Now I know where David Lynch gets his movie ideas.
This bizarro bar located across from Toronto's Greyhound bus terminal on Bay Street had next to no signage, no exterior lights and basically nothing to entice the average person walking by (which, let's be honest, isn't very many people given the neighbourhood) to come in. There was a sandwich board blocking the entrance that declared "Private party!", but I don't really know how many stragglers would have attempted to bypass the board had it not been there. Luckily I was invited to said party so I had no trouble getting in. At 10pm I was one of ten people in the bar and I didn't know a single person - mercifully my friends arrived about half an hour later to save me from ogling those ten fine "specimens".
MUSIC:
The music was a mix of Big Shiny Tunes 1-3 (literally) including really old songs by Soundgarden, Bush X, Green Day and Tea Party. The rest of the clientele, which consisted of 50 year old Filipino dudes, was totally into this music and there was a lot of generic grooving and head bopping.
SERVERS:
The epitome of "gussied up". There were about eight girls working and they were dressed like they were waiting tables at Ultra or Century Room.
DECOR:
Think "tryhard" hotel bar/lounge. The last resort place to hang out when you're on an offsite business trip and realize you don't really want to venture too far from your bed - easier to just stumble back into bed at the end of the night. I kept looking for an elevator that would bring me upstairs to my room in the Econolodge.
Not terrible but definitely forgettable, with the exception of what I think was the owner, who spent a large part of the evening walking around with an unlit cigarette in his mouth.