Three Strikes and You're Out!

The Pitch

Joining the ranks of homegrown resto/bar chains (e.g. La Belle et la Boeuf, Jack Saloon) that started out in the suburbs then invaded the city is Windsor Hyper Bar.  Following Brossard, the owners of this sports bar/grill decided to try their luck with an outpost on the volatile stretch of Saint-Laurent above Sherbrooke.  We walked in sans reservation on this chilly Tuesday night with beer and grub on our minds.

tagged:  NO NEED TO RESERVE

The Mood

To be perfectly blunt, we don't care for sports bars, but we figured a Montreal blog is not complete without something hockey-related.  We stepped into Windsor expecting a modest crowd on a night with ten NHL games, but alas we were wrong.  The Main's demise, along with the extreme cold, meant that we had the entire place, with its many TV screens and video lottery terminals (you read correctly), all to ourselves.

tagged:  WATCH THE GAME WHERE IS EVERYBODY?

The Food

The menu at Windsor doesn't stray too far away from sports bar territory.  A couple pages of crowd-pleasing appetizers are followed by salads, pizzas, grilled meats and a large selection of burgers.  As for ale, the selection on tap is poor and disappointing, definitely not what we expected from a place that calls itself a "hyper bar" (we still don't know what that means by the way).

Starter

Starter

$11

$11

Chicken Wings, 1 lbs

"with maple BBQ sauce".  You could definitely find better wings elsewhere.  Although the sauce was sweet and sticky and the meat was decently cooked, this dish was average at best.

Starter

Starter

$9

$9

Windsor Poppers

"breaded jalapeno peppers stuffed with cheddar cheese".  These tasted like fried breading only.  Disappointing on all ingredient levels.  Jalapenos provided no heat and little flavor, breading was oily, and the stuffing might have been Cheez Whiz.  We suspect these were of the frozen variety.

Main

Main

$17

$17

Windsor Burger

"red deer meat with caramelized onions, cranberries, portobello mushrooms & oka cheese, side of cole slaw".  Overcooked patties should be used as rifle target practice, not served as food. The meat was so overdone it lost all flavor it may have had, while the cranberries were absent.  As for the coleslaw, it was doused with vinegar, making us almost sure it was from one of those tubs you buy at supermarkets.

Main

Main

$20

$20

Big Shot Burger

"6oz Angus filet mignon, butterflied, stuffed with blue cheese, topped with caramelized onions, side of home fries".  We normally enjoy this particular combination of ingredients, and while the temperature of the meat was good, we thought it was lacking in quality making this (20-dollar!) burger bland and in need of a flavor boost.  The fries were good but not enough to make us enjoy this dish.

tagged:  OVERPRICED

The Service

We weren't exactly expecting professional and razor sharp service at a sports bar, but dirty tables and plates are unacceptable in any setting.  We then had to wait well over twenty minutes before receiving our starters; did they literally turn on the ovens and cookers upon our arrival?  Lastly, the bathroom's lack of soap or any apparatus from which it can be dispensed was the final straw.

tagged:  GERMAPHOBE HELL HOLD YOUR PEE SOMETIME TODAY PLEASE

The Verdict

We rarely form a final opinion of a place from one visit.  That being said, we can't think of one reason to come back here.  We're willing to blame the empty space on the sudden cold, but there's no excusing filth and terrible, overpriced food.  This chain was apparently named after the famed Windsor Hotel, once the center of the city's social and business elite.  Sadly, there is nothing here worthy of this name.

tagged:  SUBPAR

Price per person:  $28.50