Else's

Great drinks, great food, great romantic ambiance. But. I'm here with Diego right now, and we tried the house wine which is more like a grenadine, and the chili which is more like a kind-of-spicy-ratatouille. Stick with beers, romance, and the veggie burger.

This bar has a very special vibe as if you've traveled through time!
The service was friendly and drinks were good too!

Super bar à la fois au niveau des boissons mais aussi de la nourriture. Une belle histoire à découvrir sur Montréal, une ambiance chaleureuse avec un personnel toujours aussi accueillant. Je ne peux que recommander.

Cute little pub, had a vegan option and multiple vegetarian option. I took the veggie burger which was good but super salty. The coleslaw was perfect for this. I’d come again because drinks weren’t too expensive, quick service and cute place!

Belle place pour prendre un verre. Le margarita était excellent. Le Mac & Cheese était plutôt sec. Belle ambiance et beau décor.

I only got the chance to try the pulled pork sandwich but it was delicious. The proportion of meat to slider bun was perfect. As a self-proclaimed coleslaw connoisseur, I had no complaints. The portion seemed a bit small at first but it was very filling. Relatively fairly priced (~$14). The service was fast and the waitstaff were friendly!
The menu is really eclectic (some might even say ethnically ambiguous). While ranging from butter chicken/tofu to tacos, I have a lot of faith that Else's surely kills these dishes as well!
Cool vibes too. There was also an enthused group of middle-aged men behind us and their camaraderie really elevated things and provided a great backdrop for our dining experience.
Would come back, especially to try to their (very fairly-priced) cocktails!

Really good atmosphere, friendly service and enjoyed the butter tofu. The vegan tacos could use a little more flavor.maybe add some cheese if you get those

Perfect place to chill with office mates, friends or family after work. Arguably some of the best shrimp tacos I have had in a while. Also, they managed to make an absolutely decadent soy burger! Highly recommend this quaint little place!

P. S.: Big shout-out to that fresh coleslaw on the side of the burger.

Petit bar bien sympathique, avec du personnel agréable et des bonnes bières. Les prix sont classiques, ni pas cher ni cher. La bière else's est vraiment bonne!

Première expérience ce midi, j’ai adoré, le poulet au beurre était divin. Service, déco, propreté À+ J’y retournerai c’est certain.

This was my "local" when I lived in the Plateau, but I moved to the South-West shortly after the original owner, Else, had died. I hadn't been back since but went yesterday and am happy to report it is as excellent as always.

Le patron nous laissé poireauter 15min pour une table censé être libre quand nous sommes arrivé, nous sommes donc parti.
Dommage le lieu avait l'air accueillant

Great place for first dates. A little slow service in regards to food but a great place, good variety of liquor, food with vegan & vegetarian options. The staff is nice and friendly. Had a great time. Would recommend.

Un des seuls endroits à Montréal où on peut travailler avec un ordi en soirée, et avec un p’tit verre de vin et un vrai repas. Super pour écrire!

Outings these days are less frequent for my partner and myself and although it’s good to try new places, we find ourselves at Else’s most of the time. The ambiance is always welcoming and cozy and the food, simple yet flavourful. The drinks hit the spot and don’t hurt your wallet too much due to some nice 2for1 happy hour specials. It doesn’t stop at the menu. The staff is also very friendly and hard working, causing us to leave with a smile each time. Lastly, just when you think you’ve seen it all, they guide you towards the world’s best slice of carrot cake you’ve ever had (sorry mum). Please give this place a chance or 2 and you won’t regret it!

Whenever I have friends from out of town visit I take them here and they always love it. Roasted veg salad is amazing and they make their own hot sauce.

Une très belle découverte, accueil très sympathique. Petite carte de qualité, j’ai personnellement pris le chili con carne avec du fromage gratiné, accompagné de chips il était excellent bien garni chaud et servi assez rapidement, un ensemble très positif avec des prix abordable au vu de la qualité 16$ pour le plat.

Great drinks with the best ambiance, and everyone is so sweet! If you want to have an amazing time, I definitely recommend!

Very cool environment with a lot of tasty drinks to try. Great service and ambiance for a night out.

