The entertainment capital of Canada, Montreal is a bustling island city. Originally monikered ‘Ville Marie,’ the enchantment here is all wrapped up in its unique Quebecois language and culture, rooted in 16th-century France. That pre-revolutionary seasoning helps make the city super friendly and liberal to boot. But fully in the sophisticated present are the bars, restaurants, saunas, clubs, boutiques, B∓Bs, and festivals abounding in this sexually-charged city.
Though the axis of the gay action predominates in “The Village,” along Ste. Catherine Street from St. Denis through Lorimier, gay and gay-friendly establishments are just about everywhere in Montreal.
Contrary to popular belief, U.S. visitors do not need a passport to enter Canada or return home if traveling by land or sea until mid 2009. A driver’s license and birth certificate is all that’s required. But for air travel, a passport is indeed now de rigeur.
Montreal Map
We will be updating this with detailed listings shortly. In the mean time, check the full review below.
The Scene
The Scene
Jet-set boys flock to Bad Boys Club Montreal circuit parties, gathering at places such as the multi-level Sky Pub (1474 Ste. Catherine E) with a roof-top tub, or Club Unity Montreal (1171 Ste. Catherine E), or Stereo (858 Ste. Catherine E), or Parking Pub (1295 Amherst, corner Ste. Catherine), still achingly popular after all these years.
Leather-denim types hang out at the archetypal Stud (1812 Ste. Catherine E), where the ambiance is easy-going. Le Stud features a smallish dance floor chock full of sweaty boys, two pool tables, and an upstairs bar for weekend overflow. In season, they open the windows onto Ste. Catherine and Papineau, and there’s a sidewalk terrace. Montreal’s active bear community holds regular events here. Wednesdays at the Stud are well trafficked by girls — the real ones!
Black Eagle (1315 Ste. Catherine E), also known as L’Aigle Noir, is warm and dark, with sex videos contributing both light and heat. Rubber guys gather in the very low-lit back bar. If luck favors you, you’ll be there for a Wet Underwear night or one of the Eagle’s other special parties.
At Parking Pub (1295 Amherst) the ambiance is more subdued, typical of Montreal’s taverns; it’s mostly jeans and leather you’ll find here. The pub features a new four-season, enclosed terrace. Boyz Night Out is celebrated every Monday. Hamlet Roney and Chris Ozanick host live performances, there are go-go boys and girls, shows, weekly theme nights, and surprise door prizes are in store. The Tunnel — a very sexual leather venue tucked beneath Parking — adds to the allure here.
Drugstore (1360 Ste. Catherine E) is four stories of gay action where men and women mix, with the latter seeming preponderant.
The Hotel Bourbon complex (1574 Ste. Catherine E) comprises an entire block. Guests have access to several bars and restaurants in the complex. Year round there’s street trade on the block surrounding the complex and in the park behind the hotel.
Club Date (1218 Ste. Catherine E) opens early in the day, but most of the action is at night when there’s karaoke on tap. In season they open the front window-doors to create instant access to the Ste. Catherine Street bazaar.
Cabaret Mado (1115 Ste. Catherine E) is Montreal’s famous drag bar/restaurant, where a beautiful gay-and-straight crowd intersperses.
Bar Cocktail (1669 Ste. Catherine E), great for happy-hour specials, is a piano bar — a unique venue in the Village.
Bar Relaxe (1309 Ste. Catherine E), as the name suggests, is laid-back and the clientele is easy-going and generally mature.
Tools (1592 Ste. Catherine E) is brand new. Hailing itself as a club and playroom, it’s open just Friday through Sunday. Their dance floor gets well-trod by oodles of locals and a playroom in the back makes for a “full” night out.
Gotha Bar (1641 Amherst) is where locals prefer to hang. The fireplace adds charm to this bar’s warm ambiance.
Back on Ste. Catherine Street, Bar Meteor (1661 Ste. Catherine E) features fixed-menu suppers and frequent live entertainment, when they push back the tables for la danse sociale. Bar Rocky (1673 Ste. Catherine E) offers up hardcore videos and frequent live entertainment. It’s a neighborhood men’s bar, much like the always-crowded L’Idem Bar (1669 Ste. Catherine E), where the second floor is packed with video poker machines.
Club Legends (1452 Ste. Catherine E) is soon to unfurl itself on the masses. Having housed several sex clubs (including Le Backroom and Club Play quite recently), this solid old post-office building is quite the venue.
Located in downtown Montreal, the city’s longest-running gay establishment Mystique (1424 rue Stanley) still gets by.
Nude Dance Bars
Nude dancer bars
You won’t find a scene such as this anywhere else in North America. Lip-smackingly delicious men peel off their clothing to an audience all agape, necks craned with almost priapic anticipation, till not a stitch is left to doff. This denouement heats up a notch more in the secluded VIP lounges, where one-on-one lap dancing is refined into an art form.
Campus (1111 Ste. Catherine E) offers guys from all over the beauty spectrum in the friendliest of atmospheres. It’s a great place to have a drink with friends, play pool, or of course savor the gorgeous dancers. The daily action commences at 3 p.m. The bar’s low-light VIP section behind the DJ booth is plush.
There’s great entertainment, including the signature shower show, at Stock (1171 Ste. Catherine), where the VIP lounge is large and discreet, and the two backrooms promise much frolic. To preview Le Stock dancers, check the bar’s websites for dancers’ profiles and photo galleries, plus live action — for a nominal fee — from 9 p.m. till 2 a.m.
Farther down Ste. Catherine Street, check out the hot, crowded action at Bar Adonis (1681 Ste. Catherine E), holding court to admirers of young guys.
