Maison Mercer is trying to be something it's not. I've never heard of 30 dollars for cover in Toronto and luckily I didn't have to pay that to experience Maison Mercer. Someone told me the high price is to deter the wrong crowd entering this Maison's opulent space. But as I looked around, this was no impressive crowd. And on a Friday night, there was plenty of space for more people to join in on the fun. Are the wrong people being shut out here? Maybe.
For a friends birthday, they gave her a mixture of free and reduced cover tickets. The reduced price was 15, so we divvied those up between the girls. 15 dollars is a more realistic price for this establishment. Though, on this night, there was no charge for coat check so that was a nice touch. Except the coat check girls will subtly-not-so-subtly ask for tips in the same breath as announcing the free service.
Drinks were 8 dollars for bar rail, but I kind of get that because bar drinks are always going to be overpriced and they were using Stoli for my vodka sour.
Anywho! Once the DJ kicked in, the music turned wonderful. Before midnight, it was technohousetechno and after we heard some amazing mixes. The gogo dancers were fantastic and had the craziest stamina I've seen! Some incredibly drunk guys got on the pedestals later and even that made for a fantastic show.
It turned out to be a fun night! More thanks to the people I was with than to the bar itself. It's a gorgeous place to be and the people watching is hilarious- in the not so good way. Maybe give it a try!