Best of gay in Montreal

Guide to the Best of Gay Montréal

Restaurants
What better way to get to know a new culture than through its gastronomy? Montreal has an excellent reputation; with fusion of European gastronomy and American concepts it can meet the expectations of the finest palate. Some good and affordable restaurants are listed below:

THE BEST DATE

L’Academie: Euro-Italian cuisine, located on St. Denis Street, near the Plateau. It is probably the best “bring your own wine” restaurant. Hip, crowded, and STILL, manages to be romantic, it is the place for a perfect date.

THE BEST BRUNCH

Chain: Chez Cora Déjeuner: The best place to go for breakfast or brunch! Affordable and just delicious, there is one on just about every street corner of Montreal, including just a block from ILSC and another in the heart of the Village.

Independent: Beauty’s: Take yourself down to the Jewish deli where not only can you indulge in mouth-watering omelettes, the best-cooked potatoes in town, the freshest orange juice and the most scrumptious of egg scrambles, but you can even have dessert after your breakfast!

THE BEST VEGAN

Spirit Lounge: A vegan menu and a philosophy of consumption: it's a unique concept they're serving over at Spirit Lounge in the Village. To keep you from becoming a creature of habit, the staff keeps a record of what you have ordered, and the décor, crafted entirely from recycled products, could be described as funky aluminium-baroque. The music is inspiring and eclectic.

THE BEST PARKS

Jean-Drapeau Park: A jewel set on the St. Laurent River, Parc Jean-Drapeau is without doubt one of Montréal's most precious assets. Discover the riches of this animated urban park spread amongst Sainte-Hélène and Notre-Dame islands. Among the many activities: the F1 Grand prix, cycling, hiking (10 km), swimming, outdoor pool, roller blading, snowshoeing, canoeing, kayaking, sailing, windsurfing, pedal-boating, wildlife observation, winter sledding, and many other activities. Most gorgeous and most GAY-FRIENDLY outdoor swimming complex in town! Come on down!

Lafontaine Park: Lafontaine Park is Plateau Mont-Royal’s biggest park. It includes two linked ponds with a fountain and waterfalls, the Théâtre de Verdure open-air venue, the Centre culturel Calixa-Lavallée, soccer and baseball fields, pétanque, a dog park, picnic areas and playgrounds, wading pools and several pieces of memorial statuary, all surrounded by many trees including numerous incredibly huge poplars. Bike paths run along the park’s western and northern edges. In wintertime a large section of the pond is cleared for skating with the park chalet functioning as changing room and snack bar; there’s also a hockey rink.

BEST MOUNTAIN

Mont-Tremblant: just one and a half hours north of Montreal is a wonderful fairy-tale town! The mountain has some of the best runs in the entire province and it is definitely the most popular. Once you get there, you will feel as though you have stumbled upon Santa Claus’ workshop! Mont-Tremblant offers many summer activities too, like water skiing, camping, hiking, and biking among many others.

BEST PRICED MOUNTAIN

Mont Avila & Mont St. Sauveur: Part of the same mountain, these two are the best priced mountains for skiers. If you are a beginner these are the perfect places to go. They offer really good student discounts, cheap rentals and 2-for-1 lift tickets some weekdays.


BEST STORES

Ogilvy & Holt Renfrew: Probably the trendiest upper-end stores in town, with the most exclusive selection of designer brands.

La Maison Simons: The store with the most variety in Montreal, here you can find every style you are interested in with the latest trends in fashion. They offer all styles from the most affordable to the highest-quality designer brands. Explore four stories of different departments!

Steve Madden and Aldo Shoes: These shoe stores are as affordable as they are trendy! You can find an Aldo store nearby wherever you are and Steve Madden is located just steps from the school.

Lululemon Athletica: Sexy, high quality and comfortable yoga (or non-yoga) wear. Who needs the excuse of a yoga mat and complicated postures to indulge in this colourful and oh-so-comfortable line of clothing?!

Thrift Stores: The thrift stores in the Mont-Royal plateau area are probably the most affordable shops in town. You can find funky second-hand clothes to mix and match as you fancy!


Night Life

BEST DRAG SHOW

Cabaret Mado (Tuesdays nights): Located in the heart of Montreal’s Gay Village, Cabaret Mado is unique in that it offers a variety of colourful shows featuring Montreal’s best performers. Mardi soirs (Tuesday nights) are the special event here; with the best French drag show in the area!

BEST THURSDAY NIGHT

Parking: If you want to be transported out of this world, parking is the place to go! Once you get in, it doesn’t matter whether you are with someone or alone, you will have fun. Parking has two different ambiences: the first floor is well known for playing excellent techno and minimal, and the basement has great R&B and afro-american music.

BEST LESBIAN BAR

Le Drugstore: Located in the Village, this is the perfect place for pool players. It’s also great for an afternoon beer and is the hot spot for women.

BEST TERRACE & CLUB

Sky Club: A really innovative place that offers three types of environments all year long and extras during the summer. Restaurant, pub and club are the main attractions of Sky. Sky Club is well known for its Friday night happy hour, and Latin nights on Saturdays.

The best is yet to come! Sky opens a huge wooden terrace during the summer, serving amazing cocktails under the sun. There are also two Jacuzzis on the terrace where you can jump in and have a drink with your friends.

BEST TWINK CLUB

Unity II (Fridays & Saturdays): On three levels, Unity II is the biggest gay club in Montreal. It has two rooms with two different kinds of music and also a huge terrace on the roof. The club is open from 10pm to 3am, four nights a week: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There are always different activities to entertain you every night, such as Drag shows, dancers, karaoke, guest DJs, etc.

BEST AFTERHOURS, BEST SOUND

Stereo: “Cult after-hours club and bar that is as big as your bedroom but punches way above its weight. The spectacular sound system and hi-tech swivel lighting make it one for the music purist, partly why Muzik rated it among the top 10 clubs in the world. Why else would Paul Oakenfold play there? The after-hours club session only starts at 2am, and there’s usually a terminable queue outside, but bide your time and it’s worth the wait, one for your late-night annals. Drinks are fresh and perky and fire up all the cutting-edge hipsters. By 10am the dance floor is heaving and the day is breaking.”

http://www.worldsbestbars.com/city/montreal/stereo-montreal.htm


BEST RAVES

Raves are an all-night dance event where DJs and other performers play music and other types of electronic dance music. Raves have become increasingly mainstream, especially in Montreal as well as the rest of the province of Quebec, with large commercial raves attracting major international DJs and much media attention.

Certain raves, such as the Montreal Black and Blue, even attract government funding from all levels of government: municipal, provincial and federal, as they are deemed to be cultural events. Black and Blue is one of the leading events of the gay circuit and on the international music scene overall, it is the biggest event of its kind in North America. The Black & Blue continues to be one of the best parties on the planet. In 2006, the Black & Blue was voted the BEST INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL by the PINK TV AWARDS from France, above events such as the Sydney Mardi Gras, the Carnival in Rio and the White Party in Miami.

The Bal en Blanc is another event in Montreal that attracts a wide variety of attendees from a wide demographic spectrum. These events have often been hailed as the biggest parties in the world, attracting more than 16,000 at a time. They are often held in government-run facilities such as the Montreal Olympic Stadium and the Montreal Convention Centre. Hosted annually in April during Easter holiday weekend. This rave has two separate rooms, one that plays house music and the other trance music. The party attracts large numbers of both gay and straight ravers, and usually lasts for more than 14 hours.