Riverside St-Henri: The bar where the party’s at in St-Henri

Map showing location at 45.4689906, -73.5884363

Riverside St-Henri is a new kind of bar that opened its doors in July 2017 and offers the South West Montreal neighbourhood a space to go party and dance into the wee hours of the morning!

Located in an old factory, the name of the bar originates from the street where it’s located, Riverside Street. “It’s also a play on words with the waterfront,” explains Nicolas Hamel (ex Ping Pong Club and Newspeak), the bar’s young owner.

Why did he choose this location? “Because it’s located at a turning point in Montreal: between Pointe-Saint-Charles, Lasalle, St-Henri, Westmount, etc., but also mainly because I find it sick!” (laughs) If Nicolas chose a location that was off the beaten path, it’s because the young visionary developed his project over several years and several stages. The Riverside Bar is the first stage; a garden, an event development area and a daytime family activity area are to come. “It’s truly a magical place; with a little development, it has all the potential to become a cult location in Montreal.”

And so, at present Riverside St-Henri is a very nice 260-seat (!) urban bar with a 60-seat terrace. In addition, this address is featured in our guide to Montreal’s most beautiful terraces! The bar is very much focused on music and DJs. Resident DJs include Bowly, Body Meta, Kris Guilty, Matt Coates and several International DJs also visit to lay it out on the turntables. People come here to dance and drink on the cheap. “There is no cover and everyone is welcome. We choose our selection of music based on groovy, boogie, disco, and African pop. We wanted to offer the people of St-Henri and the surrounding area a place where they can come and dance with a high quality sound system.”

The bar welcomes its customers with a “Riverside” arch. Upon entering the spacious place, you’ll see the bar that runs the length of the venue and their smiling staff. Across from the bar is a lovely burnt orange velvet banquette and a raised booth for the evening’s DJ. The room offers a mix of raw and refined, with lots of plants and a couple disco balls. A few items were taken from the Redbull Academy designed by the famous Zébulon Perron – including the lovely banquette. Nicolas took some of the elements and put his personal touch to them, with amazing results. The decor at Riverside St-Henri is simple and perfect for an unforgettable dance party; their many patrons being a testament to that.

To drink, Riverside serves beers for $4, classic cocktails for $12 including taxes and glasses of wine starting at $8. For food, there is a foodtruck that sells small bites depending on the evening. In the winter, a kitchen will perhaps see the light of day. Hopefully, the bar will be able to heat up its terrace this winter so that we can enjoy the unique place a little longer!

“I love the smile taped onto the faces of people who come here. Everyone is in a good mood. There’s a festival feeling here… People come to hang out and trip over the music. Different ages, professions and interests mix; it’s really cool.” For our part, we really like the space! We also think it’s a great idea to grow this project, and in the meantime, be able to go dance the night away.


Photography by Karel Chladek





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