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PubClubbing in Toronto
A Guide to Bars Throughout the City
This fun atmosphere is why the Adelaide Pub' is one of our favourite bars.
Editor's Note: PubClub..com was just in Toronto researching all the pubs and clubs for updated articles. We now have new articles on King West and have found The Top 10 Patios of Toronto!
Get ready to rock. The bars and pubs
of Toronto are great hangouts, perfect places to meet people and go
out with friends. The diversity is incredible, as one would expect in
a lively world-class city.
This guide divides the pubs, bars (including down-to-earth and upscale)
and key live music venues into six different areas. A seventh highlights
where to go when the lights come on in these places.
Read on, and know where to be in "T.O." and when to be there.
• The University
• Downtown
Pubs & Bars
• College
Street
• Yonge
and Eglington
• About Town
The University
Thanks to the University of Toronto, the city has a large college population.
Most head to the Madison Ave. Pub (14 Madison Avenue), a large,
six-level bar that resembles a well-kept fraternity house (actually,
it's three Victorian houses joined together). Locals simply refer to
it as "The Maddy" and when the weather is good, the multi-level
outdoor patios are packed.
As one might expect, the atmosphere is casual,
the prices reasonable and the food basic; the hot wings are a popular
item. It's hardly a hideaway for college students, either; most of Toronto
has visited The Maddy at one time or another, and quite a few in the
business community are regulars. Thursday evenings, from about 7-10
p.m., it's where it's at in Toronto.
Also in the area is the Duke of York, an English pub of fine distinction, a small sun-soaked patio in the front and a larger deck in the back.
Toronto's service
with a smile from bartenders like beautiful Tara.
Downtown Bars & Pubs
There has been a change in Toronto's bar scene nightlife, once the
mecca of T.O.'s nightlife.
No longer is John Street, with it's dynamic punch of Al Frisco's, Motanta's and Milestones steps from one another, and Upstairs Al's once PubClub's favourite bar in the city.
Our on the town, in Toronto.
That title now belongs to the Adelaide Pub's rooftop patio. It is semi-casual has a good crowd and a great vibe. Start with the patio down the block at Alice Fazooli's as a warm-up, then head here for a fun, full weekend night. More swanky evenings can conclude at the Roosevelt Room, a restaurant-turned-semi-dance club between the two places ($20 weekend cover).
Frisco's is now Jack Astror's and while the patio is still large and the bar still upstairs, the better locations for this semi-upscale restaurant/bar local chain are at Front Street (post-work) and Dundas Square. Milestone's is still in place but Montana's has closed, and down Adelaide, the Crocc still rocks.
The Croc, of course, is Crocodile Rock (Adelaide and Peter). Also known as the 'Rock, is a let-the-hair-down bar
that pumps out the rock 'n roll and popular dance tunes. Most of the
action occurs downstairs, but upstairs provides an eagle's-eye view
of the dance floor, has a bar that is less crowded and is more inviting
for conversation. It's still alive, one of the few downtown bars in this area that continues to be a good, reliable party place.
On Wednesdays it used to be essential to arrive before 10; otherwise, you would
be stuck outside looking in at the other people having all the fun inside. Now, the place doesn't pick up until about 11:30 or even midnight. $5 cover.
There's always
smiles at Toronto's nightspots.
Grace O'Malley's – or just Gracie's to locals – is
one more bar in the area (Duncan, just down from Adalaide). Weekends have a $9 cover – even at 1:30 in the morning – "and that's non-negotiable" according to the doorman. We will allow the fact they have a band.
The after-work crowd likes to start out at The Keg. In the heart
of the financial district downtown, it's the place to forget about numbers
and focus on more pleasant topics.
Sports fan head to Front Street for a lineup of bars and pubs Jack Astors, Loose Moose and the Over Draft Pub. They are all paked on sporting event nights.
The patio at Gretzky's is a true Oasis on sunny days and Thursdays.
Hockey fans – of which there are plenty here – know Gretzky's, a restaurant/bar
owned by the famous #99 (in fact, the address is 99 Blue Jays Way).
