A divey, artsy honky tonk bar a bit off the beaten path. We came here on the recommendation of our lovely, tattooed waitress at Sneaky Dees.
What's up with all the cool spaces in Toronto? The Dakota Tavern lives subterranean in a low ceiling, narrow, brick-walled space featuring a small stage, looked on by a small dancing area and a dozen tables. A long bar runs the room to the house left of the stage.
The crowd was a little sparse for a Saturday night, consisting of a mix of young and older, artsy / hipster types. The crowd was friendly and unpretentious (it may just be that everyone in Toronto is friendly, though). We were treated to the countrified rock 'n roll of the stables, who had the room rockin' were their hard hitting, wash board bass driven acoustic harmonies of Calgary's The Stables.
The Dakota had a good selection of taps on pull complimented by a well stocked cooler of bottles. I could go for a Labatt's 50 right now (seems to be Canada's PBR/High-life).
The only reason the Dakota doesn't get five stars was due to their ridiculously weak cocktails. How can you have a rockin' cowboy bar and measure your pour when serving up a Jack and Coke? Isn't the point of being a cowboy to drink a lot of Whiskey?
I'd stick to the beer and frequent this place if I lived in Toronto.