From Cocktails to Craft Beer: Toronto’s Best Bars

Toronto has a bevy of bevvies you can order up from a bevy of bars. Any night of the week you can grab a craft beer in a chill joint, a classy cocktail in a classy setting, a glass of wine to unwind. And thus, here are our notable faves for all of them. Don’t get us wrong, there are dozens of spots worth of your patronage…but you’ll likely catch us around of these fine establishments.

For the Cocktail Connoisseur
Lucid Cocktail and Kitchen

Lucid Cocktail and Kitchen rivals pretty much only BarChef for the best selection of cocktails in the city. Here, drinks are an artform, not just a vessel for ‘good times’. The small food menu is pretty dope, too.

For the Craft Beer Lover
Bar Volo

It’s a rather small joint, but Bar Volo boasts one of the best curated beer lists in the city. Any night of the week you can find rare casks, limited runs, outside the box brews, and more. It’s a bustling spot, and all the more full when their regular cask wars events and such are going down. All you need to know is if you love beer, Bar Volo’s the spot to get your guzzle on.

For the Scene Stealer
The Thompson Rooftop

For those looking for a great view – the city skyline, short skirts and muscled pecs – the Thompson Rooftop is your go-to destination. Pretentious, a bit sure (you often need a black card or a password to get upstairs), but you can’t beat the scene on the Thompson during the warm summer months.

For the Hip and Happening YP
Cold Tea

There are few bars that have amassed so much buzz around them as Cold Tea has in the short few months since opening. Crafting some of the finest cocktails – which are also ever-changing thanks to an abundance of interesting produce and spices in its surrounding Kensington Market – Cold Tea is a hipster hangout similar 416 Snack Bar (another amazing place) that has the city’s socialites feeling just as at home.

For the Sports Fanatic
Real Sports Bar and Grill

The mecca of sports in Toronto, Real Sports is the new archetype for what a classy sports bar should be. Heck, even those averse to any physical activity find a home here. From the decent selection of beers, wines, and drinks, to the sexy servers, Bay Street suits and Uptown lasses, Real Sports is the real digs. Touchdown.

For the Luck of the Irish
Ceili Cottage

You’ll feel out of the city even though you’re just west of Broadview here. Ceili Cottage is famed for being one of the closest establishments to bring about a proper Irish pub mentality in the city. The patio is packed on hot summer days, and the inside is raring during the colder months. The meat-centric menu is well-executed for a pub of this nature. But even if it wasn’t, the vibe is enough to warrant it a siren call for the Celtic inclined.

For the Wino
Swirl Wine Bar

Also in the Leslieville area, Swirl Wine Bar has impressed the wino crowd for its interesting selections of wines and even more interesting jarred confections. (Hello, duck rilletes and marinated goat cheese in a jar. Yes, please.) It has a very homey feel inside, meaning you might get a little too comfortable while sipping away. We won’t blame you, we’ve had more than one night awash in ‘wine eyes’.

Photo courtesy Lucid Cocktail and Kitchen