Bars in Toronto that tap into the city’s creative scene

Torontonians are famously humble about their hometown, yet fiercely loyal to the local haunts that give the city its pulse. And in a place where winter can keep you indoors for months, it’s this scrappy creativity and resilience that thrives behind the bar.

Toronto’s bars are a reflection of the city’s great diversity: hidden wine bars in Ossington back alleys, high-end lounges in Midtown, dive bars with a cult following, and mixology that can make even a seasoned cocktail nerd scratch their head. Above all, though, there is something for everyone because that’s just what Toronto does best.

Follow our guide to drinking around the city and you won’t go wrong.

Bars in Toronto’s East End

The Comrade, Riverside

Best For: Cocktails and a killer burger
Location: 758 Queen Street East, Toronto
Price: $$

For more than two decades, night owls have flocked to this Riverside drinking den for post-shift cocktails and late-night bites. Most notably, the double-stacked prime rib burger continues to draw a devoted crowd. Drenched in near total darkness, save for the glow of moody red lanterns and candlelight flickering off the tin ceiling, it feels as if you have stepped into a real life game of Clue. No murder mystery here, though, just a solid spot for cozy date nights or gossiping with old friends, provided you don’t mind a little eavesdropping from the surrounding taxidermy. Classic cocktails like a negroni or Manhattan will set you back a mere 13 CDN during their daily happy hour, or get the friendly barkeeps to shake up something special.

Bar Mini, Leslieville

Best For: Retro party energy in a pint-sized bar
Location: 1118 Queen Street East, Toronto
Price: $$

Don’t be fooled by this cocktail bar’s compact size. It punches well above its weight in character and knick knacks per square inch. The vibe is 1970s dinner party (without the fondue) with retro treasures dotted throughout, such as lava lamps and a teeny, tiny television that plays exclusively VHS from a bygone era.

Though the decor leans vintage, the bar is a newer addition to the Leslieville neighbourhood, where it has already cemented itself as a local favourite for small plates, playful cocktails and choose-your-own amaro tasting flights. Care for a “freaky lil milk punch?” The Balanced Breakfast – made with Metaxa (think brandy’s Greek cousin), orange pekoe and raisin bran – will whet your whistle. Oenophiles will appreciate unique, rotating wines by the glass, scrawled on the old school green chalkboard.

Bars in Toronto’s West End

Bar Raval, Little Italy

Best For: Spanish pintxo culture and a Gaudí-style interior
Streetside Location: 505 College Street, Toronto
Price: $$

On any given day of the week, Torontonians can be found clinking glasses of vermouth inside this wooden cocoon of a cocktail bar or spilling out onto its streetside patio. Open from 1pm to 1am, Bar Raval takes a page out of Barcelona’s pintxo bar culture.

There are no reservations so be willing to wait, and be greatly rewarded by expertly crafted cocktails and salty snacks shared over an oak barrel. Don’t miss ‘the kitchen bread’ if you’re an anchovy fan, along with fortified wine and tapas that riff on the traditions of a classic Spanish taverna.

A low-lit curving interior could have been created by Gaudí himself, dramatically hewn from mahogany.

Bar Pompette, Little Italy

Best For: French joie de vivre and a standout summer patio
Location: 607 College Street, Toronto
Price: $$

“Pompette” means tipsy in French – fitting for a French expat-owned cocktail bar that could easily sit in Paris’s 11th arrondissement. Instead, Bar Pompette is in the heart of Toronto’s Little Italy, where its joie de vivre and precise mixology have earned international attention. Yet, Pompette remains an unpretentious neighbourhood spot that’s as inviting as its open French doors in the summertime. Cocktails are treated with chef-level discipline. Try the crisp Cornichon martini with dill pickle distillate, or the playfully coined 11am in Marseille, a signature sour with French pastis.

What appears effortless and distinctly French is in fact the result of serious technical rigour: Beneath the worn wood floors and leather banquettes lies a futuristic basement lab of modern equipment, tinctures, and a meticulous ice programme that gives each drink its edge.

The Little Jerry, Little Italy

Best For: Vinyl and natural wine beneath a disco ball
Location: 418 College Street, Toronto
Price: $$

The Little Jerry was spinning vinyl long before listening bars were trendy. Loosely inspired by Tokyo’s jazz kissaten, every inch of this hi-fi hideaway has been obsessively fine-tuned, but the vibe is far from fussy. The custom sound system, powered by all-tube amplifiers (for the audiophiles in the room), is next-level, yet it’s not the focal point. Instead, the music enhances the intimate space rather than overpowering it.

The menu is just as considered, with deep cuts of natural wine, local beer and amaro. The food is no slouch either, with refined plates of duck cassoulet at wallet-friendly prices, enjoyed beneath the disco ball. As the night goes on, the volume turns up, the tables get pushed to the side and dancing under the shimmering mirror ball is exactly what the doctor ordered.

