I've always likened pubs to those smokey old wood pillared ground floor or basement dwellings, with stained glass pool lighting covers and wooden signs or backlit beer advertising adorning the walls, but the times they are a changing. And with those changing times are changing status markers such as price structures.
I've been to Firkin pubs before and liked them. The one on John and Queen is a good one. But this one I wasn't a huge fan of, and here's why:
First off, it's not really a pub. If you called it Earls or Moxies, it'd be the same minus the scantly clad waitresses.
Secondly, there was too much glass, it felt like the holodeck on the Starship enterprise. There's little to no atmosphere.
The waitress was nice. Quick, pleasant and consistent.
The food was meh. This is the part I don't like when you get substandard food from a pub like this: Who do you complain to? The chef isn't the one who made the menu, so why complain to him? He has nothing to do with it but to prepare the food and that's it. The waitress is just serving it. Why complain to her? It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't good. I got the Firkin burger and side poutine. It was okay, but not great. They did have a good special on Coors Light (I know, how can a guy who drinks Coors Light complain about something not being unique, right??).
Anyhow, Hemingway's was close by. Should have stuck with them
P.S.: if the service had of been bad I would have given this location two stars