Beautiful young dancers is certainly the theme at Taboo (1950 de Maisonneuve). The international selection of boys dance the night away to a clientele that just can’t get enough. If only the curtained secluded private dance area could speak! Taboo is well-thronged every night of the week.
Saunas
Saunas & sex
Montrealers are sauna lovers and you’re certain to find chaleur (warmth) in them.
The always-relaxing Sauna Centre-ville (1465 Ste. Catherine E) offers 60 rooms, plus steam and sauna, on two floors.
Sauna Sainte Catherine (1836 Ste. Catherine E) is the newest one in town and unique owing to its inviting dance floor, live DJs, and an XXX-cinema. A giant screen (for TV and movies) keeps the ambiance percolating.
Sauna Oasis (1390 Ste. Catherine E) is in the heart of the gay village, and for over a year, the new owners and staff have been tinkering and improving. Check out the brand new steam room, the dry sauna, legendary oversized whirlpool, the glory holes, the XXX movie theater, the two dark rooms, and the pool table area. Among the events here are the Nude Dude Mondays, Hot and Sweaty Tuesdays, the Wednesday Jock, with an outrageous foam party on Thursday nights
G.I. Joe Sauna (1166 Ste. Catherine E) features four floors of action with a large wet area and an active labyrinth. Their clientele is largely leather-oriented.
Downtown, 456 (456 de la Gaucheti?re W) bills itself as “Canada’s largest,” with 130 rooms. There’s a swimming pool large enough to do laps in, on the main floor, and a full gym downstairs, plus the requisite sauna, whirlpool, steam, and snack bar. The 456 will also feature a sauna-lounge — the first in Montreal — with a retro-futuristic ambiance in mind. Soon it will include cool furniture, sofas, light-cube tables. Light will be a theme here along with water — there will be a laser projector and a brilliant use of blue LEDs, and a corridor scintillating with flat-screen TVs. Relaxing chill-out music will murmur over the new sound system.
On the Plateau Mont Royal, three saunas vie for your attention.
Sauna 5018 (5018 Boulevard St. Laurent) is well frequented and well maintained. There’s a dry sauna, a big whirlpool, a sun deck, masseur on-premises, and a snack bar proffering home-made fare.
At SDP (961 rue Rachel), which stands for Sauna Du Plateau , people are bien amiable. Their large rooftop terrace is slammed all summer. SDP’s popular labyrinth goes by the name Alcatraz. This sauna also offers several “hotel rooms” with in/out privileges.
Colonial Bath (3963 Colonial Avenue) has been serving the community since 1914. The clientele throw water onto heated rocks to create their own steam, and you’d best stay away from the iron door in front of the furnace when they do that! Some even wear hats to protect from the heat blast. Many bring oak or maple switches for self-flagellation, in the old Russian tradition. There’s a rather hot tub, saunas (both wet and dry), private rooms, lockers, plus massage services, and plenty of areas to relax especially in the warm months when the garden and rooftop terraces are open.
Restaurants
Eating out
If you’re heading out to eat, try the fare at the previously mentioned Club Sandwich (1570 Ste. Catherine E). They serve a variety of huge club sandwiches with equally generous helpings of frites, plus soups, breakfasts, cakes, and more — 24 hours a day. The other restaurants in the complex are Orient Express, with its dining-car ambiance, and the large, open Cafe Europeen, which overflows with activity and, in-season, offers outdoor seating.
Planete (1451 Ste. Catherine E) seduces the maw with cuisine solaire. With 14 years under its belt, it’s one of the pioneers of the scene. The diverse menu features seafood, salad, grilled items, delicious frites, and prize-winning desserts. The “Planetinis,” creative martini combos — such as Up Uranus, Mars Attack, and Sweet Hell — are intoxicatingly good. Happy hour is from 5 to 7 p.m. every day. A Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. through 3 p.m., and two-for-one Tuesday dinners are always popular.
Colombe (554 Duluth E, corner of St. Hubert, on the Plateau Mont Royal) caters sterling French fare. Italian cuisine shines at Piccolo Diavolo (1336 Ste. Catherine E), Donatella Cafe Lounge (1453 Ste. Catherine E), and at the cheery and bustling Strega (1477 Ste. Catherine E).
Home to the well-received Saloon burger, as well as fajitas, pasta, and more, Saloon (1333 Ste. Catherine E) is a prime spot to meet up with friends in the Village.
Bato Thai (1310 Ste. Catherine E) aims to please with the romance of dim lighting and superbly fragrant Thai cuisine.
Kilo Cafe (1495 Ste. Catherine E) is a hangout serving light fare, coffees, and desserts. Their gargantuan cakes, such as Poire-William and Choco-Banane, merit a favorable mention.
The long-standing Resto du Village (1310 Wolfe), serving “homemade” food from breakfast to dinner, is open 24 hours every day.
Shopping
Shopping and Grooming
Don’t miss the action at Priape (1311 Ste. Catherine E). They are pioneers of the gay scene, having set up shop almost 30 years ago. Browse the huge selection of jeans and party wear, underwear, bathing suits, videos/DVDs, pleasure toys, lubes, books, and all the gay paraphernalia you can dream of. Priape’s famous leather studio is tucked downstairs within the store. There you’ll find not just quality leather goodies but latex and chain mail as well.
For porn viewing, Wega Complex (930 Ste. Catherine E) is the place. Several peeps and a cinema are on premises. They also vend everything from dildos to ball stretchers, lotions and lubes, body supplements, and the latest porn in DVD and on tape.
Physotech Plus (1657 Amherst) is Montreal’s pampering leader. Massage, electro-muscle stimulation, hair styling, bronzage, skin care, laser hair removal, and related services are on the menu, but book in advance because the boutique is busier than ever. It’s located a block-and-a-half from Ste. Catherine Street, on Amherst.
