[RESTAURANTS] Diablos BBQ: Southern food in the heart of Montreal x contest

Two weeks ago, we tried Diablos BBQ and we absolutely loved it! 

Restaurant review & Contest + rules after the break!

Just before the holidays, I attended the Notable awards...Ok I didn't really attend the awards but instead, the after party #DontJudgeMe. There, I met a few Twitter followers, had drinks with them, interacted, laughed etc.  After a couple of martinis, I started rambling to Raphael514 about how we don't have Southern food in Montreal and how was craving for chicken'n'waffles and other fried foods. He laughed and just said: "Why don't you come to my restaurant then? We have chicken'n'waffles on Sundays".

He couldn't be serious. 

My sister and I were so shocked and pleased at the same time that we simultaneously started laughing nervously.

Southern food...in Montreal? No!!! It couldn't be!

Indeed, he was right and I did not hallucinate the words that came out of his mouth. Diablos BBQ is located in the heart of the Latin Quarter and
serves Southern inspired food and drinks. I just had to try this spot.

So after eating some yummy Southern food in Atlanta at Gladys last January, I came back to Montreal with that same craving I had in December for fried stuff. I immediately messaged Raphael and asked him when I should come to try Diablos...I couldn't wait any longer. He replied that Mondays are usually a good day because it's "All you can eat ribs". Did you read this well? ALL YOU CAN EAT RIBS! So Fabi (my sister from another mother) and I went last Monday and absolutely loved it

The Restaurant

Diablos is a baby in the Montreal restaurant scene as it only opened 8 months ago in April 2012. What inspired them to bring a Southern Flavour to Montreal? Well in the past, the partners/owners
traveled extensively in the Southern U.S. states looking for vehicles to refurbish and their chef, Jason, lived in New Orleans for a few years so all of this definitely had an influence. 

Their top specialties or most popular dishes are:

1) Their ribs (beef & pork) spice rubbed and smoked for 4 hours and then smuthered with their own original recipe smoked BBQ sauce.

2) Their poutine: Smoked gravy, mix of sweet potato and yellow potato fries and traditional Quebec cheese curds. It's so good that it has already been ripped off...ouch!

3) Their 6th Deadly Burger: 8 oz. of AAA grilled beef, cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, homemade smoked tomato ketchup, homemade relish on a pretzel bun. At the last momeent, they dredge it, batter it and then flash fry it for 20 seconds...Oh my!

4) Fried chicken & Chicken fried steak (oh Lord...)

Chicken fried steak :O

All you can eat ribs on Mondays!

When it comes to drinks, they are known for their 40 oz cocktails/drinks such as the Double Mexican Bulldog (King Size Margarita with 2 bottles of Bud Lime Light hanging upside down" and their "Jerry Stewart" (Sailor Jerry Rum, Red Vermouth, Angostura Bitters and Cherry Stewart's Soda). 

Finally, their unconventional Sunday brunch is full of Southern flavour with meals that include chicken'n waffles (YES!), eggs Benedict (with buttermilk biscuits instead of English muffins), peanut butter and bacon stuffed French toast. I can't wait for it to start again this Spring so I can taste it all. 

My experience

The atmosphere and service

I need to begin by saying that it is extremely well located as it is not even a 5 minute walk from the Berri-Uqam metro station. It is also important to mention the good service that we received: When we arrived, we were warmly greeted by a waitress who maintained her excellent service throughout the whole evening. They did a good job with the decor as it truly reminded me of the South; Their wood walls and tables, the drinks menu, the napkins on the table and their interesting posters are just some of the things which that added a "homey" feeling to this restaurant. 

The food

We wanted to try a few things so our appetizer included an interesting combination. Their two potato poutine (as mentioned above), crab cakes, pulled pork sliders on cornbread and jalapeno poppers were all very tasty. However, I had a slight preference for the "poutine"...Maybe it was the sweet potato...Maybe it was their smoked gravy....I'm not sure what it was but we finished it in less than 5 minutes. The cornbread was a great replacement for bread when it came to the sliders and creatively added a different taste to the meat. The crab cakes were perfect: Not too mild, not too spicy, not too big, not too small. I loved them! As for the jalapeno poppers...I couldn't eat them (hello lactose intolerance) but I heard that although they tasted good, they were very spicy! Try them if you enjoy spicy food. 

Clockwise: Jalapeno poppers, poutine, pulled pork sliders, crab cakes.

By the time our main courses arrived, we were a little full but still excited to try our choices. Fabi went for the fried chicken with a side of sweet, spicy and creamy corn and I chose the "All You Can Eat" pork ribs with a side of creamy coleslaw and more corn bread. The ribs were just....wow. You know ribs are good when you're licking your fingers because their homemade smoked BBQ is so tasty, the meat falls off of the bones and you're sucking on these bones (And I have braces soooooo...). The coleslaw (made with purple cabbage) was fresh and the corn bread was a great complement to this Southern meal. I was already full after eating so I didn't get another plate of ribs...However, I promised myself to not take any appetizers the next time I go on a Monday so that I can eat a bunch of ribs! When it came to the fried chicken, I will assume that it tasted pretty good (according to Fabi's facial expression) and after taking a small bite of the sweet corn, I could understand why she chose it! 

Mmmm....ribs

Fried chicken!

Final thoughts

It was good. It was really good. Not the usual good, but the "unexpected good". Diablos offers something different for the culinary adventurer. I strongly suggest this restaurant to those who want to try something out of the ordinary and who is not afraid to try new things, especially when it comes to fried foods and spicy meals. They don't just put salt and pepper in their foods, they go IN with the spices! 

Diablos BBQ

1693a St-Denis

Montreal (QC)

H2Z 3K4

*****CONTEST******

Win one of these three prizes! 

1st prize) 25$ gift certificate to Diablos 

2nd prize) 1 free drink plus 15% off on your Diablos bill!

3rd prize) 15% off on your Diablos bill

What to do? There are FOUR ways you can win!

1 - Like Diablos on Facebook & write on their wall: Sassou sent me to eat at Diablos! 

2 - Like Versass on Facebook & write: I want to eat at Diablos!

3 - On Instagram, follow @DiablosBBQ, add a pic of yourself and write "I want to eat at @DiablosBBQ #VersassAndDiablosBBQ"

4 - Follow Diablos and Versass on Twitter and tweet "I want to eat at @DiablosBBQ #VersassAndDiablosBBQ"

You can do either one of the four. However, increase your chances by doing more than one of the 4 procedures!

You have until March 14th at 11:59 p.m. to participate and the winners will be announced on March 15th! 

Contest Rules & Regulations

*Follow the instructions specifically. We will check the follows & likes

*Maximum of 4 participations per person (One per category).

*The winner will have to provide us their address as we will be shipping out the prizes. 

*Participants must be over 18 years of age & reside in Quebec


Most pictures were taken from the Diablos BBQ Facebook page