Here are my picks for the top places to drink beer in Toronto by neighbourhood.
THE ANNEX
Victory Cafe has been a Mirvish Village staple for over 15 years. Not only is there cask ale but an extensive beer menu featuring a focus on Ontario craft, all of which can be paired with a reasonably priced, locally-sourced meal.
BALDWIN VILLAGE
24 of Sin and Redemption's 42 draught lines are dedicated to Belgian beers and the rest is a decent smattering of European, Canadian, and US content. The top choice for post-AGO pints.
THE BEACHES
Castro's Lounge offers 12 draught lines, over 100 bottled and canned offerings, and four cask ales. It's also a rare gem for veggie hop heads: the menu is entirely vegetarian.
BLOOR WEST VILLAGE
Bryden's offers 17 draught selections, often dominated by West end friend of the bar and Canadian Brewery of the Year, Great Lakes Brewery. Pair an Ontario craft beer with basic but satisfying pub fare like nachos and burgers.
BLOORCOURT
Tallboys, lays claim to the most craft beer offerings in Ontario and, with 70 beers to try, mostly in tall cans, the distinction seems legit. Almost always a game on the TV and almost always featuring a cold can of something you haven't tried yet.
Stout has quickly become Cabbagetown's unofficial Irish pub and offers 20 mostly-local beers on tap, pub grub on the menu, and even a decent little patio.
CHURCH WELLESLEY VILLAGE
Hair of the Dog has a pretty remarkable beer selection that makes it hands down the best bet for a decent beer in the village. It's also a cozy local with a bitchin' patio.
THE DANFORTH
The Only Cafe is seeing an increase in pretenders to the East end craft beer throne, but remains king. With a killer selection of 24 draught beers, 230 bottles and cans, and one featured craft cask, the only way this place could be better is if they let you bring in any food you want. Oh wait, they do.
Mill Street Brewery might be getting too big for some folks' definition of "craft beer," but there's a reason their beer and their brewpub have grown so successful: the beer and food tastes good. Check out Mill Street's great lineup of English style ales and lagers with a pub menu that features a handful of items made with said beer.
DON MILLS
The Bier Markt might not be most beer geeks' first choice, but that's a shame because they do beer exceedingly well. The draught lines are well maintained, beer is incorporated into the menu, and they've got a deep lineup of great import beers and local offerings.
Get Well is Ossington-strip cool but without the obligatory ironic dad beers. Instead there's a thoughtful selection of a dozen draught beers and good bottles in the fridge. Plus free vintage arcade games.
ETOBICOKE
While The Monk's Kettle has a changing lineup of local beer, it's likely the bottle menu you'll find most interesting. No local stuff here though, instead you'll find Germany, Quebec, Scotland, and England, plus a bitchin' selection of Trappist Ales and even a section dedicated to fruit, vegetable, and Lambic beers.
As a general rule, you can't really beat a place that makes beer onsite as source for a good pint. When you factor in that the Amsterdam Brewhouse has seating for 300 people on three patios, including one right on the lake, there is no competition in this area.
JUNCTION
The Indie Ale House has an ever-changing lineup of their own great beers, one or two guest taps, and excellent food churned out of a kitchen with a wood oven pizza and an in-house smoker.
Thirsty and Miserable is something of a paradox. The dive-y vibe is decidedly "we don't give a fuck," and yet the draught selection and bottle menu of rare offerings suggests they do in fact give at least a few fucks. Hit the market and drink geuze at a graffiti-scrawled wobbly table. Beauty.
KING EAST
beerbistro divides their excellent selection of local draught and over 100 bottled options--including hard-to-find Belgian and American imports--by the beer's character: Choose from spicy to robust, to refreshing or bold--and bring your wallet. And once you get hungry, there's an excellent beer-focused but upscale food menu to choose from. Bring your wallet.
KING WEST
Bar Hop was recently named the best bar in Ontario for draught selection, and with good cause. You'll find them pouring frequently updated one-offs and local rarities and there's a full complement of upscale pub fare to go with your beer.
