Robin des Bois

Amazing concept, beautiful ambiance and wonderful volunteer waiters. The food is amazingly good and I never knew you could do that on a good price. Overall, my birthday celebration was successful, thanks to the amazing staff. I hope this business will stays because it has the service and food of a five stars restaurant with an amazing concept.

I tried getting in here without reservation over the years. Finally got to enjoy a a tasty meal at a reasonable price. A fine experience any night of the week with any type of group.

It’s a volunteer based restaurant but they serve some really good food! Got the octopus and their specialty soup (I forgot the name). Omg, both were really good, food were well executed and full of flavours. However, the service was kind of lacking but considering it run by volunteers, it was forgiving.

As other reviewers have mentioned before, this place is run by volunteers and donates all of their profits to local charities helping to reintegrate the homeless into society. Great causes aside, their white bean, bacon, and vegetable soup had just the perfect amount of seasoning to bring out the natural flavors of all the vegetables without having any single element overpower the entire dish. For my main course, I had the Cajun fish fillet w/​squash and legumes, which was delicious even if the Cajun spicing on the fish was slightly overpowered. Next time you’re in Montréal, you would do well to see out this pro-​bono establishment.

One of my favorite restaurants in Montréal. Not only is it for a good cause, its good value for price, the creative and delicious menu is consistently wonderful. The serving staff makes the place really distinct as well and are enthusiastic. Enjoying a night out in a place where people are happy to be working makes you happy to be there too. Window seats can be chilly in winter.

Great place. Great ambience. Great food. Good service. Good prices. Spacious. Easy to find. Not hidden away in some corner. Nice versatility in food preferences. Good for groups, family, dates. :)

Epic dinner — wonderful atmosphere, great service, amazing food and all for a good cause.

I was in Quebec for two weeks. This is the only restaurant I visited more than once. Most of the staff are unpaid volunteers and the proceeds from the restaurant go to several local charities helping reintegrate those who were formerly homeless.
The charity aspect aside, the food is really good. I tried the lentil soup, Maharaja (vegetable) plate, beef burger, beef bavette, and some other stuff I can’t remember. Didn’t have a bad dish.
Prices are really reasonable too.

The environment of this place is very fantastic, the service is also very good. Try their octopus, which is amazing.

Found this place by chance because of the small no. Of reviews but a must to go. Great service and food

My friends and I came from America and randomly walked in here to eat. Everything was so beautiful and the food was great. The woman who started the non for profit organization that runs the restaurant talked to us and explained how people come in and volunteer as waiters or as chefs. The food was incredible and the fact that this is a NFP restaurant warmed my heart.

A midi
Grande salle peu remplie. nourriture simple et bonne a bon prix. service sympathique, mais professionnel par des bénévoles.concept intéressant.agreable et différent.

Un de mes restaurants préférés à Montréal, et pour plusieurs raisons.
— une carte qui changent régulièrement, avec une bonne variété qui permet à tous les palais de trouver bonheur
— des assiettes belles, bien servies et surtout tout est absolument délicieux
— un service de grande qualité par des bénévoles enthousiastes
Bref une super place que je recommande à tous. Et si vous avez quelques heures dans la semaines, allez jouer au cuisinier ou au serveur «pour de vrai», vous passerez un moment génial en coulisse avec vraiment une super équipe !

I have to rant and rave for a few minutes, because this place is truly special!
So, Robin des Bois, meaning Robin of the Woods, refers to Robin Hood — the concept behind this restaurant is ‘take from the rich to give to the poor’, meaning all proceeds go to support four different local charities in Montréal. Even if you’re not rich, you will feel it after experiencing this fantastic restaurant-​with-​a-​heart.
I came to Robin des Bois as a volunteer, not a patron (though I will definitely go back to eat the food). In fact, all of the wait staff are volunteers from the community who sign up for a certain number of tables to wait on, and then go out and do their best. To be honest, I had never in my life worked a table before my first night here, but all of the staff are so kind and helpful, ESPECIALLY the very charming manager, Luc, that I found my feet soon enough and helped out wherever I could. I don’t speak French very well so I was a little bit shy with people, but everyone was super understanding and gracious. A lot of the wait staff, however, are people who come back to volunteer regularly (because it’s so much fun) and they really know their stuff.
The FOOD LOOKED AMAZING and I wished I was eating every single dish that I delivered. OMG. It’s fine dining, my friends. And, the desserts! The volunteer wait staff and kitchen staff were well fed, too, though! Everybody got delicious nacho soup — the best I’ve ever had, with fresh chunks of avocado, cilantro, toasty chip bits — nom nom! Not only is the food exceptional, but at the front of the restaurant is a selection of local preserves made entirely by volunteers and all from ingredients from local small farms or rooftop gardens! Pickles till the cows come home.
If you’re a «people before profits» kind of person, this is the best place to put your money where your mouth is, literally! The interior is beautiful, like a deluxe, somewhat aged theatre with a lovely piano and warm décor. There are plenty of romantic nooks to dine with your favourite person, or whole sections for large parties. I’m really hoping we can have a Unilocal Elite event here sometime!

