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Korova Bar Terroir
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Music:
- DJ
- Best Nights:
- Wed, Thu, Sat
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Good For Dancing:
- Yes
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
11 reviews for Korova Bar Terroir
11 reviews in English
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Review from Sahara A.
East York, ON
3/23/2012
Let me just say this first, and please take this to heart -
If you have to go to any one bar/club/pub in Montreal... GO HERE. You will not only get the best of all three worlds, but you'll have a killer good time!
The atmosphere was bang on. Not sleazy, not up tight, no over-the-top hipster-ey, just an absolute good time! Drinks aren't expensive and there's no cover charge (from what I remember). The staff are friendly. The people that go there are great fun and may I also emphasize that the music is fantastic! You will be dancing the night away with your friends (or anyone, really).
This place is a must.
Just a note - the music level varies from average to very loud (depending on how far away from the dance floor you are) -
Review from Greg M.
5/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Say it loud I'm hipster and I'm proud! I love it here. Great vibe, fair priced beer and a good sized dance floor. Sometimes the music isnt my style but the overall atmosphere and pool table make up for it.
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Review from CT M.
Montréal, QC
7/26/2011 3 Check-ins Here
A completely unpretentious hipster bar.
On the weekends, this place is packed to the walls with drunk hipster and students out to dance and have a good time. During mid-week, it's still a great place to head for drinks with friends -- and sometimes just randomly packs up after 11:30/12:00.
The bar has a decent selection of liquor and beer, including 750ml tall-boys of Pabst. And if it's really busy and you don't feel like waiting to be served, there's an old 7up machine by the washrooms that served up cans of ice-cold PBR at $4 a shot.
The staff are also really friendly and easy going, from the owners to the bartenders. In fact, the first drink I'd ever had there, I didn't even pay for. It was a quiet weeknight, and I was asking the owner about their bourbon selection while I waited for my date, and he served me a double of some premium and aged Kentucky straight bourbon on the house.
in a nutshell, a great place party it up on the weekend or just water yourself down during the week. -
Review from Jay W.
Montréal, QC
11/5/2008 6 photos
This is a completely biased perspective, given that I DJ the Saturdays, but I'll say that my involvement with Korova is entirely based on the fact that 1) I like the staff and 2) I like the place.
Since being taken over by a consortium of one self-declared prick, a pint-sized Persian, a surfer and a mysterious Portuguese man, this place has grown better by leaps and bounds. The decor has been described as what you'd imagine a late 70s basement rumpus room would look like if the older teenaged brother had been indulged his decorating tips - classic table-top video games used as tables, some kitschy Pabst Blue Ribbon signs, and Catholic icons. And yet, Pop's firm hand can be witnessed, too - in the form of two fireplaces, a gigantic stuffed caribou head on the bar, and three stuffed deer heads above the booths across the room. There's a pool table and a foosball table, as well.
Korova also boasts and hosts the varied DJ nights (natch), which cover the spectrum from - good Jesus - occasional bluegrass nights, classic rockabilly, post-disco boogie/rare groove, disco, classic rap, whatever newest indie hits are being hyped on Hype Machine, some of that dastardly blog house, and the perkier moments of 90s hip hop.
The Thursday night is one of the newer and sweeter nights - hosts Trevor Anderson (from the High Dials) and George Donoso III (formerly of the Dears, the guy even has his own Wikipedia entry. Wow.). It's called Thrills, Pills & Bellyaches and focuses primarily on the sorta pan-Atlantic hits from the mod and northern soul scenes, as well as classic R&B and soul. Always packed, plenty of dapper gentlemen and well-dressed young ladies packed onto the dancefloor and swinging away under the dull glow of the blue neon sunglasses above the DJ booth.
Wednesdays are hosted by two brothers and a Mennonite runaway from Saskatchewan. They play new-wave, sweet post-punk gems from way back when, and damaged post-rock that isn't lame, like Six Finger Satellite and associates. I bet they've played the Monorchid before. -
Review from D D.
Montréal, QC
3/10/2009
Chill place. Laid back. Dress codes? Not here! Come in pajamas and it's cool.
I noticed a lot of people working here have beards.
When I was there the DJ was playing some folk-type music a lot. That isn't really my thing.
But if you are with a good crowd, it is a perfect place to be silly and no one cares in the slightest.
Yeah, I agree. It is kind of like a basement, but it is on the 2nd floor so hold on to something/somewhone when you stumble down the stairs later and proceed to the next stop on St Laurent. -
Review from Jason L.
Montréal, QC
3/30/2010
This is my favourite Montreal dive bar. I try to stay away on the weekends, but pretty much any night from Wednesday to Saturday is a good night to check it out.
Korova is one of those places that's dead at 11:30pm, but jammed packed by midnight. My favourite characteristics include 750ml bottles of Pabst, Nick (one of the owners), one particular bartender, and a ridiculous amount of young, cute hipster girls.
