A stirred amber cocktail in a cut-crystal rocks glass with orange peel twists, on a dark veined stone bar top in a dim room

Cocktail bar / Old Montréal

The Coldroom

RING THE BELL, GO DOWN

An unmarked cold-room speakeasy in Old Montréal with a short, serious cocktail list.

From home: 25 min walk; 1.86 km, or 6 min by car
Spend: $$$$; est. $25-50 per person
Our dates: Open Tue-Thu. Mon holiday hours unconfirmed; Give it 1 to 1.5 hours

Mood photo, not this exact place.Photo: Pylyp Sukhenko, Unsplash License

The verdict

Go for the room and the drinks: a converted 1877 cold storage space, an unmarked door with a bell, and cocktails that twist classics. Order the Sallerac, then something from the Classics list. It is walk-in only, so go early on Friday or Saturday or expect a wait. Not a dinner stop; the food is snacks.

Canada's Best Bars 2026 No. 32
North America's 50 Best Bars 2026 list
Unmarked door and converted cold room

Order this

Tap the circle to want it. Tap again once it's eaten.

The Coldroom, the short list

Must order
Sallerac
$21
House cocktail with Courvoisier VS, double jus, rhubarb, Peychaud's and absinthe.
Canada's 100 Best calls it a house favourite. Official menu spells it Salleräc/Sallerac; $21 read from a repeated-price layout, recheck.
On their menu: Official website
Penicillin
$25
Coldroom Classics: Suntory Toki, Islay single malt, honey, ginger, lemon.
A classic done by a team held to a classics-first standard.
On their menu: Official website
Airmail
$18
Coldroom Classics: Appleton 8, honey, lime, prosecco.
Cheapest serious classic on the list.
On their menu: Official website
Grilled cheese
Emmental and cheddar. Menu also shows a $15 price nearby, possibly a bourbon butter and caramelized onion version; unclear.
The one real food order; Canada's 100 Best mentions a grilled cheese du jour snack.
On their menu: Official website. $14 or $15 on the official menu, layout ambiguous
Rillettes
$15
Pork and apple rillettes with cornichons and crostini.
Proper bar food for the second round; also mentioned by Canada's 100 Best.
On their menu: Official website
Saucisson bio de Charlevoix
$9
Organic saucisson from Charlevoix.
Cheap, quick, goes with anything stirred.
On their menu: Official website

Menus change. Prices are from the posted menu, before tax and tip.

What people actually say

Recurring themes, not cherry-picked quotes.

Love

The hidden entrance and bell ritual
Brick and wood room built into a historic cold store
Cocktails that twist classics
Part of a recognised bar group with awards

Know before you go

Walk-in only, so expect a possible wait at peak times
Intimate room with several nooks
No reservations, first come first served
Entrance is a back door marked by a painted duck; ring the bell (per Canada's 100 Best)
Mon Oct 12 holiday hours unconfirmed
Street number differs across sources (401 Rue Saint-Vincent vs 230 Rue Saint-Paul Ouest); official site gives only Saint-Amable x Saint-Vincent

Dishes that keep coming up

Sallerac, Grilled cheese, Rillettes

Room: Intimate, dim, speakeasy; the 50 Best entry mentions a classic rock soundtrack.
Service: Run by a team of career bartenders per mtl.org.
Value: Menu cocktails $13-27; mid-range for a ranked bar.

Synthesized from award and tourism write-ups; aggregator summaries (En Primeur, RestoMontreal) not re-verified. No Reddit thread found; platform reviews not accessible.

Vibe check

moody/intimate/scene y/cozy

Best forpre-dinner or late drink, date night, cocktail nerds

How much we'll spend

$$$$Est. $25-50 / person

Cocktails $16-27 on official menu, snacks $7-15; two drinks and a snack. Estimate.

Our estimate from posted prices, CAD, before tax and tip. Québec purchases carry the 5% federal GST plus the 9.975% Québec Sales Tax (QST, TVQ in French): 14.975% combined on taxable items. Tourisme Montréal: it is customary to tip restaurant servers, taxi drivers and hairdressers 15% of the bill, before taxes. Bellhops, porters and doormen generally get at least $2 per bag or service; coffee and food counters often have a tip cup by the register.

On our dates

Sun-Thu 5pm-1am, Fri-Sat 3pm-1am

Mon 12Maybe5pm to 1amThanksgiving: holiday hours unconfirmed
Tue 13Open5pm to 1am
Wed 14Open5pm to 1am
Thu 15Open5pm to 1am

Thanksgiving MondayNo holiday notice on official site as of Oct 8; no source mentions Oct 12, 2026. Regular Monday hours are not evidence.