The Communist’s Daughter, Dundas West

Best For: Longstanding dive bar with live jazz on the weekends
Location: 1149 Dundas Street West, ON
Price: $

Before Dundas West became the hip neighbourhood that it is today, it was a relatively sleepy stretch of the city. The Communist’s Daughter was a catalyst for change in the area, opening its doors in 2003.

The cash-only dive bar retains the yellow Nazaré Snack Bar sign that once held the space. Be prepared to rub shoulders in the tightly packed space, shaped like a narrow hallway with peeling vinyl chairs and a well-worn bartop. The drinks menu stays tight: a small selection of beer and bar rail. And make sure you save a loonie (a single Canadian dollar) for the jukebox.

Mondays are reserved for ‘Dcide on the Bside’, a bring-your-own-vinyl night that has regulars debating whether to flip the record after listening to its A-side. At weekends, there’s live (mostly jazz) music, where the bar somehow doubles in size to fit a cello bass.

Bar Raton Laveur

Best For: Secretive funky wine down a back alley
Location: 130 Foxley Place, Toronto, ON M6J 1N9
Price: $$

Search “bar raton laveur” on Google Maps and you’ll get a whole lot of nothing. But head south off the buzzy Ossington Strip along Argyle Street, hang a roger (Canadian for take a right) on Foxley, and you’ll spot this inconspicuous wine bar. Named after the city’s unofficial mascot, “racoon bar” is the brainchild of long-time industry veterans.

Barely bigger than a shoebox, its design evokes the sense of being inside a wine barrel, with a curved, vardo-like wooden ceiling. The space is warm, rustic and pared back, as though it’s just getting started, or could just as easily pack up and disappear. No cocktails, no reservations, open just Thursday to Saturday, it runs like a travelling popup. Rotating wine lists include collaborations from Toronto producers such as Paradise Grapevine (who make their own low-intervention vinos on Toronto’s Geary Avenue).

Much like a racoon, it encourages you to linger, sipping on cool back vintages, salty whites or rare single plot reds from the oldest vines on a French estate. Don’t skip the pie.

Bars in central-ish Toronto

Evangeline at Ace Hotel Toronto

Best For: Golden-hour views from one of the city’s most happening hotels
Location: 51 Camden Street, Toronto, ON
Price: $$

Consider the glowing red martini elevator button a good omen as you ascend to the rooftop bar of the Ace Hotel Toronto. The hotel took seven years to complete, crowned by Evangeline on the 14th floor.

‘Evangeline’ is a wink to Canada’s first feature film, and the views from its wraparound terrace are fittingly cinematic. It’s very Hollywood North, as the city’s creative set mingles over Ace Martinis, either outside or by the oversized fireplace on chillier evenings. Go for a sip at sunset, and stay long into the night.

Short Turn

Best For: Freezer door martinis in a streetcar setting
Location: 576 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON
Price: $

Fun Toronto fact: the “red rocket” streetcars that slowly glide through the city are notorious for short-turning – off-loading passengers and turning around with no warning. The name of this snack bar is a cheeky nod to this practice. Except here, rather than getting turfed out, you sip cocktails in a narrow 1920s-style train car. The drinks are stiff, the fries are shatteringly crisp, and the city feels more romantic from behind the window glass.

Open for brunch, lunch and late into the night, it’s an easy place to lose time people-watching the Queen West crowd. Its freezer door martini – an icy bottle of pre-batched gin or vodka kept precisely chilled at -20°C – has amassed a cult following. The menu is consistent throughout the day, meaning you can get a pocket caesar (a potent five-ounce serve with bacon-infused vodka) alongside fluffy pancakes with cultured butter anytime between 11.30am and 10pm.

Ronnie’s

Best For: A cold one on the patio in Kensington Market
Location: 69 Nassau Street
Price: $

No trip to Kensington Market is complete without a stop at Ronnie’s. Open from 2pm to 2am daily, this legendary haunt has been slinging pints for more than 20 years. Cash-only and charmingly scrappy with Polaroids on the walls and layers of stickers and scraps from visitors past, it’s long won over locals and in-the-know travellers – Anthony Bourdain included – for its no-frills, no f*cks attitude. Out front, a large patio strung with Christmas lights year-round keeps things buzzing.

Bars in Midtown

Le Tigre

Best For: A pink fever dream above a piano shop
Location: 1060 Yonge Street, Second Floor, Toronto, ON
Price: $$-$$$

If Barbie’s Dreamhouse had a martini bar, it would probably look like Le Tigre. Hidden above a piano shop in the upscale Rosedale neighbourhood, this sultry, neon-pink lounge glows like an ’80s Miami fever dream.

From the team behind Toronto’s Cry Baby Gallery (an art-gallery speakeasy), it contrasts against its sibling’s industrial moodiness. French electro hums over a grand quartz bar (pink, naturally), while lush palms cover the wallpaper and windowsills.

Amid the playful aesthetic is a serious cocktail programme. Ice-cold martinis arrive on silver trays, while a mai tai is reimagined with gin, sake and horchata. A “swicy” margarita is laced with honeydew melon and falernum, while a fancy Old Fashioned commands north of 100 CDN for its lavish ingredients.