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CMYE Ossington Pub Crawl & Scavenger Hunt
Category: Local Flavour Local Flavour [Edit]
1132 Dundas Street WToronto, ON M6J 1X2
Neighbourhoods: Little Italy, Little Portugal, Ossington Strip, Trinity Bellwoods
- Good for Kids:
- No
4 reviews for CMYE Ossington Pub Crawl & Scavenger Hunt
4 reviews in English
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Review from Chris P.
8/11/2009
Another great crawl, of course, because Toronto has the best Yelpers and the best Ambassador. The best word to describe the bars on Ossington is eclectic. From furniture that looks like they picked it up off the side of the street at Sweaty Betty's, to a wall of bobble heads at Crooked Star, and don't forget the wall of photos at The Painted Lady.
I had one of "The B.E.S.T." sandwiches of my life at Lakeview with a side of chili. It was the perfect late dinner to soak up all the beer and tequila that we'd had at the handful of places along the way.
There were some celebrity sightings along the way, or so I'm told:
"See that guy/girl?"
"Yeah"
"S/He used to be on that show you never watched as a teenager"
"Oh cool"
There were a few places missed along the way due to time (Levack Block), being too busy (The Painted Lady and Communit's Daughter), and cover charge (The Dakota Tavern).
Overall it was a great night, and fun trying to find all the answers for the trivia sheet.Listed in: Ossington
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Review from Kat F.
8/11/2009
I had so much fun on the Ossington pub crawl, and Christine's pics sure show it! Just wait till I upload my grim offering of photos...I think only the first two bars of the night were documented and then the night became a bit of a funhouse.
I finally got to see Sweaty Betty's fabled patio (it exists - if you leave now you'll find a spot!) and I thought The Ossington was great and a nice surprise to what I had been expecting based on the exterior "decor". Despite being vegetarian I don't have an aversion to taxidermy and there was loads of it - like a huge zebra head by the bar and an antelope galloping over the front entryway. My amaretto sour was decent but not fantastic (this always surprises me...it's two ingredients, what's to fk up?).
We picked up pals Greg Smith (Everwood alum, yo) and Hannah Sung (former MuchMusic VJ and current CBC book club hotshot) at Crooked Star and they joined for a part of the crawl.
And of course no night out in Toronto would EVER be complete without a Stefan Brogren (Archie "Snake" Simpson on Degrassi Junior/High/TNG) sighting. No night. Ever. This guy goes out seven nights a week. I raise and clink my tumbler of Pinot Grigio to you, Snake!Listed in: Yelpy Events!
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Review from Abby R.
Toronto, ON
8/9/2009
Wow Christine, that review is a hard act to follow!!
Alas, I do not remember the names or locations of most of the places we went to. Why's that you ask? Because this girl chugged her dirty martini. It was either chug or try to sneak it out in my cleavage, and I wasn't sure how that would work out (nor did I was photographic evidence of such unsightly behaviour).
The highlight for me was to be able to stalk everyone in real life. The people were awesome and completely un-internet-nerdish - much more of a hipster crowd. If you haven't made it out to a Yelp event yet you should definitely give it a try - everyone was fab.
That's just how Yelp rolls. -
Review from Christine C.
Etobicoke, ON
8/9/2009 32 photos
We came. We crawled. We drank on Ossington! Congrat's to Kat for organizing another fun, wacky, wild, zany and all around fun Yelp gathering. Ossington was buzzing on Friday, what with the spill over of the soccer game, the beer fest and a perfect night weather wise to just basically wander from bar to bar. I don't know about the other Yelpers but I had lots of fun. I pretty much became the official crawl photographer so be sure to check out the pics!
The fun started at 6:30 at Sweaty Betty's and we worked our way up the street from there. I thought it would be fun to give some of the highlights, the good, the bad and the interesting. So here goes....
The Interesting:
This Yelp crawl was cool because it was a family affair! We had a bro & sis team (Kat & Mike); a hubby & wife crew (Brian and Melinda) and a Mother & Daughter duo (that would be me with my daughter Megan). When Meg asked me if she could come along, I hesitated, after all, she could be cramping my style!!! :) We picked up a couple of official celebs along the way. Some guy named Greg who is in that Cdn. series "Everwood" (ya got me, I think its a Cdn. version of the O.C.) and a former Much Music VJ (Kat....help me out here....what's this gal's name again!).
Cheapest Drinks:
Was at the start of the night at Sweaty Betty's. A buck off each drink before 7:00 p.m. My first round for two drinks was $8.00.
Priciest Drinks:
Reposado. However, with that being said, the drinks were fantastic. I had a traditional Margarita mixed up at the Tiki Bar and the bartender used premium Tequila. Kat & the lovely Hana slurped back some delish Mango Margaritas. The margaritas came in at $9 a pop. Definitely worth it though.
Least Interesting Bar:
Levack Block. Walked up. Walked in. Walked out. 'nuff said about that.
Let's Rank the Patios:
Patio props go to Reposado. Once you get used to sitting on the low teak furniture you realize that this patio's got a zen factor, with lighting fixtures at floor level, beautiful & well cared for foliage, this back deck is the gemstone of patios on Ossington. I also kinda liked the patio at Sweaty Betty's where we started. It's sort of overgrown and that's cool. Someone needs to get the broom out though because the deck is absolutely littered with butts. Ugh. I wouldn't even put my purse down on it. Really gross. The patio at Baby Huey's is quite large with this monster mural of Baby Huey (a baby picture of the original owner named Huey). It's got this hot pink paint across the top of it but as the light dimmed it took on a ghastly look of blood running down on to the mural. Worst patio chairs there ever! Can't use old kitchen chairs with fabric seats on a patio, it just feels scuzzy. As well there was sort of strange smell emanating around the patio. I had the idea that the property next door hadn't put out all their garbage from the strike. Not pleasant.
Best Libations:
For hops it had to be the Okanagan Ale at Baby Huey's. It was Meg's favorite. I was very partial to the Margaritas at Reposado and the Cosmo's at the Crooked Star.
Play that Funky Music White Boy:
The Crooked Star was kicking it. I just love that spot. We crammed ourselves into the corner and a few of us lounged right at the bar with our presence. I don't know what it is with that place but the tunes there just do it for me.
Let Down of the Evening:
Couldn't get into the Painted Lady so no White Trash Nacho's for us!! (boohoo!) Missed the Golden Turtle for our preemptive hangover strike with Pho. It was closed by the time we got there. Sadly, no Jazzy the House Doggy was in the house at the Crooked Star, although Will did curl up to a picture of Jazzy. It just ain't the same though without the lovely Jazzy in the CS!
Most Accommodating Staff:
The gal who works at Reposado actually got a few people to move around at their tables, switch seats, move over a table etc. which helped us to get seating for everyone together on their beautiful patio.
How kind was that! The Yelper's appreciated it. I loved the gal who tended the Tiki Bar at Reposado. We got into a deep conversation about the virtues of sipping Tequila and how to us it was really on par with good Single Malt Scotch. I love that girl. :)
The staff at the Lakeview were funny. When we made it clear that we'd like to be hovered together they let us in the back section and the hostess turned to us and said "ok, you can now begin populating yourselves in the back area..." Yelpers populating. How very Orwellian of her.
It Took Them A Few Minutes to Warm Up to Us:
The bar staff at the Crooked Star didn't quite know what to make of the pack of Yelpers that descended upon them. At first I found the female bartender to be somewhat standoffish but her male counterpart quickly warmed up to us. All along the way the bar staff where really interested in us and what it was we were doing. I left "You've been Yelped" cards all along the way.
TBC
