La Distillerie no.1 — Restaurant in Montreal

I honestly do not feel like writing a review now because my night has already been ruined thanks to this place. Here is my over all experience:

The atmosphere is cool, the drinks selection is amazing and fairly priced and 99% of the staff are friendly.

The reason why I'm giving it a one star rating (which the lowest I could do) is because of the experience I had tonight with one of the waiters there and here is the details:

Me and my friend were having a night out and we decided to go to this place as we usually do over weekends. All was good, we ordered and got our drinks and started our night until we felt like going out for a smoke.

When we were on our way out, one of the waiters stopped us and asked us for a credit card or an ID so that they be sure we will be back and not run away (Our drinks are still almost full)

Before he finished I got it and gave him my ID and went for the smoke although we did not feel Okay with this gesture specially given that other people leave to smoke and come back without being asked for an ID.

While we were smoking a waitress and her friend went also for a smoke so I felt like talking to her in a very friendly and diplomatic way as customers that we did not feel Okay with the way we were asked for the ID and that this is the 1st time in our lives we face this situation but no problem it's just that we do not see it appropriate to deal with customers this way.

Both girls were super friendly and dealt with our complain as it should be and we appreciated that and thanked them for that.

Then another waiter joined our friendly discussion and at the beginning he kinda was Okay until he said that he never saw us here before that is why they asked for our ID fearing that we could run away without paying (total is 20$).

He made it worse when he said that we would not feel bad about what happened unless we were planning to run away at the 1st place.

Then he brought my ID and said we do not wanna see you here again.

I told him alright Im gonna pay and surely this is the last night for us here but he did not allow me to enter to pay so I put 40$ on the side of the door and left.

I know he does not have the right to do what he did without any reason and thankfully the girls witnessed the whole conversation and if they ever read this review I'm sure they would assert that I said nothing but the truth.

Bottom line is that everything about this place is cool except some...

This place was definitely on our must-do list when we visited Montréal last weekend and it did NOT disappoint. The 25 minute wait (at 9pm on a Saturday night - totally understandable) was absolutely worth it. The cocktails are freaking yummy and freaking strong, a combo I am yet to taste elsewhere. The service was outstanding and a pleasant surprise considering the place was packed. I understand why the place is so popular as they are super generous with the alcohol and flavors of fresh fruit zests, juices and spices really come through. Since the drinks are loaded with ice, they stay cold. Although, to be frank, the deliciousness ensures that you guzzle the drink after the first sip, so we did not have to worry about dilution at all. The popcorn soaks up the alcohol perfectly so that you can have an additional drink or two. Since we were seated at the bar, we were offered a table after a while but we declined since we had a front row seat to all the magical mixing taking place :)

We loved the drinks so much, we went back on Sunday at 5pm. It was nice to be recognized and the place was just filling up. The drinks were at discounted prices and the goldfish crackers were free till 7pm. I was apprehensive that the cocktails last night were probably a fluke and the ones we chose today would turn out to be underwhelming. Boy, did they prove me wrong! When my husband was confused on what to order next, they offered to create a drink based on his love for Old Fashioned. The result led him to comment that it was the best drink he's had in years. All in all, we had 8 cocktails over the two days and they were...

We decided to check this place out after finding them on Trip Advisor - what a gem! We ended up coming here twice during our trip to Montreal. Me & Cienna, left saying, "I wish we had a place like this back home"... over the course of two nights we sampled about a dozen different libations (assortment of cocktails & shots). Each providing a unique and well balanced flavor profile - these drinks we're amazing!

To make things better, the staff is great! Very attentive, kind and generous. One of those places where you want to befriend most of the people who work there - super professional, yet chill staff.

The vibe was great and the prices reasonable compared to the quality of the experience.

From what I saw, there wasn't a food menu, but that's okay! You can bring food from outside the establishment... intact the staff encouraged it. We ended up ordering Uber Eats both nights. Incase you're curious, it was absolutely delicious burgers & Poutine from "Hero Certified Burgers" on Bishop St. Both times Uber Eats arrived to the to Distillery no.1...