Personally, my favourite nights are Wednesdays and Thursday because even though it's busy, you can still breathe and move. -
Review from Sara S.
7/10/2011
A Montreal institution! Good drinks, GOOD MUSIC, fun atmosphere, never ending line to the bathroom (one stall, too many people). It gets sweaty and crowded on weekends, but can be laid back and relaxing on weekdays, good for a beer or a good of baby-foot. By far my favorite place to dance in Montreal.
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Review from Dan K.
9/1/2008
Really cool upstairs bar on St Laurent. Really under the radar as far a bars and places to dance goes. Definitely no dress code. Admittedly a little bit of an American Apparel vibe, but that's what's awesome- it just means that you dont deal with egos, fights etc- it's just chill. Standard bar, like $5 Boreal.. Id say the best part is the dancing. Its basically a DJ with maybe a group of like 2 dozen people dancing in the front of the place. One of the best sets I've heard, some Justice, some Kanye, some Latin stuff, some remixed oldies, just everything- truly awesome. No thumping techno here.
Go to korovas- honestly, it's really cool -
Review from Misty D.
5/20/2011
Exactly what we were looking for! Worth the ride from Old town. We wanted a chill Bar...no house music, no pretense...just some Pabst Blue Ribbon! This is the place.
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Review from Gabrielle J.
10/6/2009
LOVE this bar! It's so nice to find someplace so laid back yet FUN in this classy town.
Reminds me of my old college bars- no rules on dress, no rules on debauchery, no rules.
Pool table, baby-foot (fuzbol) and a round of tequila shots at midnight to ring in my sister's 21st birthday! I will always remember this place! -
Review from BLAUGRAN A.
5/17/2011
Korova is one of my favorite bars, and I was only there as a tourist. In fact I have to thank Yelp! and the people who reviewed it or else I'd have never gone much less knew about the place.
I recently finally put paid to a long time yearning to see Montreal. Before I left I had the benefit of plenty of young locals whom I could reference for night spots. Montreal has a ton of night spots, but I wanted to seek a place or two that were "my speed" if you will. That meant dive bars. Well having been to Montreal now I can't say that I'm surprised that Biftek was mentioned. That lead to me Yelping and finding Blue Dog and then this place. So my first night out was a Saturday night and being the solitary traveller I was, Biftek was too crowded and Blue Dog was dead. That's not to mention that I was really sort of set on checking out Korova based on what I'd read here on Yelp!
Well I spent a good hour trying to find the place. I'd brought instructions with me on my trip, but I left them in the hotel room that night. So while I knew I'd passed it on Saint-Laurent at some point, I couldn't remember exactly where it was supposed to be. The folks I spoke with couldn't help either, which tells me that this place is a best kept secret. Eventually I found it the next day, but sadly that was a day late. Anyway, you're looking for the place the sign is small and it's an upstairs bar so it's easy to miss in the line of all the other bars and clubs on Saint-Laurent.
So I hit up the bar on a Sunday night. I read in the local paper that it was being DJed and it was "garage/punk" night which is largely right up my alley. So I headed out at about 10pm. Well when I got to the bar I was the only patron there. Literally. The DJ came upstairs as I came in and it was just he and the bartender. This turned out to be a blessing as both were really cool guys and despite being out by myself I felt right at home. In fact I ended up staying all night and closing the place. I had such a great time that I knew I'd be back the next night. One thing I will say about that night though is that despite it being "garage/punk" night, the music did change towards the end of the night as some people came in to dance and the DJ being as good as he was changed it up for the crowd. Now I'm a bit of a music snob and while I preferred the garage music, I could appreciate the music being changed up for the crowd.
Monday night rolled around and I headed back for a second night at about 10:30. Now this night was to be more of a "dance" night with more of a college crowd. Anyway, I'd met that night's bartender the night before and looking forward to another fun night out. Well they'd just opened at 10 and I was the first person there again. However a small group of locals came in shortly there after and took over the foosball table. As the night wore on the college crowd came in and the tiny dancefloor area picked up. As the night wore on I met more people and had another great time. It was a great too because the locals and the college kids were all mixed in just fine. All in all it was a fun and memorable night that I won't soon forget.
As for the bar itself, like I said before, it's a dive bar. It's cool though and it has it's own distinctive style. It's a bit small, but definitely not tiny. They wall have an elk trophy and a moose trophy and that sort of decor. There's a foosball table and a pool table. Apparently they used to have old-school video games (like Pacman) as tables,but those are gone now. The bathrooms have really cool saloon-style swing doors that are actually kind short. Then behind the bar you've got the Pabst fridge, which for a Milwaukee guy is cool to see.
I loved my trip to Montreal and I definitely plan on going back again for a number of reasons. Near the top of that list is Korova.
