The Best Bars in Downtown

The chef's counter overlooking the kitchen is the seat to book at this sleek, third-floor tasting menu restaurant from Patrick Kriss. Six or ten courses move between European and Asian sensibilities without announcing the pivot each time. The bar takes walk-ins and treats them accordingly. A Michelin star sits on the shelf. Somehow the room, all burgundy and diffused light, never tips into solemnity.

1. Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
2. AAA Three Diamonds
3. Michelin Guide 1 Star

Tableside martinis have been a feature of this jewel-toned, Art Deco cocktail bar inside the Fairmont Royal York for longer than most regulars have been alive. The cocktail menu takes its plot points from Michael Ondaatje's Toronto novel "In the Skin of a Lion," so drinks arrive with actual literary backstory, which is either charming or a lot, depending on your mood. North America's 50 Best Bars ranked it nineteenth on the 2026 list.

1. The 50 #19 · North America's 50 Best Bars
2. The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin
3. The 50 Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award 2026 · North America's 50 Best Bars

The cocktail menu arrives as a fabric-swatch book, sourced from a textile shop up the street, which tells you exactly the kind of cocktail bar this is. Each drink comes tethered to a chapter of Toronto history, wars and labour movements and immigration woven into the tasting notes. It lands on North America's 50 Best Bars list, and the ambition never crowds out the fun: they also do craft-cocktail Jell-O shots, which is the right call.

1. The 50 #29 · North America's 50 Best Bars
2. The 50 Best Cocktail Menu Award
3. Foodism Mixology Icon · ICON Awards · Élise Hanson

Twenty seats below a Dutch-Indo restaurant, this subterranean speakeasy is decorated with 1970s Nederlandse kitsch, Funko Pop dolls, and enough knick-knacks to make a flea market blush. The cocktails lean toward the unexpected, carrot-cake-infused whisky being the kind of thing that shows up without apology. The barman runs the room with a reputation for bespoke pours and a soft spot for single malts. Canada's 100 Best ranks it among the country's top bars.

1. Canada's 100 Best #8 · Best Bars
2. The 50 The 50 Discovery

A single word above a heavy black door on Queen West is all the signposting BarChef bothers with. Inside, brick walls, dark wood, and dimmed lighting pull every eye toward the bar, which is exactly where Frankie Solarik wants you. The specialty is what the menu calls modernist cocktails, and the theatrical production values are not incidental to the drink. Aged bottled cocktails and punch bowls round out a list that takes itself seriously, and somehow gets away with it.

1. Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
2. The 50 The 50 Discovery

1. The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin
2. Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Hotel Bar – Canada
3. Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Hotel Bar – Canada

The "no cutlery" rule wasn't an accident, it was the whole point. 416 Snack Bar is a candlelit neighborhood bar on Bathurst where the industry crowd figured things out fast and never really left. There's no cocktail list to speak of, just a well-stocked bar happy to make the drinks people kept asking for. Ranked among Canada's 100 Best Bars, it lands its vibe by knowing exactly what it is and quietly ignoring everything it isn't.

1. Canada's 100 Best #38 · Best Bars

Stacks of firewood against the dark brick walls signal what this small-plates Mediterranean spot is actually about: wood-fired proteins and serious cooking from the Alo Food Group, Patrick Kriss's team. The room inside the Ace Hotel runs dark and sleek, with big windows cutting the mood just enough. The menu ranges from carpaccio to roast chicken and lamb, and regulars know to save room for the coconut cream pie if it's on.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Hotel Bar – Canada
3. Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Hotel Bar – Canada

1. Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Hotel Bar – Canada
2. Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Hotel Bar – Canada

1. The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide

A garage-door window folds open along Queen West when the weather cooperates, turning this narrow cocktail bar into something between a room and a street corner. Grey-and-green walls, yellow chairs, and a small raised library nook with a sofa and an aquarium give it the feel of a well-curated living room. The bar industry tends to hold its parties here, which tells you something about the drinks program without requiring further argument.

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide