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Aria
This old Latin Quarter movie theater is now a refuge for sleepless party-goers, boasting three very individual floors and some of the ablest DJs in the industry including Christian Pronovost, Fred Everything and Yaz. The crowd is mixed straight, gay, and fashion victim, and exhibitions are held in the same very chilled space.
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Barouf
This French watering hole is the perfect spot to stop for a drink or three while cruising the Plateau. Brews can be ordered in giant plastic towers with a tap at the bottom. More conventional vessels are available for the 25 draft beers including extra-potent brands from Belgium.
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Belmont
A big draw on weekends for yuppie francophones in jeans and leather jackets who dig the laser light shows and the DJ trancemeisters. Some don't get past the pool table, cheap beer and big-screen sports in the front bar.
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Bourbon Complex
This gay entertainment complex looks like a wedding cake and is big enough to get lost in. There's La Track, a popular disco-bar with a leather boutique, and the Mississippi Club for dancing, live cabaret and drag shows.
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Brutopia
This fantastic brewpub has eight varieties of suds on tap including honey beer, nut brown and the more challenging raspberry blonde. The bare brick walls and wood paneling are conducive for chats among this relaxed student crowd. Live blues bands play some evenings; pints are around C$3 until and all night Monday. Really picks up after the night classes from nearby Concordia get out.
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Cactus
Two floors of infatuation with things Latin, the Cactus is always packed with dancers ready to strut their stuff. Salsas and meringues are performed with astonishing ease by patrons poured into sexy outfits. Many regulars are more than happy to show you the moves if your timing is off after a few cervezas .
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Café des Éclusiers
This club-café is right on the water at the Old Port with great views of the locks, the cruise ships and the hulking old grain silo across the water. Fantastic atmosphere, especially Friday and Saturday nights. Happy hour is from to .
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Casa del Popolo
One of Montréal's very best live venues, this place amazes with its diversity. As a café it's known for its vegetarian platters; as a funky bar for its talented DJs and great New Age and world mixes; and as an exhibition space for showing arthouse films and spoken word performances. It's associated with the tapas bar La Sala Rosa and concert venue La Sala Rossa across the street.
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Club 737
Try pre-dinner drinks with the glam set on the 43rd floor - the romantic skyline never disappoints. A Latin American dance contest is held Monday evenings, but whatever the day there's always some serious cruising going on among the office crowd of 30-somethings.
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Club Bolo
This is a gay country-and-western line dancing bar that is a one-of-a-kind in the village. Line dancers should aim for Tuesday nights; beginners show up for Friday classes at skilled kickers have Saturday nights to themselves.
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Comedyworks
This upstairs venue presents standup comics nightly, usually in English. Events include open-mike nights, improvisation and headline acts on weekends. Audience participation and heckling is encouraged, and acts tend to be racier than at Comedy Nest.
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Dieu du Ciel
There's no better bar in Montréal. Packed every night this bar drips atmosphere, is totally unpretentious and serves a phenomenal rotating menu of microbrew beers, running from classic ales to stouts that taste like chocolate or espresso, to a beer so smoky it's like sucking ash. (If you find yourself staggering towards St-Laurent afterwards, that building on the corner is a former city hall, transformed into the coolest fire station in town.)
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Edgar Hypertaverne
Once a trashy dive, Edgar's appeals to the well-educated, cognac-sipping crowd of the Plateau. When they're not air-kissing groupies, the DJs serve up a discriminating mix of acid jazz and New Age music. The wine list is copious.
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Electric Avenue
Duran Duran, INXS, Depeche Mode…the spirit of '80s video pop lives on in this basement club in party-down rue Crescent. A few mirrors and lamps on satin-covered walls make up the decor, but no matter; from around on weekends the dance floor is packed with nostalgic 30-somethings. It also draws quite a few single women so guys listen up.
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Else's
A warm and welcoming neighbourhood bar where, as the saying goes, everyone knows your name. Settle into one of the worn chairs for an order of nachos, a tasty microbrew and a big portion of chat in front of the ceiling-high windows. Late-night jazz is a joy on weekends.
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Exit
Exit is one of those clubs where what's exciting is the people who fill it and not the space itself. This house and R&B mainstay doesn't look like much on the inside with its sparce interior, but when the star DJs show up this place is packed - it's one of the best nightclubs around.
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Go-Go Lounge
The retro-kitsch decor here looks like it was copied from an Austin Powers movie: '60s psychedelics, glistening vinyl and teardrop chairs. Regulars give raves for the cocktails and raspberries for the same music playing night after night. Look for bizarre weekend antics like women in schoolgirl costumes paddling passersby on the butt for fun.
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L'escogriffe
This smoky, intimate Plateau club has quickly become one of Montréal's best jazz venues. It holds regular tributes to jazz legends like Charlie Parker or Herbie Hancock, and on Thursdays a jam session displays some of the greatest 'chops' on the Montréal scene, including some incredibly talented street musicians looking to break in. Blues and world music is woven into the agenda some nights.
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Laïka
Get lost in the minimalist space at this intimate lounge bar, where DJs spin New Wave, house, techno and dub. It also serves a great continental breakfast (brunch on weekends).
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Le Ballatou
This dark, smoky Afro-Caribbean nightclub draws a multiethnic crowd and dancers of awesome sophistication. Shows are presented on weeknights for a varied cover; on weekends the cover (around C$7 ) includes one drink. Check out the happy dancers in the photo gallery out front.
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Le Drugstore
This cavernous eight-story complex is modeled after a drugstore on New York's Times Square. It has big-city neon props, nine theme bars, boutiques, a large delicatessen and a dance club in the basement. For bad hair days there's even a hairdresser. Lesbians and gays have staked out their terrain on different floors.
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Le Loft
A spiffed-up crowd of 18 to 25s turn up for the mainstream rock and alternative on two dance floors, rough-edged murals and a great rooftop terrace. The wide metal staircase and ventilation ducts give the place a warehouse feel; the usual gear is jeans and T-shirts, now that the in-black crowd has sought more pretentious pastures.
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Le Pharaon Lounge
The Tintin theme of its neighboring restaurant spills over into this small, laid-back casual lounge. Like the nearby office workers that frequent it, you won't come here for gimmicks, pickups or trendiness, but rather for a place to hang out with friends, chat or unwind at the end of the day. There's a couple of pharaoh posters on the wall but the connection's not pushed too hard. They often host jazz acts and tickets are usually C$10 to C$15 .
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Le Saloni Daomé
Latin dancing doesn't get much steamier than this, in a small Plateau club above an imported African goods shop. Enter via the unpretentious stairs and give yourself over to the small dance floor where the living room lamps and music make everyone look sexy. The stuffed chairs are usually occupied by enthralled couples.
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Le St-Sulpice
This student evergreen is spread over four levels in an old Victorian stone house - a café, several terraces, disco and a sprawling back garden for drinks 'n' chats. The music changes with the DJ's mood, from hip-hop and ambient to mainstream rock and jazz.
