May 6, 2009
Post-mortem review(bitching) of Sergent Recruteur. Many years ago this was a small cool hang-out. The beer was never great but it was honest and the cosy atmosphere was great. They around 2004 or 2005 they moved to a larger location with a cold atmosphere. To clean, too sanitized. Felt like a Mike’s Restaurant. Overpriced pizzas. The beers were going downhill and they didn’t seem to care. When I was lucky I was server a bland beer. Too often I was served an infected beer. Being a local twice a year I’d give it another try. Now the place closed down. The whole montreal beer were all very polite and mourned the lost of this old institution. I say Good riddance. Too bad for the staff who lost their jobs though. But screw the brewer and owner who ripped me off too often.

September 20, 2007
Établissement visité le vendredi 7 septembre vers 18h. Ambiance: Musique éclectique en sourdine, décor sobre. Service: C’est le maître-brasseur qui m’a servis, inutile de vous dire qu’il m’a bien présenté les bières maisons. Sélection: Lors de mon passage 6 bières étaient disponibles, le menu change chaque semaine environ. Nourriture: J’ai commande une pizza "Castafiore", elle était succulente. (58e rating d’établissement)

August 23, 2007
Locals that accompanied us to the restaurant told us they come for the pizza, and they were right, the pizza was great. Water came to us served in whiskey flasks. If I wasn’t so incredibly thirsty that I I had to drink 4 of these, I would have found them much cooler. (The flasks came with glasses to, you didn’t drink out of the flasks.) The interior was an odd assortment of military and modern art, but nothing in Montreal can be considered "normal decor" by American standards. Overall the atmosphere was comfortable. Things I didn’t like: the signs on the bathroom doors were slightly ambiguous and the bathrooms themselves were quite cramped. The music was very loud and it made it hard to talk. Things I liked: this place was very unique. You could see some of the brewery through the windows in the basement (where the restrooms were), and the food was great.

March 7, 2007
Bel endroit. Service très bien, sans être trop présent. Bières bonnes sans être extraordinaires. Les pizzas sont excellentes. On mange et boit bien. C’est une chouette place.

October 3, 2006
A nice enough place that seemed pretty quiet on a late Friday evening in September. A decent number of different beers available (6 or 7) but there wasn’t a sampler tray when I asked. I’ll probably come back here to try the food, which looked alright, and to try some more beer.

September 6, 2006
I stopped in one evening almost 10 years ago (In Montreal on business approx. ’97) and settled in to try a few brews. Little did I know that the guy next to me with long greasy hair who was flirting with all the women and making them laugh was a person of unusual import. I struck up a converstion with this hook-nosed, fatigue-jacketed bar fly and he recommended the watermelon ale. He had another name for it that I can’t recall. It was fantastic! I couldn’t believe I was drinking watermelon. Subtly flavored, mildly sweet, pleasently hopped with a nice light body. After my compliment my new found friend proceded to invite me into the halls of his kingdom below the pub. As it turned out, He was the BrewMiester! And what a character! He proudly showed me where he personally mashed an ungodly number of watermelons and crafted his brew. I still have the matchbook with a characture of him on the front. One great pub. One great tour. One great guy who siezed the moment to honor a guest with his primo hospitality. Thanks!

June 18, 2006
’The decor is modern and nice. Dim lights. Nice bar and taps. Haven’t eaten. Beer is decent, not really good... yet. Lots of diacetyl. The brewer is a friendly young guy who loves to talk beer and malt whisky. Hopefully the beer will improve over time. Cheap ingredients, it seems. Brewer’s hands are tied due to owner’s lack of willingness to purchase ’top notch ingredients.’

June 6, 2006
Nice quiet place when I was there on a Wednesday night. The barender was a good salesman. The beer was ok. I think the atmosphere was strange a little too sterile and boring. It needs something to make it more appealing. No reason to stop here unless you want to tick off ratings.

May 15, 2006
I liked the old place better. The new location does not have the same friendly atmosphere. The beer is still very good, so is the food as well as the service. It’s just that the other place felt good.

May 2, 2006
New location. Server was pleasant and helpful. Visited on a quite friday afternoon. Food was decent, I enjoyed a pizza that was far superior to any of the beers I tried. Atmosphere is ok but it does feel like more of a restaurant than a pub which I guess was what they were going for.