I think, when speakeasies were coming back into fashion, that was a lot more common. But, when we went, I remember there were only like four or five options like Manhattan’s and Old Fashioned’s. Looking at their website recently, it looks like they expanded their menu in terms of drinks. And they didn’t have any food or anything?

I think there was a central bar, but that was like half of the capacity of the place. We were sitting at pretty low two or four person tables. They didn’t have any kind of food program or anything, but, instead of a central bar, it was small tables. They actually had multiple waiters and waitresses going around. Do you think that affected the way that you interacted with your bartender? It was weirdly personal and communal at the same time. Even though it was mostly my girlfriend and I talking to each other, we were in very close proximity to other people who were having their own hushed conversations. more lively bars that are geared to be for larger groups and feeling like you’re at a party. They promote more close and intimate interactions vs. I feel that’s something that speakeasies are more built for. It was a lot more about sitting face-to-face and enjoying the drinks. It facilitated a lot of conversation, which was very different from a lot of bars that are more themed or high-energy. The ambiance was great-it was very quiet and intimate. I think we ended up getting a Manhattan and an Old Fashioned. Yeah, and they had a pretty sophisticated classic cocktail menu as well, which, again, as younger people, we were not used to that. It was totally different and it was very cool. More generic, not lower class but not like a cocktail bar. Again, we were pretty young, so most of our experiences until then with bars were at pubs or restaurants we had been in. It was all candlelit with incandescent lighting and very quiet. We just asked the guy, “Hey, are you working the door for a bar? What’s going on here?” He let us in and, if I remember correctly, we walked through some heavy curtains. What did it feel like to walk into that? I’m sure you had no idea what to expect. Have you been to Big In Japan multiple times? I feel like now, it is fairly popular to have speakeasies that have hidden doors or backrooms. It was very surprising and cool to us, especially as younger people who weren’t really experienced with that kind of concept. I think that’s definitely part of the allure of the whole thing. There are a lot of places like that where you really have to know where you are going. It was looked like it was just a cement wall, which is why we almost missed it. It was a completely unmarked door with just a guy outside with like with a clicker and that’s it. Then, as we were leaving, we managed to find the door to the speakeasy. We thought we went to the wrong place at first, and ended up getting ramen. At first, we couldn’t actually find it, but they have a sibling restaurant- some sort of ramen place-next door, which was much easier to find. I don’t know if it was Yelp, or some sort of Thrillist-type Internet search, but we found it on a list of Montreal bars. We thought it would be fun to check out a speakeasy that we had heard about but never actually been to ourselves, being so young. We were very inexperienced with bars and all that. We were both actually 20 (years old), so we were underage in America when we were in Montreal. One that’s really memorable to me is going to Big In Japan Bar in Montreal. So, what is a memorable experience you’ve had at a restaurant or bar? HE RECENTLY LEFT BEVSPOT TO RETURN TO SCHOOL IN THE COMING FALL AND WILL BE MISSED BY THE ENTIRE TEAM. HE STARTED AS A DESIGN CO-OP FROM NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY AND SINCE TOOK ON A FULL-TIME ROLE AT BEVSPOT. ZACK IS A WEB DESIGNER WHO’S BEEN WITH BEVSPOT FOR OVER A YEAR.

Big in japan bar