Local Public Eatery is a quintessentially "Liberty Village" spot. If you like Liberty Village, you'll love it here, if you don't like Liberty Village, this at least your best bet for a decent beer. Local craft offerings are rotated with frequency. Just ignore the fact that Bud Light has a permanent home on the draught list too.
LITTLE ITALY
The perennially hip Bar Isabel gets much love for the cuisine of chef/owner Grant van Gameren (and rightly so) but the beer selection is almost as impressive: six decent draught selections complement a crazy bottle menu of gueuzes, goses, sours, and lambics. Go for the octopus, but stay for the Cantillon.
NORTH YORK
Craft beer pickings might not be plentiful north of Lawrence, but you've still got options. Case in point: Stack offers exclusively Ontario craft beer on tap.
OSSINGTON
If you think I'm picking somewhere other than Bellwoods Brewery, you haven't been paying attention to beer in Toronto lately. Beers made onsite that rank among some of the best in the country, cellared versions of their past rareties, and a perpetually-overlooked bottle menu of other breweries gems. When is that second brewery opening?
PARKDALE
If you're not a stickler for clean draught lines, there are options for extensive beer selection in Parkdale, but I'd much rather spend my money at Pharmacy, a whole in the wall that still has the sign up from the previous tenant (thus "pharmacy") and just happens to have some interesting offerings on tap and in the bottle fridge.
Tequila Bookworm's beverage selection focuses not just on Ontario beer, but also Ontario cider and Ontario wine. There might be Ontario books, but there's no Ontario tequila because that doesn't exist, stupid.
RONCESVALLES
As you would hope, The Local features a draught lineup of almost entirely local craft offerings. Throw in some live music and deep fried pub foods and you've got all the makings of a great...local. Man, that name really works!
ROSEDALE
Going strong for over 20 years, the Rebel House is a classic pub with a little more thoughr paid to the beer. There's good Ontario draught and a handful of decent tall boys and frankly I'm hard pressed to think of anywhere else you might be able to get a pitcher of Neustadt's 10W30. So why the hell not?
SCARBOROUGH
Sadly, our list of the best pubs in Scarborough doesn't actually offer much by way of craft beer so if you're looking for something local or interesting, you'll have to head to Smith Bros Steakhouse. There's nothing mind blowing, but you'll find Cameron's, Amsterdam, and Muskoka. Hey, it's a steakhouse.
The inclusion of Linwood Essentials on this list might shock you for two reasons: 1) You're pretty sure it's actually the name of your shampoo or 2) you're aware there is no draught beer here. Regardless, Linwood gets the nod for an excellent list of international (and local) bottles and cans. You can pour them all into a glass though. You probably should, actually.
YONGE & DUNDAS
The Queen & Beaver is an inviting Victorian boozer on Elm Street dedicated to offering an excellent assortment of beers, wines and Brit-style comfort foods like stilton and pear-topped toasts, savoury puddings and fish pies.
YONGE & ST. CLAIR
Monk's Table boasts one of Toronto's best selections of European draught beers. Their website even says so, and you can't lie on the internet.
YONGE & WELLESLEY
Is there any question here? It's gotta be Bar Volo With 125 different beers in bottles and an ever changing lineup of 38 mostly-Ontario draught lines, who needs formalities like table service or the ability to pay with a debit card?
YORKVILLE
Pickings are slim in Yorkville for craft beer, but you'll do OK if you nip into The Oxley, an upscale British pub with a respectable beer menu. They even have some cask conditioned ales.
What did I miss? Add your suggestions in the comments.
See also:
- The best beer selection in Toronto
- 10 bars & pubs where Toronto beer experts go to drink
- The Best Beer Selection in Toronto
- The 10 bars with the most beer taps in Toronto
- The top 10 underrated beer bars in Toronto.
Ben Johnson also writes about beer over on Ben's Beer Blog. You can follow him on twitter at @Ben_T_Johnson. He left off the bar you like just to piss you off.
by Ben Johnson via blogTO
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