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PubClubbing in Toronto
Toronto's service
with a smile from bartenders like beautiful Tara.
• The
Clubs of Toronto
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Our Roving Party Animal Columnist Loves Toronto – And the MCBs!
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
• The Beaches
• 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.
Downtown Bars & Pubs
The mecca of T.O.'s nightlife is within a 5-km area of downtown. Dining,
dancing, or just hanging out is all within is area.
Much of the activity is centered around John and Adelaide streets.
For many, it all starts on the patio at Milestones. Primarily
a restaurant, Milestone's is also a gathering place, either to start
or even finish the evening. It's comfortable enough to stay all night
and a crowd rotates in and out like a revolving door, but know that
this is a bar with a nice-looking crowd, not a massive dance party.
The best patio in Toronto used to be across the street at Al Frisco's.
For some reason, though – and much to PubClub's disappointment
– they messed with success. It's now the Brassiere (though
the Frisco's name is still on the building) put in industrial-type table
and chairs and removed tasty items like Chicken Milano from the menu.
There is a bar inside and another one upstairs – the formerly rockin'
Al's Upstairs – but the atmosphere and flavor are gone. The patio
location is still the best in Toronto, but the great-looking crowd seems
to now favor Milestones.
There's always
smiles at Toronto's nightspots.
Next to Frisco's and across from Milestone's is Montana's. Like
its neighbors, Montana's has an outdoor patio (albeit smaller) and tasty
and affordable food – the woodfired thin-crust pizzas are tops.
There's an upstairs club large enough to accommodate half of Toronto,
or so it seems. It has a patio, dance room and a hangout/games area.
While Frisco's is a slacks crowd, Montana's is mostly jeans (and mostly
guys). Neither Frisco's or Montana's has a cover charge.
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.
Grace O'Malley's – or just Gracie's to locals – is
one of the downtown's liveliest bars. At the corner of Duncan and Adalaide,
it's always crowded with a fun-seeking good-looking crowd. Weekend nights
are particular lively. This is no mellow Irish pub, but an energetic,
invigorating bar.
Toronto's hottest bar on Wednesday, Crocodile Rock (just around
the corner from Frisco's at Adalaide and Peter) pretty much rocks every
night. The 'Rock, as it is locally known, 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. On Wednesdays, arrive before 10; otherwise, you will
be stuck outside looking in at the other people having all the fun inside
(small cover). Be sure and check out the rooftop bar and patio; it's
worth the steep stair hike. For better or worse, Wednesday is "911"
night, full of cops and firemen. And a lot people from small towns outside
of T.O.
The 'Rock rocks,
especially on Wednesdays.
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.
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 and bar inside and a large wooden outdoor
patio on the third floor with an elevated view of Toronto, including
its neighbor to the south, SkyDome.
 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.
To say the crowd is dressed casually is an overstatement.
Rivoli (332 Queen Street West) is a classy club with a small
patio that is good for people-watching Queen Street activities. 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
A great spot for
minging and a late dinner is found on Colllege 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.
The Shallow Groove Lounge is in the basement about a block west
of the Lava on the same side of the street (south).
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.
It's rare to wait
for a beer at the Beaches – particularly in the afternoon.
The Beaches
Tucked away a half-hour ride from the city, The Beaches area has a life
all its own.
Aside from the two-day festival in late July when EVERYONE goes there,
few people from Toronto actually go out to the beach. That's just fine
with the beach residents, who hardly stray from it.
This provides The Beaches with a very local feel. In true beach style,
it's a very relaxed atmosphere with most places consisting of well-worn
pubs with few clubs. Late afternoons can easily turn into evenings on
the back patio of the Lion at the Beach. Inside at night, a meodicre
band plays rock covers.
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.
 Next
stop on the Party Bus: The Clubs!
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