It has a classy restaurant (with great food) and bar inside and a large outdoor
patio on the third floor with an elevated view of Toronto. It's called the Oasis and it's a Vegas-style lounge with an elevated view of Toronto without the hassles of getting into such a place in Vegas. It's good any sunny afternoon and absolutely off the hook on Thursdays; they put a DJ up there and if you're not in by 9, you're waiting in line.
Drinks on the deck are coming at the Black Bull.
Perhaps the best patio in Toronto is the Black Bull on Queen Street. This is a dive bar with a large patio on the side that is a destination on sunny weekends, so popular there is often a line to get at a table. The pizza is good and the burgers tasty enough (though the top bun is too over the top and hides the meat's true flavor). Nothing fancy here, including the crowd, but a it's a good place to find a crowd.
Hot bands have a home at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern.
The
legendary Horseshoe Tavern (corner of Queen West and Spadina)
is THE PLACE for live music in Toronto. Is been around for more
than 50 years and anyone who's anyone has played here - it was the longtime
home of the Tragically Hip, one of the most popular bands in Canada.
This is Toronto's version of the Troubadour in Los Angeles, great local and occasional touring bands playing in an old sweaty bar to a blue jeans crowd of rock music lovers.
Rivoli (332 Queen Street West) is a classy club with a small
patio that is good for people-watching Queen Street activities. It's a cool bar and club, a narrow inside leading to a stage in the back with bands and even comedy, while the more mellow upstairs has another bar and pool table.
The
360 (326 Queen St.) is where many local bands get their start (cover
charge varies).
Apathagaery is funky place to have a drink, a kind of old, narrow
bar with a patio on the back.
College Street
Though the college is elsewhere, College Street is quite an education
for people visiting Toronto.
Away from the high-energy of downtown, College Street is a collection
of small restaurants and cafes (mainly Italian, as the area is also
known as Little Italy) that transform into bars at night. A few specialize
in the latter, like the funky Lava (507 College Street), a retro-style
club featuring live and DJ music seven nights a week.
A much better-kept secret is The Midtown (552 College Street).
Hip twentysomethings come here for the large outdoor patio in front
and pool tables in the in back. The fact it serves late-night munchies
is a plus.
El Convento Rico (750 College Street) is hot on weekend nights.
It used to be a gay/transvestite bar, but now is about 50/50. A lot
of straight people go here because it's such a fun place. It's cheap
to get in and the music is a mix of Latin and modern dance. Each Saturday
at midnight, the bar puts on a transvestite show.
College Street is where Montreal meets Toronto – fashionably
dressed good-looking people, out for a late dinner and drinks.
Yonge and Eglington
We don't mean to imply that this part of town has a lot of singles
living in the area, but locals refer to it at Young and ELIGIBLE.
Since Toronto has a beach without an ocean it must also have sharks.
Shark City (117 Eglington Ave. E.)is an upscale pool hall with
two levels of blue tiling, fish bowls and shark silhouettes. It's full
on weekends with land sharks, both at the pool tables and swimming around
the bar area.
The Irish Embassy is at Yonge and Adelaide, a top spot that's
packed every night with a good crowd.
The Chick 'N Deli is one of the city's notorious haunts. It's
known as the "Last Chance Saloon" on Sundays, which means
it's where people go who failed in their quest to find love the other
weekend nights. It's down and dirty, full of cougars and has a decent
band. Yeah, it's dated but it sure beats sitting around on an otherwise
slow evening.
About Town
Power people hang in a kind of new area near the Hockey Hall of
Fame. It's called the Esplanade, and it's a bit of a scene for the uptown
types.
The Belgium Beer Market is the most popular. Nearly always packed,
it features beers of the world. But the real attraction is the dance
floor playing today's tunes to a mostly mid-20s/mid-30s casual crowd.
It's too loud and packed to carry on much of a conversation in that
room; the front two bar areas are much better suited for mingling. One
major plus to the place is that one of the managers is former Team
Red diva Tracy.
Fionn McCool's is much more cool, an Irish pub with a rockin'
patio and Irish band.
In the same general area is Jump, where stockbrokers, wanna-be
stockbrokers and stockbrocker gropies meet.
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