The Bar That’s the Toast of Toronto

To say why one bar is your favorite is like explaining why you love your wife. Once you get past appearance and public personality, it’s entirely a matter of spirit and soul.

However, in my case, the question of the bar is made a bit easier by residing in a city where drinking in public is still morally suspect and therefore too often a joyless act. There really isn’t much competition.

The Neighborhood

So when I have the urge for a real beer, the comfort of an honest, straight-malt Scotch or the solid warmth that only a well-mixed martini can bring, I can be found in a building situated between a car wash and a parking lot on a block of Toronto where warehouses define the neighborhood.

The place, Joe Allen, is a unique establishment with a definite character and special mood.

Because of restrictive laws here, there are no bars as such. Nearly all must be restaurants as well.

Joe Allen has a restaurant, and a very good one, but the bar and what goes on there makes it a special place. And what goes on is civilized drinking and talking, both the result of the talents of owner-manager John Maxwell, a New Yorker who knows good booze, good music and good conversation.

The bar is his place, not the customers’. You have to trust him, and it is a trust well placed. Joe Allen has 36 brands of beer, the longest and most esoteric list in town. Prices range from $2.60 to $4.

The Drinks

Mixed drinks are poured by hand, without those eyedropper-size shot glasses that plague saloons worldwide. The martini is truly a proper martini, a five-ounce delight. For those who think anything less than a single-malt Scotch is heresy, Joe Allen has 14 brands of this blessed liquor, ranging in price from $3.50 to $5.50.

There is, of course, more to a saloon than booze. At Joe Allen there is the ambiance: high stools at the long, polished bar; quiet, professional bartenders; the people. Toronto Blue Jays baseball players drink here and so do the town’s ballet dancers, opera singers, artists and actors.

Joe Allen, 86 John St., telephone (416) 593-9404.