Modavie
Wine BarTop Pick
Modavie
Wine bar with live music & an old-timey jazz vibe, plus an eclectic menu with lamb specialties.
Opens Today at 11:30 am
| Monday | 11:30 am - 11 pm |
| Tuesday | 11:30 am - 11 pm |
| Wednesday | 11:30 am - 11 pm |
| Thursday | 11:30 am - 11 pm |
| Friday | 11:30 am - 11 pm |
| Saturday | 10 am - 11 pm |
| Sunday | 10 am - 11 pm |
Brunch:
Saturday and Sunday
Info & Location
About us
Modavie is a timeless place that brings us back to our roots, where ladies & gents gather and eat in a lively atmosphere caused by great conversation, live music and the wooden scents of a vintage room. Born in 1997, it quickly became popular among locals & visitors, and is now considered a Montreal institution.
Treat yourself to refined French fare in an antique & dimmed corner locale spawning two floors. From the classic beef tartare, to tasty sweetbread, to the famous ratatouille, your cravings will be easily satiated.
Amenities, services & more
Capacity: 160 We accept: Master Card, Visa, AMEX, InteracBrunchCozy AtmosphereDeliveryDinner & ShowGood For GroupsGreat selection of winesHappy HourLive Entertainment / ShowsLoungeNon-alcoholic Drink OptionsOnline OrderingPrivate RoomResto-BarWine Bar
More details
Saturday and Sunday
Affiliated Restaurants (6)
Photos (23) More
on Google
Press
Events Nearby
Martinique Gourmande Festival Montreal 2025
Sep 9, 2025 to Sep 21, 2025
Reviews often mention
Display Allmusic(199) lamb(165) live music(117) jazz(100) recommend(79) french(65) wine(62) soup(55) band(53)Page 1 of 2 - 59 Reviews
Paul
Loud even before the music started. Good location & quite nice inside (quite modern) but lacking je ne sais quoi for Old Montreal. But it was the food that let it down. My onion soup was wierd, it looked like French onion soup, it had the layers of French onion soup, but it had some other stuff in it that made it just wrong. My lamb chops were just OK, nothing out the ordinary. Prices were on the steep side. I wouldn't go back.View more
Tiffany
Awesome first meal visiting Montreal. We got the foie gras, fried calamari, garlic snails, & French onion soup for appetizer; lamb chops, lamb rack, & mushroom risotto for entrees. Everything was flavorful & we got a seat quickly with a walk in reservation. Lovely atmosphere - take it easy & enjoy the live bands (bring cash tip)!View more
Michael
Modavie is a French Bistro that has excellent menu choices. We found the food to be very delicious & priced comparable to others in the old city, which is on the pricey side. The place jas a certain ambiance, which we found very pleasant. Caution: Make reservations in advance. We didn't have reservations, but we were fortunate to be seated regardless, but we had a two hour time limit to complete our meal.View more
Shen
The French cuisine here is delicious, & the service is excellent. Our table's waiter looks like Jake Gyllenhaal-very cool. The live music by the trio is also delightful, with a mix of jazz & chanson vibes.View more
May
Visited Old Montreal & had dinner at Modavie, for its French cuisine & live music. The atmosphere is lively & service decent. The place was crowded despite it being mi-week. The live jazz bandView more
Mahyar
This was my second time here. I really enjoy the atmosphere & music-more than the food, to be honest. Still, I'll definitely come back & recommend it to others. Their prices are reasonable compared to other French restaurants in Montreal.View more
Andrés
In my last night in Montreal, Canada in November, 2024
I reserved a table at this lovely place in Old Montreal
A nice French restaurant that had one of the best food in all of Canada
I sit by the bar, while I was listening to live soul music
I ordered Escargots au gratin, duck confit, a cheesecake, beer & a cognac cocktail
It was so delicious
The service was good
& beside me there were a couple of friendly Canadians I befriended: Evan from Saskatchewan & Mike from Nova Scotia.
We talked about our countries, celebrities & trips & they made my last night in Canada better,
So better,
that, they advised me to continue to enjoy the unforgettable nightlife in town & I did so.
Definitely, a nice restaurant with the best atmosphere & food in the city.
Greetings from Mexico.View more
Robyn
This restaurant is everything you'd hope for in a French dining experience-elegant yet completely welcoming. We stopped in for lunch & enjoyed a selection of appetizers, each one beautifully prepared & bursting with flavor. The ambiance has all the charm & sophistication of a classic French restaurant, but without even a hint of pretension.
