Toronto Recommendations

[StoutAndAle]

I'll be in Toronto for a few days later this month. I seem to recall one or two of you living/lived there.

Any recommendations for bars (divey, punk/metal or otherwise) and record & book shops would be greatly appreciated.

Have tickets already for the ROM, the AGO and I plan on going to the Hockey Hall Of Fame too. 

[mickO)))]

That was probably me you recall praising Chairman Trudeau on here 

Toronto doesn't really have any metal bars. The bovine sex club is probably the closest thing. Pubs aren't that good most of them are more like restaurants than the pubs we have in Ireland. In most places it is table service so you would very rarely find yourself going to the bar and ordering pints. Every pub serves food as it is a legal requirement over there in order to get a liquor licence. Bar staff are also legally responsible for customers after they leave as in if you walk out of the pub pissed and get knocked down the person that served you the drinks can be done for this so like happened to myself many times you could find yourself being cut off after 8 or 9 pints even though you are perfectly fine and could easily drink another 4 or 5. 

If you like NFL, NHL, Boxing, MMA etc then you will enjoy a lot of the bars as they are geared around showing those events.

A few good places would be Toby's on college, Boston Pizza on Yonge street, McVeigh's on Church has the only half decent pint of Guinness in the City.

Paupers on Bloor is also a good spot I use to go there before shows in Lees Palace which is just up the road. Macabre are playing there at the end of February.

Closing time is 2am for pubs and clubs which most places are very strict on and you won't get drink from a licensed place anywhere in the City after 2am but lots of unlicensed clubs operate after that. One of these places was called the comfort zone which is still to this day the best nightclub I have ever been in. If you are only there for a few days and don't know anyone local then your chances of finding one of these places is pretty slim.

Records shops would be Rotate This, Sonic Boom and Futhark Records. Futhark is the only metal only store the others just have metal sections.

Aren't you the one that is always posting in the comedy thread? If so try Absolute comedy on Yonge and Eglinton. All unknown comics but people like Jimmy Carr and others played there over the years before they got big. Entry is cheap and some of the comics can be very good.

Also check out the comedy show listings for when you are there as you always get people playing that you will never see playing in Europe. I saw Rogan twice, Chris Tucker, Jay Leno and a few others that I can't remember at the minute. Jay Leno being the only good one out of the names I mentioned.


If you smoke stay well clear of all the licensed weed shops the quality is awful and the strongest edibles they sell wouldn't even get a child cabbaged. A great place to go is cafe they have a few stores around city one is on Bloor near Ossington station and the other one is on St Claire West.

If you are into hallucinogens then I can recommend a place that sells Shrooms, NN DMT and 5MeO DMT both as vapes and in freebase forms. Just as it was before the weed was legalised these 'illegal' shops selling hallucinogens have started to pop up all over the City.

Use Uber they have the proper Uber over there not the bullshit that we got in Ireland. Taxis are very expensive and they will demand a tip from you. The public transport is very unreliable and even worse then what we have here. If you are staying down town then the Ubers won't be that expensive.

I can't comment on the hockey hall of fame never been as I went to 3 leafs games and that turned me off the sport. The ROM is ok and I have never been to the AGO. Try the Ripleys aquarium that is really good and if you have time try to go to Niagara Falls it is about 2 - 2.5 hours away on the train and the Canadian side has the best views. Try to get to a Raptors game if you can they are great and when I was last there in November I was able to get tickets for 2 games. The tickets can be expensive but not a patch on what you would pay for a leafs game. Bluejays games are the best value but the season doesn't start until late March.

[astfgyl]

Sorry lads not hijacking or anything but does anyone remember when the head shop stuff that the lads are talking about was good to go in Ireland here for about 6 months due to a legal loophole? It has since been closed but that was mad stuff Ted.

Anyway that was an aside, it's cool that you can be on here and get the local recs though really isn't it? Like where would you get it and lads honestly trying to dig you out with good ideas instead of simply acting the cunt it's a great little corner of the Internet that we have going here tbh

[StoutAndAle]

That was probably me you recall praising Chairman Trudeau on here 

Jaysis, Mick - thanks for all the info. Excellent. A few of those places have popped up already but a lot of them haven't.

I don't smoke weed or do hallucinogens so that won't be necessary! Not my scene at all. I've had a puff less than a handful of times in my life - the last being Amsterdam around 2018 when I got toasted after a few tokes... must put that in The Fear thread.

The Raptors are playing when I get there. My missus loves basketball so I'm keeping an eye on ticket prices. My wife also loves ice-hockey hence the hall of fame bit. I'd love to go to a Blue Jays' game myself but the season doesn't start for another 6 weeks or so.

I have a day to kill before my wife arrives so I was going to hit one of the low key comedy clubs for sure.

Have a fair few breweries to kick around too.

The AGO has a Keith Haring exhibition that I want to go to called "Art Is For Everybody". Admission to the AGO is $35. The Haring thing requires you to become a member of the AGO to access it - another $5 - so it should be called "Art Is For Everybody - provided that everybody has $40".   

[mickO)))]

For the Raptors with the dates you get there being so close the best thing to do is buy a ticket on the street on the night. If you buy it after the game has started it will be even cheaper.

The Ripleys Aquarium that I mentioned is about a 10min walk from the hockey hall of fame so you should head to that on the same day. DOn't bother with the CN tower it's shite.

Pantera are also playing at the end of Feb if you are into them but like with all big events in Canada the prices are insane. Standing tickets are around $250. The UFC was on in that venue last month and the nose bleed seats started at $900. I was at the previous UFC event in December 2018 and we were 12 rows from the back and we paid $230.

When I got my citizenship I had free entry to AOR and most of the other places for 5 years I think it is but I haven't bothered to use it yet and not actually being in the country plays a big part in that. I didn't even think of visiting any of them when I was back last November and my friends that I stay with just had their first child 2 weeks ago so I don't know when I will be able to go back now again.

[91/30]

I can't comment on the hockey hall of fame never been as I went to 3 leafs games and that turned me off the sport.

I've never been to North America but out of curiosity why didn't you enjoy watching the maple leafs?

[mickO)))]

I can't comment on the hockey hall of fame never been as I went to 3 leafs games and that turned me off the sport.

I've never been to North America but out of curiosity why didn't you enjoy watching the maple leafs?

Just found it very boring. It use to piss me off because we would go to the pub for most of the UFC's and most of the time the pubs wouldn't put the prelim's on even on one TV because the Hockey was on.