Editorial
The toronto vs montreal bars debate has a clear answer if you know what you are asking for, and a complicated one if you do not. Both cities drink seriously, both have world-class cocktail programmes, and both have been producing bartenders who move internationally and come back. What separates them is culture, licensing, and the particular attitude each city brings to a night out.
Toronto has one of the most technically accomplished bar scenes in North America, and it remains chronically underrated on international lists. The Kensington Market and West Queen West neighbourhoods host a concentration of serious cocktail bars that would draw attention if they were in New York. The city drinks with ambition and increasing confidence. Our complete Toronto bar guide covers 14 of the city's essential rooms across every major neighbourhood.
Montreal operates by different rules. The 3am last call, the density of late-night bars in the Plateau and Mile End, and a cultural relationship with drinking that is closer to Paris than Toronto all produce a bar scene with a different energy. Montreal bars are less technically ambitious on average but more consistently fun.
Toronto wins on technical cocktail quality, whisky depth, and the sheer breadth of serious drinking options. If your priority is precision bartending, BarChef and Montauk are producing cocktails that compete at an international level. The city has spent 15 years building a bar community, and it shows in the results.
Montreal wins on the overall night out: the later hours, the natural wine scene, the French-language culture that produces a different relationship with drinking, and the density of good bars within walking distance in the Plateau and Mile End. Toronto's best bars are better than Montreal's best bars. Montreal's average bar night is better than Toronto's average bar night.
Fly to Toronto for a dedicated cocktail trip. Fly to Montreal for the culture of going out.
James has been drinking his way through North American cities since 2009. He has a particular interest in Canadian bar culture, which he considers the continent's most underrated, and returns to Montreal at least twice a year specifically for the natural wine.