167 Niagara Street,
Toronto, ON,
M5V1C9
Toronto - Being a season ticket holder for Toronto FC, I am always searching for a good place to grab grub before a game. Let me tell you - I have found a pretty good pub. Actually, credit goes to my friend Brent for doing that. The Old York is a little ole pub located on Niagara and Wellington, a block south of the crappy Foggy Dew and the awesome Canadian Corps Legion Hall. I have been there a few times now, and here’s my take.
Beers - They have some microbreweries on tap, such as Amsterdam, Wellingtons and Saint Andre, but no Creemore or Steamwhistle (on tap), two staples of my liquid diet. Beggars can’t be choosers. The prices are pretty normal, about 5ish for a pint. Any pub that serves micro’s are good in my book.
Decor: According to FoodTV, the Old York was a subject of a restaurant makeover sometime in the past. That would explain the sleek ikea-esque interior. Using mainly a black-silver palette, the interior of the Old York reminds you more of a lounge on Richmond street then a bar from the 1800s. However, that is all moot, as most people who go to this bar hang out on the decent size patio. Patios are patios. Theres wood, theres seats and theres tables and if it’s a nice day outside, theres nothing better. But yea, the inside is pretty sleek. There is one central bar and I guess the bar comfortably can handle maybe 100 people? I don’t know.
Patrons- Located just a stroll away from Liberty Village (whatever the hell that is), The Old York consists of mainly older-ish people, so it’s a pretty low key affair at this place. On TFC game days, the crowd is probably more rowdy, as it consists of mainly TFC supports wanting to get their drink on before descending upon BMO Field and their crappy ass 12$ Carlsberg beers.
Service - Not exceptionally good, not exceptionally bad. It’s service, the dude who served us was good at taking our order, delivering our food and catering to whatever needs we asked for, but by no means was he overly friendly and definitely did not make any more effort beyond what was necessary. Also, I like cute waitresses, not some dude who thinks he’s a rocker or something.
Food - The most important component. The food here is exceptional. They stick to a rather simple menu, but here is the key - ask anyone who goes to the Old York and they will tell you about the sauce. Oh yes. The sauce. Along with the usual mustard/ketchup/relish combo, the Old York provides this nice little yellow jerk sauce in an unassuming Heinze ketchup bottle. While it might not look like much, one simple sample of this sauce will cause an explosion of awesomeness that your tongue might not be able to handle. It’s the right amount of spice and the right amount of everything. It’s the only real reason why I go to this bar. It’s that damn good. You know a sauce is good when everytime you go to the place, you think of ways to steal the sauce.
Sauce aside, they serve a lot of sandwiches, salads, burritos and typical pub fare. I go for the Cuban myself, which is a nice blend of pork, spices and veggies. The fries here are good as well, not that cookie cutter mccains frozen bag shit you get at some of the lazier pubs. My herbivore friends swear by their 3 cheese sandwich as well. I noticed the club sandwich uses havarti cheese instead of the usual, which is a nice touch. I’ve been here for brunch, and that’s excellent as well. The food here is just a vehicle for you to eat that sauce anyway.
Conclusion: What can you say? The Old York is excellent for the summer, with it’s comfortable patio and low key environment, it’s a great place for you to get your patio on whilst drowning yourself in some tasty jerk sauce. Highly recommended if you are in the area, specially when the other option is the cookie cutter firkin style of the Foggy Dew.
16 Jul 08 7:20 pm
Hot Sauce to kill for!!!!!!Don’t give out our secrets Ricky!!!!!!:)
17 Jul 08 8:04 am
the public must know.
05 Aug 08 10:21 am
Let me begin by stating, I WISH I could give Old York Bar & Grill a wonderful review, I really do. I love the location, it’s in my neighbourhood, it’s quaint, rustic. Aside from the stank of the local slaughterhouse, it’s ideally off the beaten path of King street in the shadow of the tightly run, efficient professionals at the Foggy Dew.
Holiday Monday afternoon, I am meeting a friend for lunch. It’s nearly empty indoors and a scanty 6 to 10 people on the modestly sized patio. There’s merely one extremely inefficient, slow and I don’t like saying it but, pale, plain and homely waitress ineptly handling this tiny crowd. I find myself sitting in the beautiful sun for about 7 minutes or so waiting for my friend and the waitress has yet to acknowledge me with a “Hi” or “I’ll be right with you, sorry it’s a bit short staffed today…” or “can i get you a menu with 3 seconds walking?” None of the above. I see that about 4 other people are also sitting without food or drink and don’t appear all that happy about it. During this time, another group of about 4 arrives and sits down. My friend finally arrives and the newly arrived group beside me can’t bear the heat so they move a few spots south towards the shade. My friend and i continue to sit without menus or even so much as a nod from this not-so-lovely waitress. So, of course, we decide to get our own menus and before too long are quite ready to order what appear to be fantastic looking sandwiches. The problem here isn’t so much the delay, on a short-staffed holiday monday, anyone can understand one woman handling it all would be a bit of work. However, how hard is it to go table to table, smile sweetly, apologize for the delay, greet your customers pleasantly and at least offer menus or even water. Nada. So when she finally comes back outside, she goes right to the table the of the people who obviously came in after us! I looked at my friend and simply said “that’s it, let’s go to Foggy Dew.” When we actually got to foggy dew, we immediately noticed that 4 of the people we saw waiting also with menus, had actually left and were getting prompt service at the dew. Within 2 minutes of sitting down, a manager came by and was taking our drink orders, and giving us menus. NIGHT AND DAY.
Sadly, i can’t even review the food at Old York Bar & Grill because the service was so horrific we didn’t get the opportunity.
If I was the owner of that place, I’d certainly want to know how much money that waitress cost her not to mention the reputation of Old York Bar & Grill. That place deserves better but at this point, I have almost no interest in giving it another try. I hope the owner can actually sell it to someone for a profit and then someone comes in an actually demolishes the place and rebuilds a brand new modern resto/lounge place that king west residents will flock to in droves.