-
Crush
It's easy to develop a crush on Crush, an impressively designed wine bar offering dozens of varietals by the glass. Sommelier Eric Gennaro conducts wine tasting evenings for everyone from novices to experts, served by some of the friendliest waitstaff in the city.
-
Czehoski
Everyone raves about Czehoski, a timber-faced shopfront bar that manages to be bohemian, classy and understated all at once. The beer and wine lists are extensive, the bar food first-rate, cocktails potent, service friendly, music 'schmoove' and interior design magazine-worthy. The only thing worth arguing about is how to pronounce the name.
-
Dance Cave
Upstairs at Lee's Palace, Dance Cave is thick with U of T young 'uns, dancing up a storm to retro '80s grooves, Brit Pop, garage rock and '60s soul tunes. There's no cover except on weekends.
-
Dancemakers
A physically provocative contemporary dance troupe, Dancemakers is emotive, expressionist and minimalist by turns. Their repertoire evolves under the guidance of Artistic Director and resident choreographer Michael Trent, with passion-driven Canadian themes. They also run dance classes from around C$9 per class.
-
Diesel Playhouse
Pretty much anything can happen on the Diesel's two stages: drama, sketch comedy, cabaret, musicals, live bands, even 'Ultimate Fighting' on the big screen. It's inside the old Second City building, and they've astutely retained the drinks-and-food table service policy from the old days.
-
Docks Drive-in Theatre
What, a drive-in in downtown Toronto? Cool! This waterfront yard has space for 500 cars, and skydeck seating for non-motorists. Double bills feature first-run blockbuster movies, starting around dusk, and the usual fast food suspects are on hand. The Docks also has a minigolf course and nightclubs .
-
Docks Nightclubs
A lakeshore entertainment complex, the Docks has multiple nightclubs, all with huge dance floors, and a breezy outdoor patio. It's primed at the height of summer, when 2000 people gyrate through special event nights. Public transport isn't an option - take a cab.
-
Dominion On Queen
This jazzy pub has been around a while, earning a rep for sassy vocalists, trios and sextets through to full-blown swing bands. Music starts nightly around . Beers have a crafty edge, and there's plenty of vin rouge to ease you through life and heartbreak in the big city.
-
Drake Hotel
Despite its shameless social rung-climbing and increasingly lofty opinion of itself, the iconic Drake Hotel put West Queen West on the map. Accommodation, live music venue, café, restaurant and bar - there's little that isn't on offer, and nothing that's done badly.
-
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.
-
Advertisement
-
El Convento Rico
Inside a former church beyond some impressive steel gates, this gender-bending Latino dance palace sees as many straight as gay clientele these days, but drag shows still triumphantly storm the stage. Salsa and meringue lessons carve up the floor from on Fridays.
-
El Mocambo Lounge
The derelict palm tree nightclub sign suggests Miami, but it's all local bands at the internally renovated El Mocambo - alt-rock, hip-hop, reggae jams, funk, jazz and anything else. This is the place where Mick Jagger once writhed as the ex-prime minister's wife danced approvingly on the tabletops.
-
Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre Centre
The restored double-decker Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre Centre stages high-profile concerts and productions by the likes of Meatloaf, the Canadian Ballet and Opera Atelier. If you're not 100% engrossed in the act, treat your eyes to the architecture.
-
Esplanade Bier Markt
Recently the Bier Markt has gone upscale; the bouncers behave as if this were a nightclub. But it's still worth stopping by, if only to taste from a beer menu that covers Belgium to South Africa to Trinidad, with over 150 varieties all told.
-
Factory Theatre
Inside an off-the-beaten-path Victorian mansion, this innovative theatre company - the 'home of the Canadian playwright' - has been busy for 35 years. The independent SummerWorks Theatre Festival stages plays here too, as do performers from the Toronto Fringe Festival. Sunday matinees are Pay What You Can.
-
Famous Players Paramount
Famous Players' gargantuan multiplex features new releases and the latest in IMAX technology, including 3D. It's always screening a dozen movies or more, with some off-beat picks found among the bigger mainstream releases. You might think twice about tackling the improbably long escalators after a few beers at the bar.
-
Fez Batik
Fez Batik mixes live music and DJs, sometimes scoring a winner. Four floors of lounging, chatting and grooving go along with a full kitchen, Moroccan tea room and gargantuan streetside patio underneath. It's about as laid-back as Clubland gets.
-
Fly
Winner of a proud crop of 'Toronto's Best Club' awards, gay-focused Fly is a shirts-off muscle fest, flying in the face of conformity with state-of-the-art sound and light and US and international DJs spinning hard-house, tribal and trance.
-
Foundation Room
A 30-plus crowd of city drifters descends into this plush, Middle Eastern-inspired room near St Lawrence Market - all dark wooden floors, Moroccan lanterns, mirrored walls and red velvet cushions. DJs play house; bottled beers and martinis seem to be in every hand.
-
Fox Cinema
Behind a cute little art deco shopfront amongst The Beaches cafés is this arty cinema, screening offbeat Hollywood fare (think Half Nelson, Black Dahlia, An Inconvenient Truth) and classics by Woody Allen and David Lynch. 'Movies 4 Moms' sessions happen on Wednesday afternoons.
-
Advertisement
-
Free Times Café
Maintaining a hippie Jewish vibe, this small back-room venue is the oldest folk club in the city, with free music most nights. The pints are cheap, the food substantial and James Brown keeps it tight on the stereo. Open-mic nights usually happen on Mondays; sign up by if you've got something to share with the class.
-
Gladstone Hotel
This formerly down-at-heel historic hotel revels in Toronto's avant-garde arts scene. In the Melody Bar there's karaoke from , Thursday to Saturday, while the Art Bar and Gladstone Ballroom sustain off-beat DJs, poetry slams, jazz, book readings, alt-country and blues.
-
Glenn Gould Studio
Free noontime concerts are given in the Glenn Gould Studio (named after the famous pianist), where the soundtrack for Schindler's List was recorded. You'll need to purchase advance tickets for highly esteemed evening concerts of classical and contemporary music by soloists, chamber groups, choirs and sinfonia between September and June. Young international artists are often featured.
-
Graffiti's
This diverse bohemian bar has credible acoustic rock, roots, blues and jazz acts, as well as open-mic nights and 'cabarets' that could (and usually do) embrace any subject. There's Sleeman Cream Ale on tap, jazzy murals, Persian rugs and beautifully painted marble tabletops.
-
Grossman's Tavern
Inside this grubby 1940s tavern near Kensington Market, the emphasis is on singin' the blues, but acoustic rock and folk acts also get a look-in. There's music nightly - the Sunday night jam session has been raising the roof for decades. Incidentally, Dan Akroyd worked up his routine for The Blues Brothers here.
