Best Bartender
1. Bill at Saphir/Foufs
2. Gern F. at Grumpy's
3. Amir at Jet Club
4. Helen at Blue Dog
5. Jen at Cock 'n' Bull
6. Kim at Barfly
7. Heather at Jupiter Room
8. Karl at Parking
9. Stacey at Tokyo
10. Adalia Weinstein at Cheers Pointe-Claire
Honourable mentions: Nancy Ross at Biftek • Daniel at Blue Dog •
Sylva at Foufs • Nick the Prick at Korova
Best Waiter/Waitress
1. Julie Young at La Cabane
2. Susan at Biftek
3. Felicity Hammer at Brutopia
4. Vicky at Jet Club
5. Catherine at Club Passeport
6. Laura Monetta at Wunderbar
7. Lisa at Parking
8. Anna at Bifteck
9. Caroline at Saphir
10. Marie-Claude at Copacabana
Honourable mentions: Reno at L'Île Noire • Sabrina at Green Room
• Robin at Typhoon • Shelly at Else's
Best Watering Hole
1. Bar Bifteck
2. Brutopia
3. Peel Pub
4. Barfly
5. Cock 'n' Bull Pub
6. Foufounes Électriques
7. Madhatter
8. Le Pistol
9. Grumpy's
10. Hurleys
Best Sleazy Dive
1. Miami
2. Bifteck
3. Barfly
4. Cock 'n' Bull
5. Skala
6. Foufounes Électriques
7. Peel Pub
8. Roy Bar
9. Cleopatra's
10. Bar Diana
Best Happy Hour
1. Carlos & Pepes
2. Peel Pub
3. Vol de Nuit
4. McKibbin's
5. Cheers
6. Brutopia
7. Newtown
8. Foufounes Électriques
9. Sky Pub
10. Madhatter
Best Pickup Spot
1. Thursdays
2. Jet
3. Cheers
4. Foufounes Électriques
5. Le Parking
6. Jupiter Room
7. Café Campus
8. GoGo Lounge
9. St-Sulpice
10. Tokyo Bar
Best-Looking Clientele
1. Jet
2. Time Supper Club
3. Buona Notte
4. Wunderbar
5. Saphir
6. Globe
6. Foufounes Électriques
7. Newtown
8. Club Next
9. Tokyo
10. Club 737
Best Terrasse
1. Saint-Sulpice
2. Sainte-Elizabeth
3. 737 Altitude
4. Tokyo
5. Vol de Nuit
6. Foufounes Électriques
7. Winnie's
8. Miami
9. Madhatter
10. Thursdays
Best Live Venue
1. Metropolis
2. Spectrum
3. La Sala Rossa
4. Club Soda
5. Le Swimming
6. Café Campus
7. Foufounes Électriques
8. Cabaret
9. Bell Centre
10. Medley
Honourable mentions: Casa del Popolo • Dome • La Tulipe • Divan
Orange • Corona
While Montreal has seen an explosion of live-music venues in the
last year or two, it's the big old standbys that still finish on top
in this category. The newcomers did get a little buzz, though - La
Tulipe, Divan Orange and the newly revitalized Corona all earned tips
of the hat.
Best Lounge
1. Luba Lounge
2. Jello Bar
3. Buddha Bar
4. GoGo
5. Kafein
6. Sofa
7. Kunta Lounge
8. Laïka
9. Blizzarts
10. Pub Quartier Latin
Not much change here, with Luba again taking top place, followed by
the snazzy martini joint Jello, Buddha and GoGo. The upstarts here are
Kafein, the groovy basement hangout on Bishop that gives Concordia
students a sweet spot to chill, chat and generally avoid schoolwork,
and the groove-oriented joint Kunta on St-Denis.
Best Jazz Bar
1. Upstairs
2. House of Jazz
3. Jello Bar
4. Le Swimming
5. Bily Kun
6. L'Escogriffe
7. Pub Quartier Latin
8. Le Bebop
9. Cobalt
10. Sofa
There would indeed be something wrong if Upstairs, the city's
premier jazzbo joint, didn't take its usual number-one spot in this
category. Venues like Jello, Swimming, Bily Kun, l'Esco and Quartier
Latin don't necessarily constitute jazz bars, though they certainly
have their fair share of jazz, or at least jazz-flavoured, bands play
their stages. It's probably more a matter of providing the right
ambience for a jazz session, and that they do.
