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Highway 61 Southern Barbeque
Category: Restaurants Barbeque Barbeque [Edit]
1620 Bayview AveToronto, ON M4G 3B7
Neighbourhood: Mount Pleasant and Davisville
(416) 489-7427
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 12 pm - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 12 pm - 11 pm
Sun 11 am - 9 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
37 reviews for Highway 61 Southern Barbeque
Review Highlights
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"Like Kat, I recommend the beef ribs." In 10 reviews -
"My favorite ribs and onion rings in Toronto." In 14 reviews -
"The sweet potato fries were amazing." In 4 reviews
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37 reviews in English
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Review from Raf P.
York, ON
1/22/2012 2 photos
Good wings, ribs, fries but I'd pass on the smoked chicken. It's basically Swiss chalet with hockey sauce. The corn bread is so so.
They serve fried alligator which is brought from Louisiana, it's a must try. Tastes like something in between chicken and pork
Sweet potato pecan pie is beyond amazing but really sweet and too much for one person IMO
Good to share it with someone tho -
Review from Adil L.
Mississauga, ON
5/3/2012
Tried this out with a Groupon, but unfortunately we waited until the day before the voucher expired to use it and apparently so did everybody else. Because of the timing, they were out of many of the items we wanted to try (including the beef ribs and sweet potato mash). For the food that we ended up trying:
- Highway 61 Lager: delicious
- Gumbo: wasn't a traditional gumbo, it was more of a gumbo flavoured soup. Flavour was excellent though, price was a little steep (8 bucks for a bowl of soup?)
- Brisket: Very generous portion, tasty bbq sauce, the meat itself was a little bit dry
- Slaw: excellent
- Beans: decent although very sweet, not sure if made in-house or from a can (they tasted almost exactly like Bush's)
- Onion rings: pretty good, and somewhat unexpected. Unlike most homemade onion rings, these ones don't have the typical thin fish-n-chips type of batter. Instead,these have some sort of breading/batter hybrid that leaves the rings extremely crispy and similar in consistency to cheetos
Overall I wasn't blown away, but given that they were out of some of the key items I wanted to try I'll give them another shot when I'm back in the area. -
Review from Paul L.
Whitby, ON
We heard about this place through a Groupon offer, so we decided to try it since I love southern barbeque! Therefore, it was with great anticipation that we went to this 2-story restaurant. The atmosphere was typical roadhouse with a lot of music-related posters displayed on the walls.
For appetizers, we ordered the Crispy Shrimp and Gator as well as an order of onion rings. The Shrimp and Gator was very tasty with delicious sauces, but the portion seemed small for the price. The onion rings had a pool of grease in the basket, which was disgusting. My teenage son wouldn't even finish it.
For the main course, we ordered Mississippi ribs, pulled pork and smoked chicken. Everything was nicely smoked, which is an absolute must for me. However, the ribs and pulled pork were rather dry, which made me think that they were sitting under a heat lamp rather than being grilled fresh. Needless to say, this was very disappointing. I'm glad we had the Groupon discount, since I would have hated paying full price.
Lastly, the service was extremely mediocre! Our waitress never even asked if we wanted refills on our water or if everything was OK. Again, very appointing. Oh well ... there are lots of other places that I'm sure would be glad to have our money. -
Review from Farhan H.
Oakville, ON
3/14/2012
I went to Highway 61 with a friend last night, we are big eaters so we did try almost all the main dishes at this restaurant (the waiter did say we were impressive eaters)!
Appetizer: we ordered the Shrimp And Gator - first time eating Gator, kind of chewy, very salty, but kind of like popcorn chicken, you just keep eating them as long as it stays warm. And we ordered the Onion Rings - I have never seen that much oil in Onion Rings, there was a pool of oil in the basket after we finished them.
Round 1: I ordered the Dakota Beef Ribs and the Smoked Chicken with Mashed Potatoes, my friend ordered the Dakota Beef Ribs and the Brisket with Sweet Potato Fries, and we added two Jalapeno Cornbreads. Beef Ribs - very nice, good flavour. Chicken, well smoked, came off the bone beautifully. Brisket, again very nice (you have to eat it right away, gets too chewy if you get distracted with other food and come back to it). Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Potato Fries - normal, nothing new about these. The jalapeno cornbread, this was disappointing, it came out like a muffin, and was sweet as cake.
With respect to drinks, we were both drinking Diet Cokes.
