Clubby, Champagne-Driven Bar Opens Up in Mile End

Mile End’s newest drinkerie is Jackrose, which has just opened up on St-Laurent between Mont-Royal and Villeneuve.

Billed as “Jackrose: Table and Club”, it comes across as somewhat of a hybrid, with lounge and nightclub rolled into one. It boasts food served in the evenings, before transitioning to a dancier, DJ-driven approach after 10 p.m. in the evenings.

It’s owned by Christian Morin, who also co-owns nearby bar Les Torchés on Mont-Royal. Back in 2016, Morin drew condemnation online for allegedly telling two gay customers “we don’t serve gays here” at that bar. He later apologized, saying he had been drinking and that “I do not recognize myself in these remarks.”

Also on board with the project is Québécois actor Maxime Desjardins-Tremblay. He’s known for appearing in 2007 Quebec film Le Ring (no connection to the similarly-named Japanese and American horror films), and at Jackrose will head up the kitchen, which is offering staples like tartares, fried calamari, and onion soup.

With a pink and black design loaded with art déco-esque geometry, and a menu centred around wine (including bottles of Veuve Clicquot and Moet & Chandon), it’s certainly a much more ostentatious place to drink than anything else on that strip of St-Laurent north of Mont-Royal. Most other places around are decidedly neighbourhood-level, from brewpub Siboire and all-rounder Sparrow, to no-BS music haunt Casa del Popolo and its adjacent mini-empire of Sala Rosa and La Vitrola. Jackrose likely won’t poach those crowds, but whether it’ll draw new people up north on the main is anybody’s guess.

STATUS — Jackrose is open at 4560 St-Laurent from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. Wednesday to Sunday.

• Customer Allegedly Denied Service For Being Gay at a Plateau Bar [EMTL]
• Jackrose [Official]