Barfly

I visited in 2019 for a Van Hunt concert. The staff was AMAZING! I felt at home.

We had hilariously candid conversations. We had our own sketch comedy show at the bar. We should have recorded it. Other patrons were laughing so hard and amazed by our improvisation. I really appreciate the care and diligence the staff put into making sure I was safe in Montreal especially since I was a solo female traveler.

Parking was easier than other Montreal areas. I was able to dine at a restaurant prior to the show. The bar didn't have food service. I will definitely go back when I revisit Montreal.

I felt safe.

Barfly is a really chill dive bar with a dark, dank interior - my kind of place!

Tip: The ambiance here combines the best elements of a punk rock bar with a hockey bar

The bartender when we visited was really friendly, and mixed some very tasty, strong drinks.  He also gave us some good recommendations for other bars to visit in the area :-)

I've wanted to check this out for awhile.
It's a solid bar/tavern. Good bartender; I'm a Bukowski fan so the name BARFLY (title of a book), is very nice.

Five shot special.

Five. Shot. Special.

Five-shot-special!

It's something stupid cheap, like $20 CAD for 5 shots of very acceptable whiskey or something. Honestly, I don't remember exactly, because of the five shot special.

Great place to stop by for a five shot special with friends at any point in the night.

Pretention and trends stop dead at the door: Barfly is a neighborhood dive bar, nothing less and nothing more.

Just about every inch of this tiny watering hole is covered in Habs stickers and memorabilia (complete with old school Guy Lafleur and Yvan Cournoyer figurines) and there's a small corner for local bands to provide the night's entertainment. There are a few beers on tap (Moosehead Lager, Boreale among them), a pool table and what no bar should be without: a bar dog. Be sure to say hi to Grappa.

DIVE LOVE! We went here twice, because it felt like we lived there. Fantastic, friendly bunch of regulars and nice bartenders as well. One of the bartenders had a beautiful, friendly German Shepherd mix that was in the bar - for me, this makes it an automatic five stars.

Another of the regulars had dogs, which he brought in. TWO GERMAN SHEPHERDS (making a total of THREE! OMG!). I was in heaven. We had a blast here, having drinks, talking to people, petting dogs and playing pool.

Just fantastic.

The bartender from NY is NOT nice. Doesn't give you benefit of the doubt for a minor mistake. We ended up switching our drink with another guest. The guest himself for super cool about it but she went super off on us!

CASH ONLY

The female bartender working here is absolutely the rudest person I've ever dealt with. We literally downed our drinks and left to avoid dealing with her anymore.

I'm in town from Toronto, and I'm ordering drinks, giving a 20 percent tip on each drink.

On my second drink order, I get rudely called out and embarrassed by the bartender as she said my twenty percent tip was not large enough. I usually tip per drink and then tip at the end of the night. The blonde woman (wearing a RIP AALIYAH shirt twenty years too late) started yelling at me that I didn't know how Montreal worked.

I've been to Montreal well over twenty times, and I've never had an issue with my tipping.

This lady was rude, abrasive and borderline abusive to my wife and I and made us feel less than welcome

Last time I came here (Last January), the service was amazing and the guy at the bar was a sweetheart. He reccomended us sites to see in Montreal, and we had a great time playing pool.

I reccomended this bar to many others visiting the city. Until I get a response from the owners that the wench behind the bar has been fired, I will never return.

The bar lost out on a lot of money because of one bartender and her absolute arrogance.

Avoid at all costs.

I love dive bars and always try to find the diviest of spots while traveling. It's always fun to compare them to my own favorites from home. After doing some research, Barfly seemed to be the winner. In our evening of revelry, we mentioned to a bartender that we were heading that way next. He immediately had a concerned look and told us to be very careful. He said that because we were foreign, we wouldn't be welcome and it's the type of place you can get your ass kicked or even stabbed. We pushed him further for intel and he backpedaled a bit stating that if we kept a low profile and didn't piss anyone off, we could likely get out unscathed. A bit apprehensive, but even more curious than before, we trekked down to Barfly to see for ourselves.

As we walked in, no records stopped, no glaring looks, and definitely no weapons were brandished. We sat at the bar, ordered some beers, chatted with the clientele and at no moment ever got the vibe that we weren't welcome. Plus, it rivaled some of the diviest places I've visited in the US. Thanks everyone at Barfly for not stabbing us!

I looked up for dives in Montreal and wound up here.. It was a slow weekday night. The bartender here was awesome... We talked about Music (I think he was wearing a Metalica Tshirt)... Also about my Road Trip amongst other things..
If you like dives, this is a good place to go in Montreal...