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I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite things to do when it’s cold outside is to stay inside and have some good drinks. While it’s not cold in Quebec City all the time, the city has plenty of great places to stay warm with a nice cocktail any time of year. Here are my favorite cocktail bars in Quebec City, including bars with creative mixology, hotel bars, speakeasy-style bars, restaurants, and distilleries, many of which utilize unique local spirits and ingredients.
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The Best Cocktail Bars In Quebec City
Bar 1608
Often, the thought of a hotel bar brings up images of lonely businesspeople spending their per diems while watching ESPN and looking at their phones.
But the best hotel bars are every bit as much of a destination as any other top cocktail bar. Bar 1608 at the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City is a hotel bar that’s not to be missed. It’s one of the best in North America.
The bright circular room feels like a well-lit library. Big windows let lots of sunlight in, while much of the decor feels like a private study with books and fireplaces.
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The window seating includes tables as well as leather furniture, with impressive views of the St. Lawrence River.
Alternatively, you can sit around the white marble bar, which is encircled by heavy leather and metal bar chairs.
The drinks menu at Bar 1608 includes inspirations from a variety of notable people, books, and events.
My first drink, the Bar Confidential, was inspired by Anthony Bourdain. It was a tiki-adjacent drink that was fruity and refreshing.
For my second drink, I had the 1943. The cocktail was inspired by the historic World War II meetings that took place in the Château Frontenac, which I had learned about on a hotel tour just minutes before.
The drink was specifically inspired by The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan. It incorporates ingredients from Normandy, the United States, and Canada, thus tying together the story of D-Day.
Smoked right at the bar, it was a lovely, robust cocktail.
Other drinks we enjoyed included La Rose Et Le Renard, a refreshing cocktail inspired by The Little Prince, and Sous Le Volcan, which was also refreshing but had a bit of a smokiness to it thanks to the mezcal.
Address: 1 Rue des Carrières, Québec, QC G1K 4H4, Canada (map)
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Vieux Carré
With no separate street entrance, Vieux Carré feels like a bit of a speakeasy. It’s inside the Bistro L’Orygine (and above the two-star Michelin Restaurant Tanière³).
However, that’s the only element that’s particularly secretive. The bar is bright and even has an outdoor patio area, too. How many top cocktail bars can you say that about?
Vieux Carré specializes in utilizing local Quebec ingredients wherever possible. They make their own shrubs, syrups, and kombuchas.
You won’t find citrus or other tiki ingredients here. They do have a few exceptions for vital flavors like wine, coffee, and some other spirits, but even when these are used, the primary spirit is from Quebec. This allows the bar to make people comfortable while also taking them somewhere else.
We sat down at the nice leather bar chairs and were greeted with a welcome mocktail with peach and strawberry.
The menu at Vieux Carré has creative options that are spirit-forward, aperitivos, easy drinkers, premium, or mocktails.
I started with Roddy’s Vieux Carré. In my experience, if a bar is named for a particular drink, you have to try it. It was a great version of the classic cocktail.
My girlfriend had Le Marche, which was refreshing and sweet.
Then I had the excellent Louisiana Sour.
We spotted a Negroni sour being made and wished we could have stayed longer, but now I have something to return for.
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Vieux Carré is a cool little cocktail bar making quality drinks with quality ingredients.
Address: 36 1/2 Rue Saint-Pierre, Québec, QC G1K 3Z6, Canada (map)
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JJacques
The inside of JJacques looks nothing like the outside. Walk down a quiet, graffiti-covered street in Saint-Roch that’s basically just an alleyway, and you’ll think the building is abandoned. Or at best, a sketchy dive bar.
But once you pass through the unassuming door, you’ll be welcomed into one of the best cocktail bars in Quebec City. Or is it a restaurant? Or is it an oyster bar? As it says on their website, it’s up to you to decide.
While JJacques might technically be a restaurant (or oyster bar) to some, everything about it screams cocktail bar, from the extensive cocktail menu to the long bar to sit at in front of the open kitchen.
Being a transportation nerd, I enjoyed the transportation-themed cocktail menu.
My first drink was the Orient Express, which was a bit like an Old Fashioned.
The star of the cocktails was L’Amazone. It had lots of great flavors and was tiki-inspired. After my girlfriend had it and loved it, I had to get one too.
As I mentioned, JJacques is a restaurant with a strong seafood menu, so go hungry so you can demolish a seafood tower.
We got oysters (Canadian, of course), blini and gravlax, butterfish tataki, and glazed carrots.
All of the dishes were incredible, yet somehow, in a stunning upset, the glazed carrots will be the one thing I’ll dream about. Perfectly cooked, they were covered in a luscious, buttery, sweet, and sour sauce and served with labneh.