Best Dance Club
1. Jet
2. Dome
3. Tokyo
4. Parking
5. Orchid
6. Saphir
7. Stereo
8. Le Loft
9. Time
10. 1234 de la Montagne
With the number-one DJ (Quest) and night (Flight Fridays, below),
the swanky Jet remains aloft at No. 1 in this category. Dome, Tokyo
and Parking maintain their respective positions, while the elegant
Orchid and bat-cave-alicious Saphir clamber up a notch or two. Time,
ostensibly an upscale eatery, seems to be pretty positive about
clientele dancing off their dinners.
Best Club Night
1. Flight Fridays at Jet
2. Back 2 Basics at Blue Dog
3. Thursday nights at Parking
4. Hypnotic Thursdays at Club Next
5. Dark Wave Nights at Saphir
6. Diva at Jet
7. L'Eighties Night at Jupiter Room
8. Classic Saturdays at Exit
9. Fuego Fridays at Stereo
10. Funky Ass Tuesdays at Jello Bar
Flight night takes it again, with Blue Dog's Back 2 Basics barking
at its heels - same as last year, and a direct parallel to the Best
Local DJ category, topped by Jet's Quest and Blue Dog's DR One. The
Dark Wave Nights go up a bit, L'Eighties Night slides a couple of
notches, and Club Next's Hypnotic Thursdays have mesmerized the
regulars into giving it an unusually high first-time ranking.
Best Afterhours
1. Circus
2. Stereo
3. Aria
4. Red-Lite
5. Sona
6. Gravity
7. Millennium
Millennium, the East End addition to this category, appears for the
first time, joining the standbys of the big-room, dance-till-daybreak
dens. Sona's still on there, which is wishful thinking since its out
of commission.
Best Rave/Party
1. Bal en Blanc
2. Black & Blue
3. Cream
4. Celebration
5. Hard as Fuck 3
6. Underground Legacy
7. I Love Neon
8. Eclipse
9. Kops Crew New Year's Eve
10. Picnik Électronik
The top three slots over here remain constant, with Bal en Blanc
and Black & Blue proving that when Montreal sees a circuit, we
know how to work it (and for a good cause). The really hardcore
techno, repped at Hard as Fuck, makes some noise, and the inclusion of
Picnik Électronik, the Sunday-afternoon weeklies on Île Ste-Hélène,
whets the appetite for summer days to come.
Best Strip Club
1. Wanda's
2. Chez Paree
3. Super Sexe
4. Amazons
5. Kamasutra
6. Solid Gold
7. 281
8. Club Downtown
9. Le Stock
10. Château du Sexe
Best Gay Bar
1. Parking
2. Unity 2
3. Sky
4. Cabaret Mado
5. Drugstore
6. Stereo Bar
7. Agora
8. Club Date
9. Café Cleopatra
10. Le Stud
Best Lesbian Bar
1. Drugstore
2. Magnolia
3. Femme Fridays at Parking
4. Sky
5. Meow Mix at Sala Rossa
6. Sisters
7. Unity II
8. Club Chez Mado
9. Station C
10. Super Sexe
Best Drag Queen
1. Mado
2. Plastik Patrik
3. Manny
4. Sheena Hershey
5. Kiki
6. Michel Dorion
7. Gina the Drag Piper
8. Popline
9. Verushka
10. Madame Simone
Best Pool Hall
1. Sharx
2. Le Swimming
3. Le Skratch
4. Fats
5. Boul Noir
6. Drugstore
7. Montreal Pool Room
8. Bacci
9. El Jumanji
10. Rack 'n' Roll
While the top four slots in this category remain the same as last
year, the up-and-comers are new, with the ultra-hip Boul Noir making a
definite splash in fifth place. Good to see the lower St-Laurent
fixture Montreal Pool Room, which has been around forever, making the
list again, although that may have more to do with their legendary hot
dogs than anything else.
Best Comedy Bar
1. Comedy Nest
2. Comedyworks
3. Comedy Zone
Best Standup Comedian
1. Sugar Sammy
2. Joey Elias
3. Derick Lengwenus
4. Lydia Lockett
5. Martin Matte
6. Louis-José Houde
7. Mike Paterson
8. Jeff O'Brian
9. Massimo
10. Bowser and Blue
Best in Montreal information obtained from Montreal Mirror