What truly sets this place apart, though, is the staff. Everyone was warm & inviting, making us feel like old friends rather than just another table. Lorenzo, in particular, made our experience unforgettable-his humor, attention to detail, & genuine care for every guest turned a great meal into something special.
I can't wait to return for dinner with live music & finally try the lamb chops. If lunch was this good, I can only imagine what an evening here will be like!View more
John
This is a wow restaurant. It is a must go restaurant in Montreal. You will not be disappointed ! The restaurant is huge with live music, good decoration & warm, a good selection of wine & French cuisine. I had garlic snails to start with….it was super delicious & finished all my bread! Then I had the duck confit - yes yes yes, you can taste the coffee! The potato, spinach, roasted almonds & the melt in my mouth super delicious duct confit take my breath away. The French Malbec - very good, wish I ordered 1 bottle ! I finished the meal with a delicious chocolate Lava Cake. You must have it ! The service is very good & professional.View more
Meredith
Best French onion soup & duck dish I've ever had! It was amazing. The jazz was also really good. Our service was really on top of it but he was a little rude & made a comment about only ordering one appetizer. Otherwise though we highly recommend the place. The mousse was the best dessertView more
Vishaw
We were two people. Had two bottles of red wine & four food items in the dinner including 12 oysters/1 salad/1 French onion soup/1 steak frites, & the total came to $240 with taxes & plus 18% tip was added/paid. (Just two wine bottles were of $120 plus tax). It was nice speaking with Daniel, the bar tender. Food was fresh. It was an alright experience.View more
F.
Nice atmosphere, included live music. The drinks were delicious. The bone marrow was unimpressive. The French onion soup was terrific!!! Mushroom risotto has WAY to much cheese sauce compared to the rice. The rice was swimming in the cheese sauce. I would try again.View more
Shirqille
I really chose this place because they offered live music which didn't disappoint. You really enjoyed the ambiance of the restaurant. The food was delicious. We had the escargot since we wanted to have a French Canadian food experience. The truffle fries were delicious. I also had the rack of lamb, which was good. The drinks were also really good, but we are too full to have dessert which I guess I'll have to come back for at some point when I'm in Montreal again. The staff were absolutely lovely & it was just an overall great evening.View more
Bonnie
"Just do it" is a Nike quote, in French it would be "fais-le" this saying can be applied perfectly to this restaurant. Just go. The food is not describable in words… you will have to go for yourself. Alvin is the best, overall service was kinda mind blowing. Atmosphere made me feel like I was in a delicious fantasy. 6 stars (if I could)View more
K
My boyfriend & I loved this restaurant. Their drinks were really creative & delicious. They were also reasonably priced. We had the French onion soup & snails as an appetizer, & then tried the duck & the lamb for our mains. Everything was delicious & fresh. I had the raspberry sorbet as a dessert & my boyfriend had a chocolate mousse cake. The service was good & our server even took the time to write a list of other restaurants he recommended in downtown & old Montreal for us to visit during our trip. The restaurant was very cosy & they even had live music playing. It wasn't too loud & we would highly recommend this place for your next date spot.View more
Sofia
This place is absolutely perfect! The food was delicious, & our server, Christian, was super attentive. He really gave a boost to our experience! He was also very patient in letting us practise our French. We really appreciated it! We would come back to Montreal just to eat here again!View more
Chad
All I can say is incredible place. The food is immaculate. The Best French onion soup I've ever had. Their Lamb Rack was pure perfection. Ambiance was pleasant. Music was great, & also.. Had the pleasure of seeing a certain celeb from the Jacka** series enjoy the place! I'f you're newly local or visiting, you have to take the time to treat yourself to this fine digs. Service is prompt, polite, & also down to earth. You will not be disappointed.View more
Katie
The food here was unbelievable. Delicious bread for the table, my friends & I had the cheese platter, breakfast poutine, pesto gnocchi, french toast, chicken caesar salad, basque chicken, mimosas. Out of this world may just be the best food we have ever had!!!View more
Mia
This is my favourite French restaurant in Montreal! Gotta try their foie grasView more
Amanda
Made reservations for Friday night & was totally worth it. The live music was amazing & a nice add to the vibe without being too much. The staff were extremely friendly & great. The food was classic French bistro. Got the escargot, sweet bread, & beef tartare & all were excellent. They've always got a seasonal pasta, fish & butcher cut for some variety. Highly recommend coming with a reservation to catch the live music & food. Definitely a very cute date spot.View more