Bonne sélection de bières. Le végéburger est exceptionnel. L'ambiance est vraiment agréable et pas trop bruyante même à pleine capacité. Recommandé.

Good service and really cool vibe, the food was not the best but it was not bad either. I believe it is more expensive than it used to be before tbe pandemic.

New favorite place to go for drinks in Montreal! The staff are lovely. Every cocktail we’ve tried was delicious. Very cute decor. Overall a really lovely place to spend an evening. Will update when I try the food!

Very friendly service from the two waitresses. I ordered the tacos, the latkes and coleslaw. Everything was a bit heavy on the dill, which I'm not a huge fan of. The shrimp tacos were a bit bland. Nothing was quite hitting it for me, but I'm still happy I tried it.

J'adore ce bar.
On s'y s'ent comme chez soi.
Propriétaires dévoués et personnel chaleureux.
Idéal pour boire un pot avec des copains ou travailler à l'ordinateur.

Only had a quick drink before dinner. They have a good drink selection. The lighting is a bit lacking.

Good place. Their fried chicken taste good and can be really spicy. If you like spicy food I would recommend this place. It's a fast food place so don't expect a lot. Their food is on point. Service is fast. And everything can be really a spicy. Try it out for yourself

Cool dark bar with a good selection of interesting mixed drinks. Not an extensive beer menu but good choices for what they do have.

Nice place. I would recommend a hotshot, which is an alcoholic espresso shot. Very much warms you up.

Always a treat to come here! Cozy dive bar, good pub food, affordable prices, great alcohol selection! Customer service is great too. Will be back again!

Big windows, everything is hand painted, great history, great staff, great food, great booze list, plants everywhere and lots of style. Oh and the prices are amazing. Really couldn’t hope for more. Great place for a date!

Very cozy bar, a great place to hang out with friends and family on a cold winter night, good selection of alcohol and cocktails, great little menu of food to choose from as well, I tried the mini bison burgers which were very good and the slow roasted pork tacos which were excellent, the highlight of the night for me was definitely the carrot cake, super fluffy with a perfectly smooth and silky cheese frosting.

Ce bar n’est jamais une déception! La nourriture est bonne ainsi que la bière. L’ambiance est détendue et tranquille, il y’a toujours une petite table de disponible.

I really wanted to like this place. I was looking for a nice place on a Friday evening to spend with a good friend.
Pro:
Good prices
Short but interesting menu

Con:
Very noisy. Impossible to hear your friend. Someone in comments below said this is a good place for a date. May be not at night as you would be left staring at each other or trying to yell.
Wait time. From order at 2030 till food's arrival: 2110.

Perhaps will pass by at lunch. Hope it will be a better timing.

Excellent rapport qualité prix. Bonnes bières et plats à prix abordable. Bcp de Saint-Ambroise sur le menu.

Everything I've eaten here has never disappointed me! The prices are extremely reasonable especially during happy hour:) definitely give this place a try!

Aucune attention client, un service sans envie, presque 1h d'attente avant d'être servi.
Une cuisine beaucoup trop épicée (chili vege, riz soit disant nature pr un petit enfant est arrivé jaune cuisiné au safran et autres épices.etc) sandwich de porc effiloché gras.qui n ontvpas été digérés. Dommage joli cadre et lieu qui se voit vite gâché.

Ailes de poulet molles et poulet pas assez cuit, des légumes au vinaigre drôle de mixte et service très ordinaire, par une serveuse un peu arrogante et qui n avait pas l air de vouloir être là!

Nice ambiance, dim lighting. Plenty of drinks and a few food options (they were good)! It was lively but not overly crowded on a Saturday night.

Else's is the perfect neighbourhood bar. It's good for a quick afternoon drink or late-night sessions. The food menu is tip-top. Service is stellar: fast and friendly. It's very easy to become a regular here.