Address: 341 Rue Notre-Dame-des-Anges, Québec, QC G1K 3E9, Canada (map)
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Jekyll & Hyde Bar à tapas
Jekyll & Hyde is one of the newest Quebec City cocktail bars. As a result, it was pretty quiet when we visited. I don’t mind this, as it gives the bartenders a bit of time to chat.
The bar, which is of course inspired by the literary classic, features both classic and creative cocktails, with some really interesting signature options.
I had the Mean Boxer, which used Irish whiskey made by the operators of Dead Rabbit in New York City. It had an outstanding flavor balance.
Even better was the Mangue Interdite. It was a stunning cocktail, creamy with a light mango flavor, but not too sweet at all. It’s one of my favorite cocktails of the year.
A projector wall showing old movies provides a bit of fun. The bar also serves beer, wine, and tapas (including s’mores for dessert).
Address: 620 Rue Saint-Joseph E, Québec, QC G1K 3B8, Canada (map)
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Chez Tao!
Chez Tao! is a Southeast Asian street food and rum-focused bar in Saint-Sauveur, just to the west of Saint-Roch.
It’s a small spot, so seating is a bit cozy. The bass-heavy ’90s rap and hip-hop beats provide a nice soundtrack without being too overpowering for the space.
As you might expect from a rum bar, there’s a strong list of fruit-forward and tiki cocktails with fresh ingredients.
I started with the citrusy Meowth, which was served in a ceramic cat.
Later, I enjoyed the Angostura Colada, which was refreshing like a pina colada would be, but had a different twist thanks to the bitters.
On Sundays and Mondays, the bar offers all-you-can-eat fried chicken. Although we didn’t opt for this option, since we wanted to try other dishes, the fried chicken is a clear star of the menu.
It was nice and crispy, with great flavor on the rub. The bao is also excellent and flavorful.
Address: 104 Rue Saint-Vallier O, Québec, QC G1K 1K1, Canada (map)
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La Buche
La Buche isn’t a cocktail bar, but it has excellent locally inspired cocktails.
The Quebecois restaurant has the rustic feel of a sugar shack, a quintessential late winter and springtime element of Quebec culture centered around maple products.
Outside, there’s a nice patio, which is where we sat since it was a lovely day.
I had the Manhattan A Quebec. It incorporated maple syrup and was served on the rocks. My girlfriend had the Pina Canada, which was a phenomenal local take.
The food at La Buche is excellent. It’s a great place to go to try some of the most popular dishes to eat in Quebec.
We enjoyed an appetizer board with deer tartare, salmon tartare, pig wings, meat pie nuggets, sausage, and maple wood-smoked trout. It’s a great way to try all their best snacks.
Then we split a smoked trout salad. It was an amazing salad with great flavors, packed with trout and cheese.
Finally, we closed the meal with the poor man’s pudding. I can never say “no” to bread pudding. When our server said we could add maple whiskey to the already decadent dish, I couldn’t say “no” to that either.
La Buche is popular with tourists, but understandably so. It’s the perfect way to get introduced to the flavors of Quebec through food and drink.
Address: 49 Rue Saint-Louis, Québec, QC G1R 3Z2, Canada (map)
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Distillerie & Restaurant Arsenal & Co
Distillerie Arsenal & Co is a new Quebec City distillery located in a former World War II arsenal.
Not just a distillery (which offers tours and cocktail-making classes), it’s also a cocktail bar and restaurant.
The bar and restaurant area is an impressive, multilevel space with posh but welcoming decor like gold curtains, leather, suede, and animal prints.
In the middle, there’s a huge oval bar. There’s also a rooftop terrace and garden. The garden produces some ingredients for the distillery’s spirits.
The extensive cocktail menu includes gin and tonics, fruity cocktails, refreshing drinks, sours, robust cocktails, eccentric creations, classics, and non-alcoholic options.
After an excellent brunch, I went on a tour and tasting, which included a brief version of their cocktail classes.
I tried their blueberry gin gimlet, which was refreshing and fruity.
Note: I visited Arsenal & Co. as a guest of the local Quebec Économusée program.
Address: 1195 Taillon St, Québec City, Quebec G1N 3V2, Canada (map)
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Torii
Quebec City (and in particular the Saint-Roch neighborhood) has several excellent Japanese restaurants and bars.
Torii is a Japanese izakaya with French inspirations. It’s on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list.
The restaurant has a list of Japanese-influenced cocktails, plus sake, craft beer, and wine.
I enjoyed the New York Milk Punch, while my girlfriend enjoyed the Cadence.
The food menu includes both traditional izakaya shared plates, such as dumplings, karaage, and seaweed salad. We especially enjoyed the duck dumplings.
For more of a French-influenced experience, check out their list of seasonal shared plates.
Address: 771 Rue Saint-Joseph E #1, Québec City, Quebec G1K 3C3, Canada (map)
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In addition to fun cocktail bars, Quebec City is also home to several excellent distilleries. Quebec City also has lots of quality breweries.
Here are some great Quebec City tours.
