Born in may 2007, Santos is the quintessential old Montreal tapas bar experience. Open from tuesday to saturday, it specializes in traditional Spanish food and offers a large an original selection of spirits, cocktails, wines, sangrias and mojitos. Live DJs every night and many special events. Santos is ideal for your 5 to 7s, late night dinners, corporate bookings and live musical events.
ORIGINS OF SANTOS All the streets in Old Montreal are named after saints. Located on the corner of Saint Paul and Saint François Xavier and given that the food served is Spanish, it was only natural to name place "Saints" in Spanish.
OUR MISSION "Feed & Amuse", that's our promise because we strive every day to feed your imagination, soul and appetite. As for amusing, we do it through our fun staff, cool events, self reinventing décor and the music, always the music.
Reviews of Santos Tapas Bar describe a vibrant Old Port venue that blends a chic, energetic dining scene with a late night club atmosphere, where the music, decor and overall vibe create memorable evenings for many guests. The menu is praised for fresh, tasty tapas and seafood and cocktails that are flavorful and well balanced, with the bar staff often noted for guiding guests through the menu and delivering well crafted drinks. At the same time several accounts highlight uneven service and long waits, especially for drinks or the bill, along with moments of disorganization, crowded seating and delays during peak hours. While the atmosphere and social energy are frequently celebrated, some diners feel portions are small or prices high relative to what is served. Safety and security concerns appear in a few reviews, including experiences with entry lines and bouncers that left some guests feeling uncomfortable, and a few comments about not feeling completely welcome. Overall Santos Tapas Bar emerges as a place that can offer excellent drinks, lively nights and high energy, but improvements in service consistency, seating logistics and safety would help ensure a standout experience for every guest.
Good luck trying to get a table, when you do, keep in mind that at 10pm the kitchen closes, & at 11 pm the waiter/waitress will come & kick you off your seats because the they want to remove the chairs from the whole bar & the table you tried reserving will not be yours anymore it will be for anyone who orders a bottle, & you my friend with a drink in your hand will have to find another place to put your drink through out the evening.
Overpriced food & drinks for such little quantity. I do not recommend the food here or drinks at all. Also DJ won't take any recommendations at all :/. Other then that nice place overall!
Nov 28, 2023
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Went for happy hour with some friends & all was ok until I found a blob of black mold floating in my water glass. I then realized the entire glass was filthy. I told the bartender who gave me another drink but by that point I was terrified to put my lips on anything. The happy hour prices weren't a good deal either. Overall this place has cool vibes but that dirty glass really put a damper on the entire experience.
Happy hour: well drinks, a wine & some beers; but for the well drinks aka speed rails, everyone has to get the same one. I don't know if it is a Canadian thing but it's little rules like this which make this place have a bad rating. Trying to be too cheap. If you hang a big sign that says happy hour then make it as friendly as possible so people come back!
Service was great but food wasn't on par. Chewy calamari, over cooked shrimp & almost all dishes needed seasoning. Our waitress was fantastic. I would recommend Santos as a drink & dance destination only
Was really excited to go there last night with my friend, we had heard good things about this place.
A challenge finding parking on a saturday night in old port (to be expected).
Once we got there at 7, staff asked us if we had reservations, got asked for the vaxcode + id, & ushered to our table which was good.
We got sat on the mezzanine, first table looking down into the place, I love the decor!
Wooden chairs are small & low! Couldn't cross my legs under the table & I'm a female 5'7.
We got the tartare au saumon, the pieuvre & the calmars fris. The portions were disappointingly small for the price. Like I get that it's higher end, but not even a handful of calmaris for 18, 3 tiny pieces of pieuvre for over 20... tiny chips next to the onion & cucomber filled tartare... Maybe the plates were oversized so the portions looked small? Idk.
The higher price paid was definately not because the product is of great quality. Santos is making a huge margin on it & could/should increase their portions or quality because it feels like a ripoff.
By the time our food got here, the music got really loud, not great for conversation! We were yelling at the top of our lungs almost the whole evening... But at least the music was good! Good job DJ!
We also got drinks!
The pitcher slim was way to syrupy & sugary for our taste, good thing we only got them as a 1 drink & not a whole pitcher. We also got the Henny spritz & the bourbon lemonade. The spritz was fine.
I enjoyed my bourbon lemonade so much I got it twice!
Toilets were fine, the taps in the female restroom are chrome, so all the dirt shows on them.. not a cute look. Please make sure to clean the sinks well, at least have someone making them look tidyier.
Last thing was the paying experience. We asked the addition welll in advance, because we know sometimes it takes forever. & it did! We waited a while to get our addition (long enough for us to chat, go to the bathroom each individually & come back + 5-10 mins give or take).
The machine is set to 18%, 20% or 22%.
I know you can go back & change the tip manually & put in 15%, but who is really doing so after a couple of drinks?
This is shady business practices in my opinion.
I feel like Santos is getting inflated tips on the back of their clients because the paying experience is already unpleasant & the waiter is just standing there waiting for you (which is normal), but you kind of feel bad taking your time to change the tips to 15% (which is fair considering your bill & the good service). I felt cheated on when I pressed 18%, I guess its the price you pay for being convenient & wanting things to go efficiently.
If your client came in to have a good time, get drinks & have fun, don't ruin the experience by over changing them on already over changed dishes & drinks.
It really ruined the experience for me.
Enough to write this review.
Fix your machines, at kampai too.
Thanks!
Went here with my friends for my 20th birthday & it was so fun! My birthday was on Tuesday so girls drink free & they had an awesome DJ! Would recommend
My husband, daughter & I visited Montreal for 4 nights & had our last night's meal at Santos. We had a great table right by the window, the food & drinks were amazing as was the service & the music. We would recommend this as a for sure to go to in Old Montreal.
Dec 13, 2021
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Great food & drinks, great atmosphere! Santos never fails when it comes to a good night out with friends. No wonder it celebrated its 14th anniversary this year! Cheers to 14 more years!
Staff was super nice but the service was a really long honestly... We waited 30 mins for drinks a couple times during the night, which can really slow down an evening.
But the food was delicious & the ambiance is amazing!