Nourriture bonne et prix abordable. C'était sympa. Lieu par contre vraiment bondé de monde. Ça rend les choses bien bruyantes. Une bonne place tout de même

Before I moved to Montreal, I spent time visiting every summer and winter. As a kid, I always saw the "bar with the lizard sign" on my grandparents' corner of the street and knew I would someday go there. Flash forward to when I was 18 and moved into the area to attend university. Else's quickly became my favorite place in the entire city. Over the last 3 years, I have been over 40 times-with friends, on dates, alone, with family, etc and every single time I've loved it. The drink menu is well-sized and well-priced, and I don't think I've had a single drink I didn't like there. You can always count on a good beer (the apricot especially) for cheap. The whiskey menu is also pretty darn good and has lots of choices. Additionally, the food at Else's is marvelous, especially the quesadillas and the food options are diverse. There are vegetarian and vegan options, so all can enjoy.

Service is always fantastic, and they really try to accomodate if you come in groups. I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a place to sit, which is far better than most bars in the Plateau. Also, Else's is not usually full of students, which gives it a more laid back mood. Contributing to this mood is the cool decoration (like Norwegian flag fans, homage to the founder, who was Norwegian) and the candle-lit tables. Else's strikes you as inviting and eclectic the moment you walk in.

I wouldn't trade this bar in for any other bar I've ever been to. It's a special place and I've been blessed to live across the street for the last 3 years. Definitely going to miss Else's when I move!

Very chill and cool interiors. Also an interesting draft list - I had a nice IPA and some food which was excellent!

Super sympa! Bar de quartier qui ferme à 3 h du matin, avec de bonnes bières, de bons whiskys et une bouffe comme des petits burgers de bison, des côtes levées, un chili, etc. Un bar, avec ces habitués de comptoir, ces habitués de table qui reviennent. Le bar à plusieurs types de population: la journée, les personnes avec un livre/ordinateur ou un jeu de société, les familles. En début de soirée, les collègues, les amis qui viennent rire de bon cœur. Certains jours un peu plus tard, on a les dates, les premiers rendez-vous ou des amis venus faire la fête. Tard dans la nuit on a les 2e parties de soirée ou les petites fringales. Un bar de quartier, il faut y aller avec une bonne humeur. J'ai lu les commentaires négatifs. Oui, le service est parfois inégal et alors? Les serveuses et serveurs ne sont pas des robots non plus. Dans l'ensemble, l'ambiance est agréable. Venez vous en rendre compte par vous-même!

One of my friends asked the bartender to borrow a phone charger, to which he responded "That's not my problem".

We decided to leave as we felt uncomfortable staying after that rude encounter. As we were exiting, the same bartender called to us loudly from across the room (several customers looked up and stared) and said "ARE YOU GUYS REALLY LEAVING BECAUSE YOUR PHONE'S AT 1%? "

How rude!

Super cool place for a pint and a bite. The food was outrageously tasty and more than affordable. Great location!

Very cosy and comfortable place, delicious meal and friendly stuff. You can have supper even at night.

First time I've been there and I loved it! Great ambiance, relaxing, super nice waitress and the food was divine. I had the veggie burger plate and it was absolutely delicious. Tasted like beef broiled in a Texas BBQ sauce, absolutely delicious. Warning: I will be back for more!

Food is surprisingly good. Nice staff. Choice of cocktails. Many choices of beers (not a beer drinker). Nothing fancy. Nice Petit bar de quartier to hang out with friends.

Nice place though it’s small. The food & drink are not expensive. We had ordered shrimp tacos which were delicious & the waitress did not take long to bring our order. It would be great if we could have more choices in the food menu.

Bel endroit, la nourriture est bonne et bien présentée. Prix honnêtes. Juste dommage de se faire servir en anglais.

We came back to the pub and reviewed our previous ratings.

This time we came to work on Discovering Destinations stuff (videos and whatnot). Eli had the Mac n cheese and I had the Bison mini burgers. The ambiance is great, especially when people gather for happy hour! There is no AC but the large windows invite a great breeze!

We both enjoyed it!

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Where: Else's - Montreal, Quebec
What: A quirky restaurant on Roy street
How was it: We often walk on Roy street in the summer and this place has something attractive about it. Not sure if it's the colors or the set up but, it's inviting. Lia liked her experience but I felt there was something missing.
We could give it another shot, but there are so many other places to discover.
Grade: Eli = 4, Serge = 4
Recommend: Eli would and I am on the fence.