Bar Mordecai is a bar in Ossington, Toronto.
Bar Mordecai on Dundas West is a retro Wes-Anderson cocktail room since 2020, World's 50 Best Discovery list with vintage and modern drinks.
Must order: The Mordecai Martini, served with house olives.
Tip: No reservations; small room fills early on weekends. Closed Sunday-Tuesday.
Address: 1272 Dundas Street W, Toronto, ON M6J 1X7
Track & Field on College Street is the lawn-games cocktail bar that returned in October 2021, two floors with bocce, shuffleboard and a photo booth.
Order: A round on the bocce court with a tapped cocktail.
Tip: Walk-ins or Tock reservations for the bocce lanes; 30ft bar runs through the main floor.
Bar Raval on College runs vermouth on tap and Spanish bar snacks from a mahogany Art Nouveau counter since 2015, Grant van Gameren's room the Michelin Bib.
Signature drink: Vermouth on tap, manzanilla sherry
Food: Pintxos and Spanish snacks
Order: A vermouth on the rocks with a slice of jamon iberico.
Tip: Walk-ins only. Arrive before 17:30 for an easy stool. Open from 09:00 for the coffee crowd.
Civil Liberties on Bloor at Ossington runs a no-menu speakeasy since 2014, bartenders mixing drinks to your taste in an industrial-vibe back room.
Signature drink: Dealers' choice, bartender-led
Food: Bar snacks only
Order: Tell the bartender three flavours you like and let them mix.
Tip: No menu by design. The door at 878 has no signage; ring the bell. Late nights until 02:00.
Cocktail Bar on Dundas West is Jen Agg's drink room since 2013, the menu split seasonal, bold, citrusy, liquor forward and wild cards, sister to Grey Gardens.
Signature drink: Seasonal cocktail rotation
Food: Snacks from Grey Gardens sister kitchen
Order: Whatever the bar manager David Greig is excited about that night.
Tip: Closed Mondays. Snacks from Grey Gardens kitchen run light. Bar seats walk in; tables on Resy.
BarChef on Queen West is Frankie Solarik's modernist cocktail bar since 2008, theatrical drinks with dry ice, smoked glass domes and botanical foams.
Signature drink: Smoked Manhattan, Abstract Ice
Food: Bar snacks only
Order: The signature smoked Manhattan presented under a glass dome.
Tip: Reservations recommended; cocktails run $25 to $50. Closed Monday.
Mahjong Bar on Dundas West pours Asian-inspired cocktails behind a Vietnamese sandwich-shop facade since 2016, a speakeasy through the back door.
Signature drink: Asian-inspired cocktails
Food: Vietnamese small plates
Order: A Pandan Highball with the bahn mi sliders.
Tip: Enter through the sandwich shop; the back door opens after 19:00. Reservations on Resy.
