Five Good Assbike Bars
Since a lot the popular downtown going out places are now infested by Federlines, it is time to compile a list of off the beaten path bars. Many of these are pretty much only accessible by assbike.
Clinton's (Bloor + Christie) This is THE Rock'n'Roll bar. The beer's not that cheap, the food is okay, but if there is one word for the log cabin interior it is:
Queenshead (Queen + Bathurst) This place wasn't almost going to make the list because it is full of try-hards and the service is too aloof for my taste, but I went there tonight for the wings and they were pretty damn good. The look: Emo hair and army jackets.
Communist's Daughter (Dundas and Ossington) This place will make you say "I remember 2003!". A throwback hipster bar for people who miss trucker hats and green Pumas. Pabst Blue Ribbon specials and Tegan and Sara on the jukebox. I ate the cheese and sausage platter. I'm probably also the only person that ate pickled eggs from the massive jar behind the bar. The look : Trucker hats and Pumas.
Ronnie's Local 069 (Kensington Mkt.) This is a new bar that is made to look like a biker (the Hell's Angels type) dive that's been there for 40 years, but there's more Assbikes than Harleys out front. This makes the whole thing a bit contrived from the get go, but it is on the upswing on the Assbike Lifecycle Theory. It was packed and hoppin' when I dropped in. They have a few cool beers on tap and some decent tunes. The look : Rockabilly hair and Coop tattoos.
Rhino (Queen + Dufferin) The "Gladstone Dip" acts as the barrier between The Rhino in Parkdale and the Queen West artbar scene. It has a 100-beer menu and decent beers like Wellington and Denison on tap for $4/pint. The food is really good too and cheap, like the grilled calamari, proscuitto pizza and steak sandwiches, and all at a decent price.
Apparently it's a former dive that now has the trappings and menu of an upscale bar. For that reason it has an identity crisis, not trendy enough for the scenesters and not shitty enough for the bums, thus is always kinda empty. The look : ???
Labels: assbikin
posted by Amit @ 11:19 PM
2 Comments:
Rhino is definitely underrated, but you're right in that it doesn't have a real identity yet. I think they're hoping that the gentrification of Queen West gives them some Gladstone/Drake type of clientele, but I'm not sure. All of these new Queen St. hotspots have this fancy, newly renovated look, and Rhino doesn't fit that mold.
The main room is kinda big and impersonal, so it doesn't have the clubby feel those other places have.
A lot of the slick queen west places don't look like they're doing well. Most of them are empty and can't pull people from the hotspots.
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