, which diminished the enjoyment. Both sauces - a red wine reduction & a peppercorn - were well-executed & helped elevate the dish slightly. The guinea hen was overly rich & lacked balance, leaving a heavy impression rather than a satisfying one.
As for the much-anticipated lobster pasta, it was, at best, average. For $71, we expected something outstanding - especially from a restaurant of this calibre. Instead, it was comparable to a dish from a far more casual eatery. The lobster itself was small & likely frozen, which detracted from both the texture & the flavour.
Service & Wine:
Service was professional & kind & the Riesling paired well with the seafood, but even great service couldn't compensate for the overall mediocrity of the food.
In the end, Joe Beef simply didn't deliver the calibre of cuisine or experience its price point & reputation suggest. While not a terrible meal, it was an unmemorable one - & certainly not worth the cost. I wish we took more photos, attached are what we have.
Perhaps an off night, maybe we ordered the wrong dishes, but this was our experience.