It may or may not be a pineapple.
On the north side of Bloor just west of Ossington (878 Bloor St. W.), sporting a non-descript but welcoming countenance and a logo (the aforementioned pineapple), is a new bar that one-ups the classics by being a bar where everybody wants to know your name, according to Civil Liberties partner Dave Huynh.
“We want to make it more comfortable and warm compared to other spots,” says Dave, as he tends to a piping hot toaster oven behind the bar
Cohl chimes in; “We want to be ‘Kind’ vs. ‘Cool’. A lot of bars nowadays, you have to order intelligently otherwise you’ll be silently criticized or get an eye roll.”
Nick immediately agrees: “We really want to make sure it’s fun.”
It appears the creative differences are not going to be an issue with these 3 partners. After all, they did spend 7 months building this entire place after working at Salt Wine Bar together for 3 years.
Ranging from $10-$14, they have a solid cocktail menu, but in their eyes, that menu is more of a talking point. They’d prefer you just tell them what kind of stuff you like and they spin something up from there. For wine, they’ve taken the lead from friend, Krista Oben and have tried to provide “unique wines from emerging markets that people probably haven’t tried yet.”
For beer, there are 5 taps – all Canadian craft beers – and a wide selection of bottles; mostly Canadian stuff with a few imports. “We really want to make sure that everyone realizes how amazing our local selection of beer is,” says Cohl.
They’ve even extended their cordial motif to their food service; meaning they offer grub, but everything is prepared behind the bar so, as Nick puts it, “there’s no table service so that more people are interacting”.
This might be the first place that refuses to serve your table because they’re too nice.
And they say you always remember your first.
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