Toronto Nightlife: Ten Best Bars

Best Pubs and Taverns in the City of Toronto

Feb 16, 2008 Christopher Lombardo

The bar scene in Canada's largest city. Here is a list of the top ten bars in the city of Toronto, so that you can hang where locals do and not feel like a tourist.

Here's a by no means exhaustive, list of the best bars in Toronto.

1. Sneaky Dee's.

It's a Mexican restaurant, run by Greeks in Little Italy. It's an aesthetic horror show comparable to anything Wes Craven or local David Cronenberg could conjure up: shades of pink, purple, yellow indiscriminately splattered on stucco walls and ceilings. Graffiti carved with large knives into dilapidated tables, magic marker doodling all over decrepit booths. Tattoos, piercings, eardrum bashing music and a haven to the down and out, students, hippies, suits, Portuguese laborers and everyone in between. Large, loud, home to coffee-table sized nacho platters and an all day $3 breakfast. Open until 4am. An absolute must when friends are in from out of town.

2. The Gladstone Hotel

The 'Gladdy' as it's known to locals and to every cab driver in town, is the city's oldest continually operating hotel, recently refurbished and part of the Queen Street West Renaissance. Thursday to Saturday, though, this art hotel is home to the most debauched and booze-fuelled karaoke in the western hemisphere--a chance to sing in front of a crowd of 100 + singing, dancing, flailing wastrels. The master of ceremonies, mustachioed 'Karaoke Peter' holds up glittery 'applause' signs and yuks it up with Vaudeville groaners. Lineups abound after 11.

3. The Orbit Room

One of the city's premiere music venues. A narrow, mirrored, bejeweled and mostly hidden gem in the city's thriving Little Italy (the heart of the city's 400,000 + strong Italian community), above a dentist office and easy to miss if not for a lone sandwich board. Founded by the guitar player from Rush, it's the only live music venue packed nightly. Music varies. Rock, reggae, soul.

4. The Underground Garage

The Underground Garage bills itself as an 'urban saloon'. No longer underground due to a recent flood, the Garage is part of the city's hard-rocking, hard-drinking revival. Rock memorabilia, bras, and assorted junk abounds. Late arriving crowd comes here for last call, when other scenes have fizzled out.

5. The Cameron House

An 'art, music, theatre bar', this place looks like it was spawned from the imagination of William S. Burroughs, with creepy installation art ants (which actually resemble lobsters) in honor of the 'ten ants' upstairs the city once tried unsuccessfully to evict. An upright piano in the corner, bizarre fake ivy on the walls and best of all a sign, 'This Is Paradise', behind the bar. No argument here.

6. The Only Cafe

A relatively far flung outcast, the bar occupies the eastern, downtrodden fringe of the city's popular Greek town. Great music, quiet, rec room vibe, and most importantly, more than 100 beers on the menu from all over the globe.

7. Ted's Collision

A former auto body shop with a bizarre mural of the CN Tower under construction (before both observation decks were built), this dive is a rampart warding off the well-heeled martini set that flock to Little Italy who look in with inquisitiveness then turn away in disgust. Skull-shattering rock music, friendly locals, candles, pools tables and a hard drinking crowd.

8. The Horseshoe Tavern

Toronto's CBGBs. A legendary music venue that once saw the likes of Willie Nelson, Etta James, the Ramones and the Rolling Stones. Oddly, briefly a strip club, but in mostly continuous operation as a music venue since 1947. Bank robber Edwin Alonzo Boyd was a regular. Home for new indie rock acts.

9. The Rhino

A big rhino head behind the center bar, loads of cheap, good food, plentiful drinks and ample patio. In the city's popular Parkdale neighborhood. A menu of 200 + beers!

10. The Dakota Tavern

Hipster tear in your beer saloon extraordinaire. Home to the city's recently flourishing alt country scene, inexplicably located in the heart of the city's Little Portugal area.

The copyright of the article Toronto Nightlife: Ten Best Bars in E Canada Travel is owned by Christopher Lombardo. Permission to republish Toronto Nightlife: Ten Best Bars in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

hoisting a pint

Sneaky Dee's

The Orbit Room, owned by Alex Lifeson, from Rush