We were simply looking for a patio on a Monday afternoon after taking in a matinee down at the Scotiabank Theatre when we decided to try this place. We'd walked by it countless times when the patio was absolutely packed so seeing it half empty on a really hot June afternoon was all the invitation we needed.
It's one of the largest patios in the downtown core and even had the City TV people doing yet another weather report from beside it. The tavern really should start charging them rent since they always seem to do their reports from there on a sunny day. There's also such a constant parade of people walking along Queen Street west that it makes for great people watching.
We were handed a couple of menus as we walked in and were told to seat ourselves anywhere. I order a Keith's on tap that and my wife had an Apple Cider. The cider was okay, but my beer was a little flat but they both got consumed fairly quickly due to the heat. The second glass of each was considerably better. Go figure!
The waitress was the young, heavily tattooed type that you'd expect from the area, but she was pleasant enough though a little overworked since there didn't seem to be many servers.
There's not much to the menu so my wife had the wings and I had a Bull Burger. The wings were smaller than the capons you get at Duff's Wings and not nearly as plump as those now provided at St. Lous Wings. However, the burger was surprisingly awesome with a lot of meat and cooked perfectly. I had them with Sweet Potato Fries which were crispy and had a nicer flavour than most of the ones I've had at higher end places.
Both meals were roughly $11 and the pints were $6.50 each so all in all it was a pretty good deal for one of Toronto's better patio experiences.