Round 2: We took a break for 10 minutes and ordered more - we took 1 pound of their Hot Wings, 1 pound of their Honey Garlic, and a basket of fries. Now just to preface, we are big fans of Duff's Wings - so we like the crunchiness that wings have, these wings here were like the smoked chicken, a lot of skin, came off the bone, at one point, it was just too slimy to continue eating - we didn't finish all the wings, we were disappointed - so we just carried on with finishing the fries, which were very good - and we both concurred, the fries were the best thing on the menu.
Worth a try, glad we did it, but we wouldn't go back. -
Review from Laile B.
Toronto, ON
12/24/2011
Awesome atmosphere. Live music nights are really great, bango, cello, piano, guitar fill the upper floor.
I am not typically a giant BBQ fan (I'm a vegetarian) BUT, they have some delicious veggie items on the menu. Try the Herbivore Sandwich (my favourite). -
Review from Natalie G.
Toronto, ON
2/21/2012
I had a groupon to this place and decided to try it out last week. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the staff was very friendly For an app we had the onion rings because they looked super delicious. I was wrong. They were coated in so much batter and every bite I had was like a huge tbsp of grease in my mouth. I felt sick after eating just 2. For my meal I ordered the southern fried chicken with garlic mash. The mash was amazing, very creamy and full of flavour. The chicken was DRY and not delicious at all. I sadly wouldst ate at POPEYES over the chicken they served here. My bf had the pulled pork plate and that was much tastier! Next time I will try the ribs.
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Review from Precilla C.
Scarborough, ON
6/22/2011 4 photos
I've been meaning to try Highway 61 for a long time, but never had a chance. Finally, after a somewhat underwhelming experience at Barque Smokehouse, I decided to give ribs another go and Highway 61 was my first choice.
After reading many positive reviews on the pulled pork, I ordered Mississippi-style baby back ribs and pulled pork combo, served with tasters of coleslaw, baked beans, cornbread and 61 sauce. The pulled pork was described as "tender hand-pulled pork shoulder barbequed low and slow for 14 hours." Unfortunately, there was nothing tender about the pulled pork. The meat was dry, tough, and under-seasoned. After two bites, I left the rest of it untouched.
The ribs themselves were decent. In addition to the baby back ribs, I also ordered half a rack of House Signature pork side ribs. These were actually more tender than the baby back ribs. However, I'm not a big fan of the 61 sauce.
I also ordered a basket of homemade onion rings to share, and it was served with chipotle ranch dip. The onion rings were humongous and extremely greasy (but in a good way). The exterior was very crunchy and I couldn't stop eating it even though I could feel my arteries clogging up with every bite.
All in all, I thought the food here was decent, but not quite worth the journey to midtown. One thing that infuriated me was that they charged us when we asked for extra sauce without warning, and I didn't even enjoy the 61 sauce at all. Had I known, I definitely would not have gotten more sauce! -
Review from John F.
North York, ON
7/11/2011
Fall off the bone ribs and excellent tender brisket as well as great pulled pork. Baked beans are tangy and not too sweet; cole slaw is good too. The jalapeno muffins were tasty but if they wanted to be really "down home" they could have served hoe cakes or old fashioned sourthern corn bread (the kind without wheat flour). That is a minor quibble however.
We ate on the sidewalk so I can't comment on the decor or ambience. Service was efficient and pleasant. -
Review from Gord M.
East York, ON
Updated - 5/18/2011
You can call it a comeback.
Apparently, I hit 61 on an off night on my first visit because my meal this week was solid (as a rock).
With a little hesitation, I ordered the brisket and half baby back rib platter, served with a cornbread muffin, a bit of slaw and a bit of beans. I was immediately impressed when our server asked if I wanted the rib sauce on the side 'cause I'm a dry rub guy and that really worked for me.
So, the ribs were near-perfect: they did not fall off the bone (nor should they people, they should require the slightest pull) and the dry rub was very tasty. Just enough salt and packed with paprika, chili and oregano, I think.
The brisket was great once again. It was a great cut with the right amount of fat and it nearly melted in my mouth (I'm salivating as I type) and it was served with a dijon (and something) sauce on the side that perfectly complimented an already killer piece of cow.
So, I happily stand corrected and I will be back.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/10/2011
Disappointed. (2.5 stars)
To be fair, I eat BBQ wherever and whenever it's available, but that also… Read more »
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Review from WaYnE c.
Maple, ON
1/13/2011
This Southern BBQ Joint on Bayview avenue feels Southern Sporty Cozy. Southern BBQ Menu. Sports on TV the likes of Sports Bars. Cozy floor space, small enough you can throw a Pork Rib across the entire length of the room.
