So you just moved to Toronto from a small town on the outskirts of the GTA, ready for your first year at York. During Frosh, you ask about on-campus bars and hear trendy names like “The Orange Snail” and “The Ab.”
Then you check ‘em out and see every other newcomer has heard about them too, and the lines to get in could stretch from Calumet to Accolade West (you’ll get that joke by third or fourth year).
In any case, sometimes having fun with your new York friends simply requires leaving campus. A variety of TTC vehicles will get you downtown fairly quickly, and though it may not seem like the most convenient approach for a Yorkie’s college nightlife, you could save a few bucks too.’
Here are some of the best bets to preserve your bank account.
Java House
537 Queen Street West
Make a day out of going to the Java House. It’s not just a bar to visit at night, but an all-around ridiculously well-priced restaurant with a host of good drinks on tap.
The place has an Eastern European atmosphere married with East Asian selection of dishes. Indeed, I have no idea what culture Java House is aiming to emulate, but I can definitely get behind the fact that 15 bucks usually nabs
you a hearty dinner and two pints of beer.
Commute time from York by TTC: 1 hour, 10 minutes via the 196 bus, Line 1 subway, and 501 streetcar.
Sneaky Dee’s
431 College Street
If you’re a newbie to Toronto, you’ll either already recognize the name Sneaky Dee’s over most of the other bars on this list, or else just now be reading about a place that will soon become a staple of your better city nights.
Maybe you’ll know it as a setting in the fourth Scott Pilgrim graphic novel. Maybe you’ll know that despite its modest size, it has welcomed performers like Feist, The Dirty Projectors, and Owen Pallett (thus making it a no-brainer for those hoping to see up-and-coming artists).
But if none of that rings a bell, all you need to know is that the place is dark and dingy yet blasts an effervescent spirit and boasts cheerful employees. Plus their nachos are pretty much universally considered the best in the city, and feed up to five people for less than 10 bucks. Bottles are under four dollars, which is also decent.
Commute time from York by TTC: 1 hour, 10 minutes via the 196 bus, Line 1 subway, and 506 streetcar.
Madison Ave Pub
14 Madison Avenue
True, “The Maddy” is kind of University of Toronto turf, but if you cover up your white and red hoodie and dial back your generally progressive views (I kid), you’ll have a good time here.
The cool thing about the Maddy is that it’s like the bar equivalent of Honest Ed’s (and is quite close to the famous store), by which I mean you can get really lost inside. Walking through the place, especially after four or five drinks, can be like walking through an MC Escher picture.
Now, that sucks when you’re looking for your friends, who you swore you just saw.
But there’s something fun about a pub that has bars in several different rooms, different and exciting happenings on each floor, and numerous patios of varying altitude and obnoxiousness.
Oh yeah, and the thing most important to you as a broke student: $4.75 pints every day of the week, and various cheap food places in the surrounding area.
Commute time from York by TTC: 50 minutes via the 196 bus, and Line 1 subway.
Wide Open Bar
139 Spadina Avenue
Booming with the whole graffiti-on-the-walls-alongside-framed-pictures aesthetic, Wide Open is among dozens of hard rock cafes in the city.
But it’s the only one that can lay claim to a vast number of deals that make it one of the cheapest bars you’ll ever visit, while still maintaining enough credibility that you don’t feel like you’re
being poisoned.
A few of their best weekend prices include $13 pitchers on Fridays, $14 pitchers and $4 mix drinks on Saturdays, and finally rail drinks and domestic bottles for $3.50 on Sundays.
And if you have a Thursday off, and no forthcoming test or essay, visit between 5 and 8 p.m. Their price during this time is simply irresponsible: it’s $2.75 per drink.
Commute time from York by TTC: 1 hour, 5 minutes via the 196 bus, Line 1 subway, and 504 streetcar.
Grossman’s Tavern
379 Spadina Avenue
A small, plain-looking bar on a quiet alleyway corner in Chinatown, you wouldn’t think much of Grossman’s Tavern, and you probably wouldn’t guess its history as Toronto’s quintessential jazz and blues bar.
But the atmosphere actually works perfectly for the kind of music it promotes, with decades of sweat and soot gummed onto the floors and walls.
Of all the pubs on this list, Sneaky Dee’s included, this one is the must-visit for music connoisseurs. Not to mention the prices, just a dollar or so higher than the others on this list, won’t hurt a student’s wallet.
Commute time from York by TTC: 1 hour, 10 minutes via the 196 bus, Line 1 subway, and 510 streetcar.
The Green Room
296 Brunswick Avenue
Not everyone loves the Annex-based Green Room. Some call it loud and grimey, others refer to it as a small, dusky dive.
These adjectives, along with the place’s 4.75 pints, should be all the reasons a freshman needs to check it out.
Commute time from York by TTC: 55 minutes via the 196 bus, and Line 1 subway.
Dustin Dyer, Arts Editor
Photos courtesy of Google Streetview.
