18th birthday

[francois1]

My daugther is thinking about spending her 18th birthday in Montreal with a couple of her girlfriends next weekend.

I don't really like the idea but...what the heck!

Any suggestions about where she should go for dinner and, mostly, nightlife?

[Maximilien]

What about budget and cuisine style ?

For food :
I'd go for something on and around St-Denis st. (3 petits bouchons, justine, l'express, or some other places like that); or maybe Monsieur B. (on villeneuve, BYOW), or maybe 5ème peché (on mont-royal) or something a bit farther away : Madre or M sur Masson (both on Masson st)

For nightlife, it's difficult to help, again, what kind of places she likes ? music, ambience ? drinks only ? dancing ?

Couple of nice bars : Baldwin Barmacie (laurier st), Le Lab (Rachel st east), Assomoire (old montreal or Outremont), Dieu du ciel (mostly for beer)...

For dancing (bordering on not a chowhound topic, but there's the drink part of it all) : Salon Daomé (on mont-royal st.) small local place, _very_ good local DJs and sometimes international DJs; Karma (st-laurent blvd), bigger more "fancy" place; for after-hours, The Stereo re-openned recently (no alcoolic drinks, so definitly not chowhound-ish)!...

M.

[foodinspace]

The bars that Maximilien mentions are way too old for an 18 year old, perhaps except for Dieu du Ciel. Most 18 year olds get excited by the usual places on Crescent and Bishop, such as Winston Churchills and Hurleys. The other options are the string of places on St. Laurent between Sherbrooke and Mont-Royal, with it getting less mainstream the further north you go. Salon Daomé is a great place but likely too "alternative" for an 18 year old. How "hip" is your daughter? Is she into non mainstream things or is she all about Twilight and Britney Spears? I know I would have been weirded out by many of these places when I was 18.

[xIcewind]

La distillerie is a great place to go

[sockhead]

I'm in my mid-20s, and I still feel young when I go to Baldwin's.

[Shattered]

Just gonna 3rd what foodinspace said. If they're like most 18 year olds, just let 'em loose on Crescent and lower St-Laurent.

[lagatta]

Depends on the kid. When I was her age I wouldn't have been caught dead in such places.

[Shattered]

True in my case, too - in fact still true today outside a handful of spots (not clubs) - but the key words are "like most". And girls tend to be less adventurous than guys, imo.

[lagatta]

Yeah, we need to know more about her likes and preferences than just the fact that she is young and now of legal drinking age.

As for the bars maximillien suggested, we don't know whether the girlfriends are also of "legal age" or not; they could be 17 or 19.

And is there a particular part of town they'd prefer to go to.

Pay her a taxi back home. She'll be fine.

[chefjeannine]

It all depends if she wants a restuarant for the quality of food or for its trendiness and atmosphere. Well the "it" place right now is Macaroni Bar on St. Laurent. Food is ok, turns into a loungy atmosphere later in the night. Another option would be Cafeteria for dinner, and then heading across the street to bside for the rest of the evening (club/bar, but in my opinion, has much better music then most other clubs).
If she does want a restuarant for its food instead of atmosphere, ignore my suggestions!!

[chefjeannine]

Note: all the places I recommended are on boulevard St. Laurent within walking distance of each other

[vanierstudent]

Hi, college student here.
Food: Japanese? French? Burgers? we need more information>: (

Nightlife: Assomoire got some pretty neat beer, and dieu du ciel! is a well respected institution for beer lover around the world. Try their Peche mortel, its incredible.
nightclub: if everyone in the group is 18, try Light ultra club.
If not, 737 or 1234

[Keramel]

When my younger cousin came to visit me earlier this year, she desperately wanted to go to Garde-Manger because she and her sister have a crush on one of the owners, who is apparently on some tv show or another. I complied and we had a great night out. The atmosphere gets more bar-like later in the evening. Not cheap though. After dinner, the bars on St. Laurent are a walk or short ride away. If they are of age, they can pop in to a few places to find one they like.

[porker]

As many of the posters on this thread mention "legal age", it may be worthwhile to mention that in Quebec its 18 as opposed to 21 in most states, 19 in Ontario (and NB and some other provinces) 16 in Yemen, but I digress...
However, Montreal is not super strict in this area. I think if she's out with like-aged friends, they would likely be welcomed most places. I'm not condoning nor condemning...just calling it like I sees it...

Also, I agree with the Crescent suggestion - many young folk jumping from club to club (maybe check out http://www.go-montreal.com/areas_cres... Much to choose from whether dance, brew, meat & greet, cafe, bar, etc etc.

[SnackHappy]

Another interesting ressource could be Tourism Montreal's nightlife blog.

http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/Blog...

Can't add much more else until the OP comes back and tells us a bit about the girl's tastes.

[Keramel]

Back when I was a student, not that long ago, a lot of places checked ids. If her friends are under 18 they might have some problems. That's what I was referring to.

[Shattered]

And places that never checked IDs before do it regularly the last couple years since the city starting closing places that didn't stick to food/show licenses at the same time. Eg. Biftek never carded even at Frosh Week - this year they did even on the Wednesday (I just happened to be walking by, I swear).

[berbatov]

Yeah, I'd have to agree with most posters so far. What most people on this board would consider good places to eat and drink probably wouldn't interest an 18 year old (granted, it depends on the person). If the toss-up is between Crescent and St lawrence though, i'd choose the latter. At least you can get decent food there (at some places) and even the clubs and bars are more interesting than the ones on Crescent.

[lagatta]

We really have to know the person. When I was a kid, I wouldn't have been caught dead at the type of places now on Crescent - now PamPam and the Coffee Mill (!!!) Oh I liked to drink too but back then it was on St-Denis. There weren't many bars on St-Laurent, though there were great sandwiches.

She doesn't want to be somewhere there is nothing but "old people", but lots of young people are alternative and might prefer Salla Rossa or le Divan orange. I'm thinking of my young cousin who is a UQAM student, but she must be all of 21...

[Shattered]

Yes, but at those places they'd be going to see a particular band.