I was very excited to go to this bar! I heard so many great things about it and I wanted to experience a true local music scene; I'm an American visiting Montreal for the first time. I looked up the upcoming blues/rock show and made sure I had just enough for the $10 cover. Since I was driving back to the States the next day I made sure to have exactly enough so I wouldn't have to go to an ATM again and end up with surplus cash before leaving the country.
I arrived around 8:45pm and was greeted by an attentive bartender and friendly locals that were excited to talk to me about this place. Their free 4-9pm regular acoustic show is solid.
I'm giving this a low rating because when it came around to collect the cover for the featured 10:30pm show, I was told I had to pay $12 for a "coat check fee." This is stated nowhere on the website. I pulled up the website and pointed out the $10; and was repeatedly told I still had to pay the extra $2 for "coat check" even though I was content to hold my coat or to even put it in my bag.
I'm not sure if this was a purposeful act because they don't want Americans at this bar, or maybe they REALLY wanted those extra $2...I ended up leaving because I just didn't feel like taking out the extra $24.50 for that "coat check" fee.
I dislike establishments that make up rules to charge more money to their customers or to discriminate against specific people. So unfortunately I am posting a public PSA on this place.