Montys Tapas Wine Bar

Went to Monty’s last night for some «sociables» (new word they use to replace tapas) because my wife and i were celebrating some of life’s little victories. it was a Wednesday night and their oven roasted pizza was half off. i ordered the Pacos pizza, wow, amazing. came out super hot, was very VERY good.
we also had the carrot soup which was also amazing, salad, duck wings which were actually more like duck legs and were SO good! we also had the frites which we thought would be like ordering fries to go with the wings. well, they are fries but the cheese they pair with them was soo good! great BEvERage selection too, we both tried new drinks.
They also had live music and the muscian was super talented. told stories, interacted with the crowed and even took requests (i called out Tom Petty and he played it perfectlY!).
we couldn’t have had a better evening or better food anywhere. we were so thankful to have such a great restaurant in small town of Hespeler. 100% would recommend. we will be coming back!

Not impressed. They were unaccommodating with my group, insisting that we all order the same tasting menu. I understand limiting everyone to one or the other of the two options, but the women wanted the $ 25 six-​course menu and the men wanted the $ 35 eight-​course menu; we literally had to all get the same one. Our waiter was competent, but honestly, a little bit unprofessional for such a nice restaurant. He was an wearing Abercrombie tee, and actually sat down at the table for a while when introducing himself. He was quick with drinks, though, so that was good.
The food was okay. Spanish meatballs are a great tapas choice, but not with a tepid sweet and sour sauce. The shoestrings fries weren’t really a standard tapas; should have been patatas bravas with aioli or something. They didn’t have any sauce, or at least none was served with my order, so they were sort of just plain and uninspired. The churro dessert was also really lacking for me; again, no sauce, no cinnamon or spices, and nothing to make them memorable. Just fried pieces of dough rolled in sugar. Would have liked something to make them stand out a bit.
Someone else at the table mentioned that they didn’t have any pinot noir by the glass, which was surprising. I had prosecco by the glass; always welcome on any menu. My husband’s Negroni was good — served with a straw, but that’s easily fixed. Overall, I suspect that their group treatment is sub-​par compared to the experience people have when coming as a couple or very small group, based on the reviews. Maybe a great place for a date, but less so a large group.

Hespeler is such a short drive from Guelph, and is never a first option for me when I am thinking about places to go out to eat. While on Unilocal,i discovered Montys, and after reading the menu thought that this would be a perfect pre theatre restaurant. There were 7 of us and we were seated at this large wooden table just as you enter the space. Montys is known for their wine list and tapas. We just wanted a light lunch, and the pizzas to share were a perfect solution. After ordering our mains, the owner graciously brought us over complimentary beer to sample. All the restaurants that i have been to, and i have never once been offered free booze. For my main i chose the short rib poutine, that was comprised of Potato Bravas, Smoked Gouda and homemade gravy for $ 9. Anytime a restaurant can elevate a humble dish into something more lavish, i am down to try it. A poutine is made of of 3 elements: french fries, gravy, and cheese curds. Montys version had potato wedges, gouda, and more of a ragu than a gravy. The potatoes were crispy, and the meat was super tender. The gouda didnt melt as well as a curd would have. The ragu was very rich, and oily, and it was definitely lacked salt. It was an alright dish, it just was not a poutine. We also ordered the smoke and spice pizza with Smoked Gouda, spicy sausage, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and red onions. The crust was super thin and cracker like. I loved how smoky the pizza was, and the sausage was nice instead of your standard pepperoni. We shared a greek salad that was served Mediterranean style with Kalamata olives, feta and mixed vegetables. I love how they didn’t serve the westernized version with lettuce. The dressing was good, a bit more citrus would have been nice. One complaint was the sheer number of red onions, it was too overpowering.
Overall, i like the food that we had at Montys, we went for the food, and we will definitely return for the service.

Really enjoyed the meal at Monty’s! We picked the chef’s choice tapas meal at $ 25 per person and it was a delight. The red pepper soup was spectacular and the chicken skewers were very nicely done. Our lamb sliders had a bit too much bun but very good still. Very full at the end of the meal.
I would come back even though the waiter was clearly hitting on my girlfriend. It was like I wasn’t there.
The chef clearly has skills!

This is our new favorite restaurant! The food is EXCELLENT and the service was great! It is so nice to find an independent restaurant that is so worth going to again and again…