I tried Montreal's Spaghetti Western bar and it's not just for country music fans

Let me begin by saying, I'm not a country music person. I don't hate country. Like any respectable human, I sing my heart out when the cover band at the pub does its late-night rendition of "Wagon Wheel." I'm just not particularly well-versed in the genre, and don't identify much with the culture. To put it another way: I've been to Texas and I had a good time, but it was Austin and I'm not sure that counts.

So, when I heard that the Montreal nightlife scene's latest hotspot was a country bar called Spaghetti Western — aptly sharing a name with the famous subgenre of budget Italian Western movies — I was hesitant to check it out. Then I found out that the bar actually serves spaghetti... I was in.

An exterior view of Spaghetti Western from rue Saint-Hubert.Ilana Belfer | MTL Blog

The bar also happens to be situated along Plaza Saint-Hubert, which was recently named one of the coolest streets in the world. The area is home to several enticing watering holes, and I knew some of my friends would be at Snowbird Tiki Bar that night, a kitschy tropical cocktail bar by the same owners as Spaghetti Western, located just upstairs. If all else failed, I could pop in for a quick "Howdy" and then make an easy getaway.

I arrived at Spaghetti Western on a Thursday night around 7:30 p.m. and could see through the large front windows, embedded in saloon-esque wood panelling, that it was already quite full. Beckoned by a cowboy tipping his hat to me above the entryway (the owner would later tell me that this logo's based on the winking chef from classic pizza boxes), I headed inside. Giddy up.

Someone plays pool in a cowboy hat. Ilana Belfer | MTL Blog

As I pushed my way through the crowd, a diverse bunch ranging from student-aged to middle-aged — many of whom were wearing cowboy hats — I noticed a line dancing lesson taking place at the back of the bar beneath the glare of a neon yellow "Cowboy Gold" sign. A group of people standing in rows stepped and stomped and clapped to counts of eight, and while it did look like fun, and would only cost $5 to join, I definitely didn't have enough liquid courage for it.

On my way to the bar to change that, I ran into the owner, Anthoni Jodoin. In addition to owning Spaghetti Western and Snowbird Tiki, Jodoin is also the mastermind behind Litte Italy's Taverne Cobra and One Punch Mickey’s in La Petite-Patrie.

If you've been to one of Jodoin's bars, you know they are decorated to perfection. I haven't been to One Punch Mickey’s yet, but both Cobra and Snowbird are filled to the brim with so many knickknacks it's as if the bar's theme threw up — and I mean that in the best possible way: beautiful, stimulating, detailed. And Spaghetti Western is certainly no exception.

Americana-themed decor, including neon signs, around the bar.Ilana Belfer | MTL Blog

"That's what I love most. I thrift shop a lot. I do flea markets. I've been doing that forever so I have cases and cases of shit stored away [...] Even before having this space or having this idea, whenever I'd spot something truly country, I would say 'I have to buy it because maybe one day I'll do a country bar,'" Jodoin told me.

"I really make it a point to only buy truly vintage decor items. If you look carefully there are no LED neon signs. It's all '90s. They break and I get them repaired cause, for me, I treat my bars like I treat a movie set. It's like staging. And people feed off of that."

A cowboy hat disco ball spins on the ceiling. Ilana Belfer | MTL Blog

As Jodoin pointed out some of his patrons' favourite objects — a big Woody from Toy Story, a bedazzled cowboy hat disco ball — I was so mesmerized by the decor that I hardly noticed my friend Alex, whom I'd invited to meet me, walk in.

We ordered specialty cocktails: a Colorado Kool-Aid ($14) for me, which was a bright green colour and tasted minty, and a Redneck Bourbonade ($15) for Alex, a Jim Beam and Cointreau-based beverage that went down easy and hit hard.

Unfortunately, after downing my drink, I forgot all about my plan to order spaghetti, but it is very much on the menu along with vinegar eggs and Pepperettes.

The Spaghetti Western menu, featuring specialty cocktails and actual spaghetti. Bar Spaghetti Western

At that point, as we stood at a table looking around for seats to snag, Shania Twain came on and I couldn't help but mouth "Man, I feel like a woman." I'm still not sure exactly what feeling like a woman entails, but if involves goin' out tonight, feelin' alright and letting it all hang out then, indeed, I was feeling like one.

By the way, the bar plays a range of country music, sticking closer to the '90s and early 2000s while mixing in old-school classics and songs as recent as Beyonce's "Texas Hold 'Em," depending on the night of the week. Even as a non-country music lover, I was enjoying the tunes.

Elmira Mahboobi and Nazly Riazi.Ilana Belfer | MTL Blog

"This bar is super vibey. I love a dive bar," said a woman in her mid-20s named Elmira Mahboobi whom I struck up a conversation with from across the tiny table we were unintentionally sharing.

"It's so not Montreal," added her friend Nazly Riazi.

They were kind of right. Despite country music being popular in Quebec, when I spoke to Jodoin, we couldn't think of any other 'all country, all the time' bars in Montreal — at least none without a "loterie video" sign out front.

This place felt like a hole-in-the-wall in the Southern U.S. and the trendiest bar in town all at once. It's the type of spot Mahboobi and Riazi round up their girlfriends to go to, as well as a place truckers pass through while driving their U.S.-Canada routes (true story, according to Jodoin).

A large American flag hangs above patrons: booths to the left, tables in the centre and the bar on the right.Ilana Belfer | MTL Blog

Perhaps that's why Jodoin had told me that despite his 15 years in the business, he was amazed at the interest in this particular bar, which he described as "through the roof," with people emailing, DMing and asking to book anniversary parties there before it even opened, and clientele flowing steadily ever since. (Apparently, it's usually even more packed on weekends.)

"Maybe the timing is good," Jodoin had said, naming a sort of resurgence of country in the zeitgeist between Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," Beyonce's new country album and the success of Montreal's Lasso Festival, which started back in 2022. "But I think it's always been there. In Montreal, it just took a bar to put a light on it."

When a booth finally opened up, my friend Alex and I squeezed our way inside. We were soon joined by a couple we didn't know — Alexia and John — but after a few drinks and some chatter, it felt like we'd been friends forever.

The writer, Ilana Belfer, with new friends.Ilana Belfer | MTL Blog

I was starting to see why Jodoin loves American honky tonks so much. As he had told me earlier: "Whenever I travel, you can go to new bars, new clubs — the latest best anything — but people always tend to go back to a comfortable dive bar."

Maybe it was that comfortable feeling helping us loosen up enough to make friends with strangers. Maybe it was the not-so-Montreal vibes making us feel like travellers. Maybe it was just the alcohol. But whatever it was, it was a hoot and a holler — and my previous experiences with country and westerns felt completely irrelevant.

Someone spins a wheel that offers prizes or disappointment. Ilana Belfer | MTL Blog

I looked at my watch to see if I needed to kill more time before meeting my "real-life" friends at Snowbird Tiki Bar. Three hours had passed. In fact, they'd sped by like a horse in a John Wayne movie (Oh god, what was happening to me?). It was time to go.

As I rode off into the sunset (walked onto rue St-Hubert), with the saloon (bar) glistening behind me, I knew this wouldn't be the last this town (again, just the bar) had seen of me.

This article has been updated since it was originally published on March 22, 2024.