Entertainment in Canada
-
A
Hurley’s Irish Pub
This cozy place features live rock and fiddling Celtic folk on the rear stage and beer-soaked football and soccer matches on big-screen TVs. Standard pub grub – fish ‘n’ chips, meat pies and burgers – is also served.
reviewed
-
B
Upstairs
This slick downtown bar hosts quality jazz and blues acts nightly, featuring both local and touring talent. The walled terrace behind the bar is enchanting at sunset, and the dinner menu features inventive salads and grilled meats and seafood.
reviewed
-
C
Edgar Hypertaverne
Once a trashy dive, Edgar’s appeals to the well-educated, cognac-sipping crowd of the Plateau. When they’re not air-kissing groupies, the DJs serve up a discriminating mix of acid jazz and New Age music. The wine list is copious.
reviewed
-
D
Le Drugstore
This cavernous eight-story complex has nine theme bars, boutiques, a large delicatessen and a dance club in the basement. For bad hair days there’s even a hairdresser. Lesbians and gays have staked out their terrain on different floors.
reviewed
-
ScotiaBank Place
Ottawa is a hard-core hockey town. It’s worth getting tickets to a game even if you’re not into hockey – the ballistic fans put on a show of their own. The NHL’s Senators play at the ScotiaBank Place, in the city’s west end.
reviewed
-
Pavillon de la Jeunesse
The city’s brand-new basketball team, the Québec Kebs play at the 5000-seat stadium of Pavillon de la Jeunesse. In the Atlantic division of the Premier Basketball League, the Kebs play from December through March.
reviewed
-
E
Strathcona Hotel
This multivenue complex includes the rooftop volleyball courts of Sticky Wicket Pub; hillbilly, peanut-shell-on-the-ground haven of Big Bad John’s; and touring musical acts at Legends.
reviewed
-
Honest Lawyer
Is there such a thing? Maybe not, but it's a sure-fire conversation starter at this long, narrow beer room where an upbeat crowd is usually knocking back a few. Student specials, wing nights, big-screen sports and live music on the weekends.
reviewed
-
F
Le Va-et-Vient
This popular ‘cultural bistro’ straddles the boundaries between restaurant, music venue and exhibition space. Order a tasty microbrew and special bistro burger and settle down to an evening of jazz, Irish folk or roadhouse funk.
reviewed
-
G
Dominion on Queen
This jazzy pub has earned a rep for sassy vocalists, trios and sextets through to full-blown swing bands. Music starts nightly around 9pm. Beers have a crafty edge, and there's plenty of vin rouge to soothe your big-city heartbreak.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
H
Hemingway's
Equal parts sports pub, singles' bar and jazz venue, Hemingway's is an undeniable Yorkville hot spot. The heated double-deck rooftop patio makes for a vivacious night full of opportunity among an upwardly-mobile crowd of bright young things.
reviewed
-
I
Belmont
This pub-meets-club is packed on weekends with yuppie Francophones in jeans and leather jackets who dig the laser light shows and hit-spinning DJs. Some don’t get past the pool table, cheap beer and big-screen sports in the front bar.
reviewed
-
J
Broken City
If you fancy a bit of rock and roll and are looking for a club with a 4/4 heartbeat, then Broken City is your scene. Indie rock, alt country and punk all do the rounds and get the crowds going. Gigs are usually on Thursday and Friday nights.
reviewed
-
K
Les Deux Pierrots
This club has been serenading an adoring public for over three decades. Québec singers encourage you to join in sing-alongs of heart-on-your-sleeve chansons in thick dialect. The lyrics waft out over the rear terrace in summer.
reviewed
-
L
Cubano’s Club
This undisputed hub of salsa, Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz gives dance classes during the day and sets standards of dexterity at night. Highlights here are the big Cuban orchestras and mambo competitions during the International Jazz Festival.
reviewed
-
M
Princess Theatre
The Princess is a grand old theater that defiantly sticks her finger up at the mall-housed multiplexes that are dominant elsewhere. Dating from the pre-talkie days (1915) it screens first-run, art-house and cult classics.
reviewed
-
N
Les Trois Brasseurs
This chain of European brewers has set up a great locale in the Quartier Latin. Four homegrown beers are always on tap and the menu has a number of great bistro-style bites. During summertime, sliding garage doors let in the cool night air.
reviewed
-
O
Dream in High Park
Through Toronto's long summer evenings, CanStage's annual presentation of Shakespeare happens under the stars in High Park. Expect Much Ado About Nothing, or The Comedy of Errors perhaps. Show up early and take a blanket.
reviewed
-
P
Kaffeehaus Konditor
Konditor is a traditional, Germanic coffeehouse at the city end of The Beaches strip, serving piping hot coffee and Teutonic staples like goulash, chicken schnitzel and what's allegedly the world's best apple strudel. Who are we to argue?
reviewed
-
Olde Heidelberg Brewery & Restaurant
Take Rte 12 north from St Agatha, turn right onto Berlett’s Rd, left onto Wilmot Line and continue north to Heidelberg. Straight out of the 1940s, the only thing changing around here is the contents of the copper brew tanks out the back.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Q
Buonanotte
An Italian resto staffed by scantily clad models that becomes a loud, pulsing nightclub, complete with flashing lights and a dance floor. A handsome doorman handpicks clients from the mad throng of young hopefuls gathered at the entrance.
reviewed
-
R
Ming
'Serving all comrades until 2am' says the sign, hinting that Ming might not be conservative Calgary's most traditional bar. Contrarians, lefties and people with their tongues stuck firmly in their cheeks sit down inside beneath the pop-art image of Chairman Mao and sip on Che Guevara cocktails in what is one of 17th Ave's trendiest watering holes.
reviewed
-
S
Jello Bar
Though it’s not as trendy as it once was, this retro martini lounge has evolved into a lovely intimate jazz venue. Its glitzy decor of love seats and lava lamps feels like moseying backwards in time. Order one of 50-plus martinis.
reviewed
-
T
Tour de Ville Bar
This padded upscale bar at the top of the Delta Hotel tower affords a splendid view of downtown Montréal. Cocktails are particularly costly but nursing one is fun, as is sizing up the office crowd from the nearby financial district.
reviewed
-
U
Saddledome
Archrival of the Edmonton Oilers, the Calgary Flames play ice hockey from October to April at the Saddledome. Make sure you wear red to the game and head down to 17th Ave afterwards, or the 'Red Mile' as they call it during playoff time.
reviewed