Upstairs – It’s Jazztastic!
Just a few steps below the street level on Mackay, you will find a quaint little hidden gem called Upstairs Jazz Bar and Grill. This place caught my eyes from the moment I glimpsed in through the window and saw an upright bass musician jamming away. As an avid jazz fan, I squealed like a little girl and excitedly walked in.
The place: dimly lit room. Very jazz-y and intimate. The Chicago 1950’s feel, complete with brick walls covered with an array of frames, takes you away from the downtown Montreal feel the moment you walk in. All that’s missing is the cloud of smoke hanging in the room (damn this ban!). The food is simple yet tasty and the staff is remarkably friendly. The ditsy, large breasted blonde bimbos you’d find as a nightclub bartender working for tips would not fit in to this classy, old-fashioned joint. Surprisingly, the prices are extremely fair. This place has a vibe I haven’t seen in a long time in Montreal, which is always a bonus since it seems that so many places follow the same template nowadays. A generally older crowd (30+) can appreciate this cozy, laid-back feel where people can share their passion for music.
Several times a week, you will find live performances by jazz artists. For that alone, it’s worth to check out Upstairs. Don’t get me wrong; you don’t have to adore jazz to go. When the performances are done for the night (roughly by midnight), the crowd gets back to it’s lively pace.
I fell in love with this place the moment I walked in. There’s a certain warmth in the personal interactions you can never find in a nightclub.
Their wine list isn’t too extensive, so I’d stick with the drinks. If you’re in the mood for a quick bite, get the Antipasti for 2, you can’t go wrong with calamari, smoked salmon, grilled chicken and a few other ingredients to pleasure your taste buds.
Bonus: Check out their website for scheduled performances as well as special recipes with step-by-step instructions.
www.upstairsjazz.com
Time Supper Club for Ballers Only
What happened to saving your money and not spending it foolishly during the recession? It seems that I’m the only one who’s broke these days, as the higher-end clubs are packed with the rich and the wealthy, and Montreal can’t seem to cater all of them. It used to be a rarity – “bottle service”. Now, no one steps foot outside their homes unless they have a reservation and a table, with a 6L bottle of Moet & Chandon to boot with.
Time Supper Club opened its doors to the public in 2002 and has been active since. I don’t know anything about ownership changes, what it used to look like the year before or what they serve on the menu, but I will tell you that they are definitely doing very well for themselves. I would think that a club that’s not on the St-Catherine strip or its surrounding area would fail business-wise, but this is not the case for Time. Naturally, I would suspect the place is advertised mainly by word of mouth from party-goers who happen to have an excellent time and had to mention to everybody they meet about the experience. And this works very well for the club, because they keep an exclusive image and distance themselves from their competitors.
There used to be a club in New York City, dubbed “Studio 54″. It used to be the place to go to in the 70′s as a lot of celebrities used to frequent it, and being seen there was a Big Deal™. With that said, good luck getting in because the doormen for Studio 54 were selective and only chose people who were either loaded or simply beautiful, the latter being surprisingly more important. In Time’s case, it rather have both qualities present in its clientele. The 20$ cover charge seems to prevent bums from accidentally getting inside, yet I don’t understand why people who reserve a table beforehand have to pay this silly tax. If I’m spending over 1000$ in a single night, why are you charging me 20$ to get in?
Time is definitely a great looking place, with its high ceiling, flashy lights and its glittering disco ball make you feel like you’re high class. The decor, atmosphere and overall quality and cleanliness of the place shows, although ignore the napkins tossed all over the floor. At the end of the night, you’ll most likely be tossing a few in the air yourself. There is an upstairs VIP section with its own private bar for those intimate nights with loved ones, which was vacant the last time I went surprisingly.
I’ve heard numerous times about the clientele being snobby or uptight at Time, but I personally did not notice any irregularities. Then again, I’m usually not affected as I’m not exactly a scrawny guy to get pushed around, so people tend to move out of the way for me when I’m coming through (I still excuse myself when I cut through, mind you). I think people should expect snobbishness, especially in a setting of this sort: you’ve got bottles of alcohol lined up across tables and money flying through the air. I’m not saying it’s okay to act like an asshole among other clientele, but expect people to be full of themselves as it makes them feel better about the money they’re plunking down to get crunked.
Pros
- Awesome decor, lights and atmosphere
- Decent sound system, great music
- Vacant & free parking around club
- People are well dressed and beautiful
Cons
- Drinks aren’t cheap; 10$ average
- Getting in is a bitch, so reserve a table beforehand or find friends with connections
- Clientele is somewhat snobby, be prepared
- Mens washrooms are too small; urinals are too close to each other
- Silly 20$ entrance tax
Moomba: yeah, I know, it’s in Laval
When it first opened, Montreal promoters used to hold bets on how long it would take for Moomba to close down. Funny thing is, Moomba outlasted not only the clubs those promoters represented, but the promoters themselves! The fact is that Moomba redefined clubbing and introduced the supper club concept in the Montreal area.
The question is: What is the secret to Moomba’s success? I think it’s a combination of many things:
- Good food and good music
- Large, spacious and nicely decorated
- Free and abundant Parking: It’s in a shopping center, so that explains it
- Bouncers who actually do their job: You will never see teeny boppers in this joint
- Great shows and special events that are always out of the ordinary
- Great management and the ever-so sociable Jack
There are probably some other reasons that I’m forgetting or ignoring, but this place is all about Montrealing, even if it’s not physically on the island.