Les plats sont de qualité, le service était très rapide et il y faisait calme alors qu’on y était à midi. Mais ce qu’on a par dessus tout apprécié, c’est leur concept: ceux qui y travaillent sont bénévoles et les bénéfices soutiennent des oeuvres. Voilà une super initiative que nous ramèneront dans nos bagages!

Really solid restaurant. Great service from the volunteer staff. The food was really excellent as well– had a dhaal soup and a lamb dish and crème brûlée that were all really well made. The value is pretty good as well (something around 40 canadian with gratuity included for a soup/​entrée/​dessert). would definitely recommend.

Je reviens du robin des bois, j’étais bénévole en cuisine de 14:00 à 17:00. C’était une expérience très sympa! Je vous l conseille, tout est préparé maison et tout est frais ça donne envie d’aller manger chez eux!

Enjoyed a lovely lunch here with my sister. Really enjoyed the food. Great prices as well. We were passing through Montréal and were looking for a place that had good food, that wouldn’t’ make us feel tired and heavy while driving long distances. Really enjoyed the food and experience here. It is only after we returned and I was on Unilocal to write a review did I realize that the staff were volunteers, and the nature of the restaurant. You would have never known it based on the experience we had. Everyone was extremely professional and very pleasant to deal with. Would strongly recommend to anyone in the area.

This gig has been going on for quite awhile now… This place is all about volunteer workers (service & kitchen work) and about giving back to the Montréal community. They support 4 local charities (La Chainon, Le Refuge des Jeunes, Jeunesse au Soleil et le Santropol Roulant).
On the food side, I had a risotto dish which was very good and also as a drink, I had a spicy bloody caesar type drink (don’t remember the exact name) which was also interesting (I recommend to try it if you like spicy).

Located on Saint Laurent Robin Des Bois is staffed almost entirely by volunteers and the proceeds go to local charities. They also try to put an emphasis on using local ingredients which is always a huge plus if you ask me. The décor is a little on the dated side but the service is great and the concept is fantastic.
I started with a corn and bacon soup which was quite disappointing. I was expecting a chowder-​like soup (something thick and creamy) but this was not like that. It was quite runny actually. I followed it up with a braised pork roast with spetzl that more than made up for the soup though. It was moist and fell apart with my fork. I finished it off with a lime meringue pie which was quite balanced in flavour. The lime didn’t overpower everything but the pie wasn’t overly sweet.
The prices are very reasonable here and are what you’d expect for the location. In fact the dessert menu was quite cheap compared to a lot of restaurants that I’ve been to as of late. Definitely hit this place up if you can.

We went to Robin des Bois last night as part of a work Christmas dinner and the atmosphere was perfect for the event. Not to mention, as a non-​for-​profit ourselves, we were happy to support another cause. Because of the event size they had split us into two tables, which I feel was pretty reasonable, although our table was definitely getting served faster than the other table.
Allow me to say, the food was amazing– my partner had the French onion soup, which was generous in its size and perfectly seasoned, as well as the risotto which seemed to be very good as well. I had the polenta appetizer and the cat fish which were both delicious– the apple and lima bean garnish to the blackened catfish made the meal for me.
The only real downside I would put to the evening is that because of our group’s size and what I figure is the volunteer staff size, it took us two hours to get our meals. Post-​hunger rationale, I can really appreciate a volunteer-​run business like this, but in the moment we were less than impressed.

We’ve been wanting to try RDB for a while, it’s done! We went there last night and had a really nice time. It was music night, so a bit loud but good music always matches well with good food.
We started with a green salad, which was good but nothing more (parmesan had no taste… and we love parmesan!). We then shared the Cheeseburger and the Salmon tartar which were both really good, well seasoned, nicely presented and all ingredients fresh.
All profits go to charities and all staff are volunteer (including the musicians) which is very nice — good food and giving to charities in one go does feel good ;-)

Le restaurant Robin des Bois est un organisme à but non lucratif, 100% des profits étant distribués à des organismes de charité qui luttent contre la solitude, l’isolement social et la pauvreté.
Ce restaurant emploie donc que des bénévoles, d’ailleurs je né m’y suis pas rendue pour manger mais bien pour y travailler 3 heures en cuisine accompagnée de ma coloc. On a très bien été accueillies, on nous a expliqué comment tout fonctionnait, où se trouvait la marchandise, ustensiles, etc. Nous avons travaillé de 14h à 17h, le rush du midi était donc passé et il était temps de faire la mise en place pour le soir ! On a commencé par des choses simples: hacher du persil plat, de l’ail, … Puis on a chacune fait un dessert: Lemon curd et tarte de citron meringuée, on nous a bien tout expliqué et une recette nous a été fournie afin de suivre les diverses étapes. On a évidemment pas pu s’empêcher de goûter les crèmes que l’on avait préparé, et qu’est ce que c’était bon, si j’avais été à la maison j’aurais léché le plat !
Les gens qui y travaillent sont compétents, ils ont de l’expérience en restauration! En plus, pour avoir travaillé en cuisine, je peux vous dire qu’ils ont de beaux produits !
L’ambiance de travail est très bonne, on n’a pas l’impression de se faire commander (logique, en même temps).
C’est un bon moyen de faire une bonne action tout en faisant quelque chose d’agréable! C’est une expérience que je referais sans hésiter. Donc si vous aussi vous voulez faire un bon geste, venez y travailler quelques heures, si vous préférez travailler en salle, vous pouvez le faire aussi; il suffit de vous inscrire à l’adresse suivante:
(section bénévolat) ou venez simplement vous faire plaisir un y savourant l’un de leur plat.

