Riverside St-Henri — Restaurant in Montreal

I went to this place last Thursday (April 13th 2023) when it was +26 weather. They opened the terrace briefly for the day so not all the space was available and you could tell it was not the finished product. It was a bit overcrowded, they didn't have a lot of seating available and you could only order pizza for food.

That being said, the level of customer service was impressive, hence the 5 stars. When we got there, there was a line-up so we figured it was overpacked but in reality it was a host who took the time to speak to every single guest to explain to them the situation and what to expect. They apologized a lot for the fact that it was quick but it really wasn't that bad! They even lowered the price on food to compensate for the lack of options. They were kind and genuine and even the bar staff, who were overwhelmed, were laughing and cracking jokes. I even asked the guy service pizza for a to-go box and he didn't have any but offered Saran Wrap and told me it might take him time, and apologized again. I'm like, you're literally doing me a service, no apology needed!

Then finally a dog decided the rest of my pizza was for him so it was donated to a good cause and the saranwrap wasn't needed. I caught the pizza guy in time before he went to go get it.

All in all, the staff was just wonderful and made the experience that much better. The music was great and the layout wasn't too bad either! I will definitely be going back and cannot wait to see the finished result!...

I called to make a reservation on August 10th, for my birthday for 20+ people over labour day weekend.

I called weekly to follow up on the vaccine passport situation, since I'm not a Quebec resident, and wanted to assure that I would be let in to my own birthday celebration.

I called on August 31st for a final confirmation regarding the vaccine passport, and the documents I would need to bring with me, only to find out that they had to CANCEL my reservation because they FORGOT they had a WEDDING booked for that day.

They had multiple opportunities to inform me that there was a scheduling conflict, instead I have to find out less than 5 days before my reservation that I have to find somewhere else to accommodate 20+ people.

The hostess I spoke to did go out of her way to find an alternate option for me, which was much appreciated, but none the less, this was completely unacceptable on Riverside's end. They didn't even offer me anything for the inconvenience.

If it was a reservation for 2-4 people, then it's not a big deal, but this was supposed to be a party of 20+, that I was specifically flying into Montreal for, to celebrate my birthday...

I am incredibly disappointed in the way this was handled. Especially coming from a bar that came so highly...

Last summer, Riverside was the go to place for my friends and I. Over the last month, I went twice (group of 4 girls), and had a bad experience both times. The first time, a fight broke out as we were all minding our own business. I thought this might be a strange one off. The second time, we were harassed by a man who was clearly drunk or high. We politely told him that we wanted to spend the evening between girls. He left us to our table angrily. A few minutes later, he came back, and started to be more and more aggressive, calling us names without provocation. One of my girlfriends went to find security and told them about this incident. The security guy had words with the man in question, but the left the man off with a warning. Shortly, this same man started a fight next to our table, security intervened and yet, he was not removed from the premises. We were starting to feel unsafe and left after this. While I find that the bar itself is usually fun, the security is lacking to the point where inaction could lead to some dangerous situations. Here’s hoping that fights breaking out at Riverside is not a regular occurrence, but I won’t be...