I went to this SAQ Express in order to pick up something for my friend's birthday party. Since I…read morewasn't familiar with what type of wine he prefers drinking, I opted to buy a gift certificate for him. It is a standard SAQ Express meaning that it doesn't have all the items that a full SAQ will carry but prior to me buying the gift certificate, I did see that it had the items that I would normally buy for myself. The gift certificates are by the cash. I picked up the gift certificate (card) and asked the cashier to put $25 on the card. He gave me a small envelope to hold the card. I paid for the card using my credit card and was on my way. This SAQ Express has a few (I estimate ~5) very small and cramped free parking spaces next to the building. In front of the building (on the street), there is pay parking (using the standard Montreal parking meters). It is less than a 2 minute walk from the Cote Vertu metro station so it is easy to get to this place. It opens late at 11am but closes late as well (10pm). I gave this place 3.5 stars which I've rounded to 4 stars since 0.5 star are not possible and I didn't want to shortchange the business.

A couple years ago Maltéhops hosted this whacky horror street festival along Wellington. I found it…read morea little strange that a speciality beer store was hosting a horror street festival but didn't investigate further. I finally got around to visiting the shop itself and it alllll came together: it's a tastefully horror nerdy beer shop with all the fixings. I love it- everything about this store reflects the unique personality and passion of the owners. Honesty, I'm so impressed with the variety of speciality beer, spirits, wines and ciders. In fact, it's overwhelming. Also, as an occasional teetotaler their selection of alcohol free drinks was amazing. More and more brands are developing interesting booze-free alternatives and this place has a great variety. While I didn't buy a ton on the booze front today I epically indulged in their snack selection- the salmon jerky and chorizo were both great. I'm also really impressed with their extensive hot sauce wall. Overall, a great place to indulge and definitely a great spot for gifts for foodie friends.

Everything you need..or..ask and you shall receive. Handy location and late hours yo accommodate…read morethe bring-ur-own booze places in gentrified Verdun. The owner is super friendly..obviously knowledgeable and loves his beer. Go in..ask for something new..or buy a gift..their gift certificates are made of cool chunks of wood from his shop!

"So goodbye yellow brick road Where the dogs of society…read morehowl" (Elton John) The SAQ stands for the Société des Alcools du Québec. It's the network of government-run liquor stores in Quebec. It manages the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages across the province and operates its own retail stores. We were fortunate enough to win a gift card to SAQ at a charity event last week, so one of our final visits in Montreal was to walk over to this small store at the Place D'Armes and pick up whatever we could for our C$50 prize. Although the store wasn't very large it was very neat and fully stocked, with prices clearly marked for every bottle and can in the store. One of their sales associates was very friendly and helped us find what we were looking for. I'm a big Bloody Mary fan, and from previous trips to Canada knew that "Bloody Caesars" are favored up here. The differ from a Bloody Mary by using Clamato juice instead of a tomato juice base. So, when I saw a shelf with plenty of Clamato choices, I knew one would be coming home with me. I selected a 16 ounce can of Clamato Caesar "With the Works" (Le Tour Garni) with extra spices, seasonings, hot sauce and horseradish (C$3.80). We rounded out our purchase with a bottle of Cliff 79 Shiraz (C$11.75), a bottle of Folonari Pinot Grigio (C$14.95), a bottle of Casa Santos Sangria (C$12.45), and a nifty little branded tote bag for (C$2.95). The only down note of our visit concerned a bottle of SIVO blueberry liqueur I had hoped to buy. I had some at a social function on Thursday night and liked it so much I took a photo of the bottle. When I showed the photo to the sales associate, he not only told me they didn't carry it, but he also told me it was just syrup, and not alcoholic. He said any grocery store would have it. I learned that he was wrong, it is an alcoholic product made in a Canadian distillery.

Excellent selection and what seems like decent prices. I found what I went for: maple whiskey and…read moremaple cream liqueur.

3.5 stars (some go up some go down)…read more Interesting eclectic offerings of sausage (pate chinois, lardons & cheddar, sake and ginger a few) and Lac brome duck products plus a copious perhaps gargantuan assortment of Quebec micro brewed beers. You mix the selection together and it sounds like a camping dinner or cookout weekend I with a bunch of friends at the cabin (chalet here in Quebec). The duck I may definitely come back to try more. Sausage for me I found a bit fatty for my liking. I do realize sausage is more fat to give flavour but I tend to try to seek out a more lean version. We had the opportunity to stop off here at leg two of out food walking adventure of the Marche Jean Talon and surrounding area. What we were offered as a sample was their fine herb sausage and the duck confit. The fine herb sausage. I didn't care for as much with larger pieces of rosemary and other herbs. The duck confit on baguette was divine and decadent. I could eat half a plate of that but then I'd probably be in food coma afterwards! I had purchased a terrine du porc that was done in whiskey. Honestly I had no flavour of whiskey at all when tasting it. Perhaps it had oxidized but it was not prevalent at all. They have an awesome selection of other canned and jarred Quebec jams, jellies and sauces plus other delicacies. I do need to come back and check items out on further inspection. Price tends to be a bit higher but you can tell quality is high.