What restaurant has all their proceeds go to charities?!
This one!!!
Great price quality and fresh, delicious food?!
This one!!!
Attentive service?!
This one!!!
Everything we had was amazing. From the salmon tartar, to the grapefruit duck confit salad to the bavette. Excellent execution, fresh local quality and just a wonderful experience supporting a great cause.

Firstly, Robin des bois is a great concept. All profits go to local charities and most of the waitstaff and kitchen staff are volunteers. My mom came into town the other night and we were looking for a good place to go for dinner. Happened to be in the area, and we decided to try out RDB to see how good the new chef is.
Both of us were blown away. The atmosphere in the restaurant is what it’s always been, cute, a little eclectic, reminds you a little of the former Café Esperanza on St Laurent (now, café Caigibi). Despite being volunteers, the service from these waiters was better than a good amount of service I’ve experienced from paid employees in restaurants lately.
Enough about atmosphere and service though; the food! We both started with their green house salad and it bode very well for the rest of the meal. Fresh baby arugula, chopped and roasted hazelnuts, parmesan shavings and a perfectly balanced vinaigrette. Now I know, salad is salad, but getting that balance just right is tough and this place does it very well. We also had their black olive polenta fries. These were delicious too, little crispy sticks of polenta with bits of black olive served with a rosemary mayo for dipping.
And then our mains arrived; my mother had their gnocchi with buttnernut squash purée (homemade, boiled then gently pan fried for a little bit of crispyness) while I had the «pieuvre confite». My mother (who is notoriously difficult in restaurants) loved her meal. The gnocchi were little clouds of heaven served atop a nice, bright squash purée which was perfectly seasoned. What blew my mind though was the octopus. True to its name, the pieces of octopus were slow-​cooked in fat for a few hours and served with a tortilla española and a homemade roasted tomato salsa. The octopus had the texture of lobster. I ve never had anything quite like it. The fattyness was balanced out by the bright acidity of the tomato salsa and the spanish omlette rounded everything out quite well.
Finally for dessert we split a cognac-​espresso panna cotta with speculoos crumbs. It was the perfect end to an amazing meal. Even more incredible was the price. Usually for food this good, I d be willing to pay $ 100 pp and up. At $ 20 – 30 per person (before drinks) RDB is some of the greatest bang for your buck in Montréal dining.

Les organismes d’entraide et de charité sont nombreux à Montréal et c’est tant mieux. Certains par contre réussissent à se démarquer davantage du lot grâce à l’originalité et la singularité qu’ils évoquent. Il en est le cas pour le restaurant Le Robin des bois.
Situé sur le plateau Mont-​Royal et souvent fréquenté par des personnalités connues québécoises, ce restaurant encourage le bénévolat créatif. Toute personne désireuse de partager une bribe de fraternité peut s’y rendre et participer au changement de la communauté, donner de soi et ce, tout autant à la cuisine qu’au service. Jusqu’à présent, l’on n’y compte environ 3000 bénévoles actifs, ceux-​ci assistant une vingtaine de professionnels qui gèrent officiellement la place.
En plus d’être à but non lucratif, le restaurant se targue d’une gastronomie très appréciée (dont la cuisine française d’inspiration internationale), couronnée d’ingrédients bruts et entièrement naturels, et à prix raisonnables, ce qui soit dit en passant, incite agréablement le retour des clients gourmands et généreux. Généreux car les dons sont assurément estimés; l’on donne autant que faire se peut et tous les pourboires sont considérés comme des dons. Ainsi, comme le légendaire samaritain, le restaurant «Le Robin des bois «redistribue l’argent des riches aux plus défavorisés. Pas envie de faire du bénévolat? Suffit d’y manger; vous mangez, vous donnez…
Au total, 6 organismes de charité montréalais se voient bénéficier des profits générés par les clients donateurs et philanthropes: Cactus, le Chaînon, Chez Doris, Jeunesse au Soleil, le Refuge des jeunes et le Santropol roulant. Depuis l’ouverture en 2006, plus de 30 000 $ ont été gracieusement déversés.
Il est à noter aussi que le restaurant se distingue drôlement grâce à sa petite pièce dans laquelle l’on peut fracasser (en toute sécurité) des assiettes au mur aménagé à cet effet; le tout, moyennant une coquette somme de 5 $. Défoulements et dévouements garantis…
Allez-​y en soirée; il y a souvent des concerts et prestations de tous genres.
–À essayer en dessert: L’aphrodisiaque, une bière dessert… peu commune! Vanille, chocolat noir avec un soupçon de bourbon!