It’s just the best bar in Montréal if you are into punk, garage, psych, post-punk etc…
Steven V.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Melbourne, Australia
This place rules. Great small spot in a great location always full of great bands, with front/back patio, and nice layout. I always stop in here if walking past with no plans.
Paul B.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Montreal, Canada
Cheap drinks. Two great patios, front and back. Great sound for live shows, which is surprising given how small and subterranean the bar is. One of my absolute favourite bars.
Risa D.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Montreal, Canada
Just a tiny bar built of big grey stone half sunk beneath St Denis. Small smokers terrasses in the front and the back bookend a room with fast friendly bartenders, cans of PBR for $ 5.25, and a tiny stage with big sound. Ok, so the ceiling in the back drips and the joint gets crazy crowded quick, but if you love local music and no-fuss bars, add this to your list.
Lori C.
Rating des Ortes: 5 San Francisco, CA
My go-to bar in Montréal. Dimly lit, crowded dive bar with cheap drinks — on Thursday night they have 2 for $ 5 shots of Fireball or something else. It’s in the Plateau so it’s typically a pretty hip, young crowd that comes here. It also serves as a venue and a lot of punk bands come through and play here. And they have a DJ on Thursday night who plays a lot of old punk so that is a plus as well.
Stephanie C.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Toronto, Canada
L’Esco is a cool, little dive bar. Upon my visit Friday night, this place was packed. Part of it had to do with a punk band playing inside to a large audience, the bar regulars sitting on the patio and striking a conversation with strangers, and a few selected musicians from the day’s Osheaga festival dropping in for a pint. The vibe is cool and hip, a place to hang out and shoot the shit with your friends and meet new ones. It’s a great place to people watch as the throngs of Montrealers walk up and down St. Denis bar hopping.
Clare L.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Montreal, Canada
L’Esco has been a top choice for where my friends’ band plays, and the atmosphere in there has a great vibe! It can get super packed and they do have a tiny stage, but nonetheless, people there are friendly, having fun and enjoying the music. A lot of great bands tend to roll through there, and drinks are decently priced. If my own apartment would have an extension where it was kinda cave like, yet felt super comfy, it would L’Esco.
Sara S.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Montreal, Canada
My favorite bar in Montréal! Good music, always. Drinks are just okay, you can’t get a whiskey sour for some reason, but that’s fine, because the beer is always decently priced and delicious, good pitcher sizes, not to mention une délicieuse sangria maison! But my favorite part of L’esco is the terrasse, which sits in St-Denis, unremarkable, great for people watching and heated in the winter for all my cigarette cravings. The bar itself is dingy, dark and hip — exactly what I’m looking for when it comes to a place to drink. Love it.