Jonathan
French restaurant. Server claims lamb is their specialty so I ordered the lamb chops & told the server I would have them however the chef recommends. I was with a big group & the lamb, while cooked medium, was room temperature. Tender, well seasoned. Service was good. Live jazz music was great. Would go back.View more
Kathleen
Probably the Caesar salad & French Onion soup hands down! Oh & the truffle fries were amazing! Our server Yaan was awesome!View more
Meidoification
My friends & I were celebrating my friend's Bachelor Party/Trip on labour day weekend in Montreal, & I insisted that we get authentic French cuisine seeing as how we came all the way from Toronto. Modavie exceeded every expectation everyone had. The Atmosphere was very pleasing, with low noise volumes that I found quite nice as loud environments tend to make me uncomfortable, along with the decor & lighting being very well done. The service by Quentin was absolutely exceptional, making us feel quite at home & being attentive to our needs. He suggested another establishment for an evening drink as our reservation ended & the resturaunt was full & we found our way there based on his description. The food itself was absolutely out of this dimension. Never before have I tasted anything as refined as the bone marrow, garlic snails & duck confit. The flavors of each dish were lovingly curated like a selection of the finest paintings at the Louvre. The creme brulee was the perfect dessert to finish with, with its thick, stain glass worthy shell & it's decadent, eye widening pudding. I will recommend this establishment to everyone I know is going to Montreal, & bragging about it to everyone else. Merci beaucoup, Modavie!View more
Jenny
Family friendly french cuisine at the heart of old montreal area Everything is perfect They even got live music Its not the super fine dinning but it is just perfect for families who want to taste some french dishes while visiting the cityView more
Zina
Our waiter was really great & attentive. We liked the vibe & the live music was great. All the drinks were delicious. The food was solid comfort french food (everything was good but not extraordinary). We had the mussels, duck confit, lamb pasta, steak. All solid.View more
Jeanne
My partner & I made reservations for my birthday, & unfortunately had a really underwhelming time. We asked to sit with the live music, but were put literally right in front of the band where it was impossible to hear each other or our server. We asked to move, & had to wait a bit, which was completely understandable because it was packed. We got to move to the other room, & it was much better. We were really excited, but our excitement was quickly quelled. We were basically forgotten about the whole time. We ordered soup to start & asked for a bit more time with the menus to decide on our main courses. The soup was delivered by a food runner, & our waitress never checked in on us, except to walk by quickly & snatch the menus that we had yet to order main courses from as she walked by. She clearly forgot about us, & when we asked to order main courses, she said she'd be back. She had stuff in her hands, & it was totally understandable, but she quickly forgot about us again. We had to flag her down again after about 10 minutes. It wasn't just about the time we waited - she was just also unpleasant. When she finally did take our order, she did so by asking, "Okay, tell me." She spoke perfect English & I speak French, so it wasn't a language issue. I was looking at my phone while waiting to pay, looking for a bar to go to nearby, & she said, "You should switch your phone out with a dessert menu." It was said in a judgy tone, as if being on my phone was ME behaving poorly. In all fairness, the food was very good. The onion soup was exactly what it's supposed to be, & my steak frites was great. Well seasoned, the bordelaise sauce was rich & delicious (albeit a bit cold by the time it arrived at the table but it didn't affect the flavor), & my partner's pasta was good. Not amazing, but good. We had to wait forever to even ask for the bill, & then waited another 15 minutes with our card in the check book, waiting to pay. It was just not a pleasant way to spend my birthday & we couldn't wait to leave.View more
Ben
Very nice french restaurant, but the food was a bit lacking, maybe it was an off day. They claimed they were famous for their lamb... but I found it unseasoned. Our table also ordered the seasonal pasta bolognese but it was also very bland & under seasoned. The duck confit was the best item on the menu today along with the freshly baked bread & whipped butter. Was overall a bit disappointed.View more
Gianluigi
Very nice & typical French place with live music. Even though we didn't book they gave us a table because they are very organised. Excellent meat & salmon & light pink wine with if we were in Provence.View more
Par
Great French dinner restaurant. Excellent service. The mushroom risotto was great.View more