Full week

Mon	5pm to 1am
Tue	5pm to 1am
Wed	5pm to 1am
Thu	5pm to 1am
Fri	3pm to 1am
Sat	3pm to 1am
Sun	5pm to 1am

Official site: Sun-Thu 5pm-1am, Fri-Sat 3pm-1am. Third-party listings differ (some say daily 5pm-1am). Official site used.

Hours from the venue's own listing, checked Oct 8, 2026.

Pair it with

El Pequeño Bar, same hospitality group per the official site, for a lighter second stop
Bisou Bisou, same group per the official site, for a different mood

Where

401 Rue Saint-Vincent, Montréal, QC H2Y 1G8

25 min walk (1.86 km) / 6 min drive, no traffic / 13 min by bike

From 216 Rue Young. Routes from OpenStreetMap data; transit times are in the maps app.

Show on our map thecoldroommtl.com Instagram

Official site says no reservations, first come first served. Ring the bell at the unmarked black door and wait to be let in.

While you're there

Two cocktails on a dark table in a dim room with green velvet seats: a pale yellow drink in a cut-glass coupe with apple slices, and a red amber drink with citrus in a rocks glass

SHERRY BEFORE DINNER

Bisou Bisou

Old Montréal26 min walk$$$$

1 min walk from here

A tiled-roof paifang gate with blue and gold painted panels spans a pedestrian street in Montréal's Chinatown, with trees and brick buildings beyond.

SMALL BLOCK, REAL APPETITE

Chinatown (Quartier chinois)

Chinatown / Quartier chinois (Ville-Marie)27 min walk$$$$

3 min walk from here

Overhead view of sliced steak with french fries on an oval white plate, beside a glass of white wine, a bread roll and a small bouquet, on a green wooden table

JAZZ WITH YOUR STEAK FRITES

Modavie

Old Montréal23 min walk$$$$

3 min walk from here

SILVER DOME, LOCAL GOODS

Marché Bonsecours

Old Montréal28 min walk$$$$

4 min walk from here

Close-up of crusty sourdough baguettes standing in a wicker basket, with more baskets of bread softly blurred behind

BREAD FIRST, WINE SECOND

La Cave à Manger

Old Montréal (Vieux-Montréal)29 min walk$$$$

5 min walk from here

Night view of the stone facade of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel in Old Montréal, floodlit, with a gilded statue of Mary above the door and blue-lit bell towers against a black sky

OLD MONTRÉAL'S QUIET ONE

Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours et Musée Marguerite-Bourgeoys

Old Montréal (Vieux-Montréal)30 min walk$$$$

5 min walk from here

Two cream garments on hangers from a steel rail against a pale textured concrete wall, with a rounded stone-coloured sculpture on a table in the foreground

ARCHITECTURE FIRST, CLOTHES SECOND

SSENSE Montréal

Old Montréal22 min walk$$$$

6 min walk from here

A candlelit-looking corner table with white linen, bentwood chairs and a small glass vase, a blue evil-eye charm glowing on a brick wall beside a dark glass window

GREEK, DRESSED UP

Mama C

Old Montréal21 min walk$$$$

6 min walk from here

The receipt

Where every fact on this page comes from.

Fact-checkedResearched and independently re-checked Oct 8, 2026, 4 details corrected. Confidence: medium.

Details to confirm

Exact civic address: 401 Rue Saint-Vincent (Canada's 100 Best) vs 230 Rue Saint-Paul Ouest (one listing); official site gives no number
Open on Thanksgiving Mon Oct 12?
Grilled cheese price (14 or 15) and Sallerac price need live-menu check
Closure/rebrand news search not re-run in verification

OfficialOfficial website: Home: hours, no reservationsaccessed 2026-10-08
OfficialOfficial website: Menuaccessed 2026-10-08
AwardCanada's 100 Best: The Coldroom, Best Bars 2026 No. 32accessed 2026-10-08
AwardNorth America's 50 Best Bars: 2026 51-100 listaccessed 2026-10-08
EditorialTime Out Montréal: Best bars in Montreal (Apr 2024)accessed 2026-10-08
AwardNorth America's 50 Best Bars: The Coldroom venue pageaccessed 2026-10-08
Tourismmtl.org: The Coldroomaccessed 2026-10-08
EditorialEn Primeur Club: The Coldroom listingaccessed 2026-10-08
CommunityRestoMontreal: The Coldroom listingaccessed 2026-10-08

RecognitionCanada's Best Bars 2026, No. 32; North America's 50 Best Bars 2026, No. 97 (51-100 list); Time Out Montréal 65 best bars (Apr 2024), No. 2