The Irv is quickly becoming one of my favourite joints in the city, and I've only been here twice. The first time I ended up coming here on a whim, after being unsatisfied with the local fare in the neighborhood and doing some research on Yelp. I was surprised at the large amount of positive reviews The Irv had, so I decided to come here with a friend on a Thursday night for a pint and some pub food. Their prices are higher than your average pub, but their extravagant menu items and very reasonably priced pints made us decide to stay.
I ended up ordering the Gord Stellick burger, made with ground chuck, bourbon bacon jam, beer crusted jalapeno, white cheddar, and whisky BBQ sauce. Can that sound any better? My friend ended up ordering the fish and chips. The food took over an hour to arrive, and my friend and I were not happy about this since we were extremely hungry. The waitress was very apologetic after we asked her about it, even covering our nachos and beer for the long wait. It appears that they had an unusually busy night and some troubles with their kitchen staff, and the food took longer than usual. The second time I came back here, they didn't have that problem and the service was very prompt. Awesome family owned spot that I will most certainly be returning to very soon!