Tried a sample of their Herb sausage in store and it was pretty good but opted for the smoked meat…read moresausage (sounded awesome!) and brought it home for BBQ. It was disappointing. I should have went with what I tasted but I didn't think the smoked meat sausage would have been so underwhelming. If I'm ever here again, I'll make sure to sample a whole bunch of of different items if possible.

You don't really come here for the atmosphere, the inside of the store is just like any other…read moreDepaneur in Quebec but is has a fantastic selection of Quebec micro brews. However, there is a shelf that covers one wall filled with a great variety of Quebec Micro brews. La Trou, Charlevoix, Dieu De Ciel, La Brasserie, and many others are represented. When you first walk in though, you'll see a small cooler with limited selection and a few bottles on top, and a few near the cash register. The long wall of beers though is around the corner and easy to miss thinking there isn't much here, so look around and you'll quickly see it. The proprietor speaks English fine if you need help, and he does know the product. I did ask for a few things and he knew what I was talking about but they didn't have them. Also if you come as a vistor not from Canada you can not use credit cards here, it's Cash and Canadian debit only. This is a great store if you want to take a peak and grab some Quebec beers. However I dropped by on a quiet Sunday, and the proprietor told me that they usually get the bulk of items on Fridays and Saturdays and it becomes quite busy then, and Sundays are a little picked clean and dead customer visiting wise. Everything I've also read calls this place a little expensive, but personally it's inline for what I would pay if I was in DC, and I didn't find it that much more expensive than other places I saw beers at, so I find it reasonable, but there might be a better deal if you went somewhere else, but I wouldn't call this place a rip off joint. Still if you want Quebec beers, this is worth stopping in for, I could have easily bought many things. But if you want more international variety or something else then you're not going to get much out of it. Dieu de Ciel is also just up the the street a few blocks, so it's a perfect one two punch for visiting.

Le Paradis de la Bière is way overhyped given their name. We found another place with a beer…read moreselection that was easily twice as large. I also found the guy who runs this shop to be very difficult to deal with; in fact, he was the rudest person I met during my time in Montreal. As previous international reviewers have said, he only accepts Canadian debit and cash, and brusquely refused to take my international debit card. I have had zero issues using this card at shops of all sizes in Montreal, Vancouver, Reykjavik, Osaka, and everywhere else I've been except this place, but he refused to run it because "it would cost him $2.00." Even if that's true--and again, I've never heard it anywhere else--it seems like pretty shoddy business sense, as I was planning to spent well over $100 here. I pointed this out to him and he said I didn't understand how card processing worked, muttered something about small profit margins, then told me I could pay him $2 if I wanted to use it. No thanks. I went to a competitor, used the same card (with no complaint), and was much happier with both their selection and service. Stay away from this supposed "Paradis."

Spacious and clean SAQ. Good selection of booze. I'm a fan of how their stores highlight…read moredifferently flavored wines with colored labels, and this one is no exception. Convenient, quick shopping strip mall parking meant we were in and out in a flash, one bottle richer. (Credit cards accepted.)

Visiting this craft beer store was one of the highlights of my most recent trip to Montreal…read more While the space is small, the beers are very carefully curated. We ended up talking to one of the guys who works here for over half an hour, learning about different beer styles (broadly), Quebec beer laws, and some special brews in Quebec. You can tell this store is special, as many locals were coming in and out while we were there. There also seems to be a nice rapport with the people who work here, who are obviously willing to help. For any American coming to this store - they will do trades for special, highly-coveted beers (think Treehouse or Alchemist), and you'll get a very nice trade with what you bring. This opportunity is definitely something we plan to take advantage of when we inevitably return to this store.

I'm not a big beer afficionado so I guess I'm missing the main attraction to this cramped little…read moreboutique. I find myself coming back for the pretty jars and delicacies. As the name indicates, the shop makes an effort to offer products from Quebec, which is great to calm my conscience after splurging. :) The selection of maple and maple-derived products is great and full of surprises. I'm a big fan of the caramel-themed shelf: caramels, caramels and chocolate spreads, caramel and ginger spread etc..etc..Don't miss out on the delicious dips and jellies on display on the back wall and their tea selection from Camelia Sinensis!