The Staff gave us a perfect spot along the 2nd-story window where if you use your resources well enough, you can manage to arrange the furniture to create a long table for 12 which is probably the maximum group size allowance.
They have what I would say, Guy Fieri approved O-rings($6.49). Yes, I get me some Food edumacation on Foodnetwork too. Guy Fieri didn't officially approved them but these Onion Rings passes the Crunch Test and it's not even Panko Crusted. Passes the Rip-apart Test where the Onion doesn't all slide out if you pull it apart. Lastly, these O-rings had decent seasoning flavour on them. Not exactly the inexpensive Harvey's O-rings but they are worth ordering.
The Major's Burger($7.99) definitely taste like it was made in-house where I believe I looks quite darkish seasoned Ground Beef probably from a good doze of Worcestershire or Soya Sauce. I still much preferred the additional Smoked Bacon($0.99) on it instead. A-OKListed in: Burger Me
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Review from Greg M.
Toronto, ON
11/20/2011
Let loose and bring your 'inner pig' on.
Very handicapped accessible. Servers truly seem to enjoy their patrons. Whether you want to gnarl in to ribs or wings..or do the the sweet potato fries, slaw and rings thing, this is dig in all the way. Six in our group easily found a savoury scarf down with the 'let me at it' menu. I have a very restictive diet but managed to leave stuffed. The ambiance is great. Not chi chi..more chow chow. -
Review from Mariko M.
12/10/2010
Thank you Shari for planning a UYE to Highway 61~
In spite of living in the area, it was actually my first time (ever!) walking into this joint on Thursday.
A two storied restaurant, space is limited. Unless you have a group of 12 or more, H61 won't take a reservation ... fair enough. Service here is excellent. The ladies who work here are quite pleasant and efficient.
The onion rings were ordered as an appetizer and the entire Yelp crew shared two orders of it. They were freakin' delicious! If you come here, you have to try them!! We also ordered the Cajun style shrimp... it was 'meh.' I won't die if I don't have them ever again.
Most of us at the table ordered their Major Burger. It was good, but definitely not something to write home about. The BBQ sauce on the burger was too thick and there was too much of it on the patty. For $7 a pop, it's quite reasonable considering the amount of meat you're getting. I also had the pleasure of having their Jalapeno Cornbread. Yum!
Definitely check it out ... but I'm okay if I don't go back.Listed in: Lovely Little Leaside
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Review from Tony C.
Richmond Hill, ON
1/13/2011
Took my friend here for his birthday. Not a big place eventhough it's a 2 storey restaurant, at most I think they have about 15 tables. I like that on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays they have a live band. However, it's only on the second floor, you're out of luck if you're seated on the first floor.
The food was ok. I tried their Dakota beef ribs, smoked beef brisket, smoked chicken, onion rings and poutine. By far the best items were the Dakota beef ribs and beef brisket. The ribs had a crisp exterior and were nice and tender once you bite into them. The smoked beef brisket was excellent. It had what barbecue experts call the smoke ring, a pink ring around the outer layers of the brisket. The smoked chicken, onion rings and poutine were not up to par. I found myself dipping the chicken in sauce, it had very little flavour. The onion rings were too greasy for my liking and the poutine didn't have enough gravy and cheese curds. My friends also complained about the food not being warm enough.
The service was excellent, the waitress we had found out I accidently knocked over my beer and she came back with a replacement. She was friendly with everyone. Too bad most of the food wasn't as outstanding. -
Review from Yvonne T.
12/6/2010
Visited Highway 61 with a Groupon in hand last Wednesday. Had read terrible things about it on Chowhound (which is a pretty good source and never steers me wrong), and of course I had read about it on Yelp as well.
We ordered the following (as per recommendations on various forums on Chowhound):
Onion Rings - The greasiest onion rings I have ever tasted in my life. Not much flavour. Just a lot of grease.
Sweet Potato Fries - Average, but the aioli/mayo sauce they had for the fries tasted a little off. I resorted to ketchup...
Pulled Pork - I didn't find the pulled pork was anything special. Not juicy at all, in fact I found it really dry without the sauce. It came with a side of baked beans, which was nothing spectacular, and their awesome coleslaw.
Beef Ribs - The best thing on the menu of the entire night. Very smokey and mesquite flavour... I wish we had passed on the Pulled Pork and ordered a full rack of beef ribs instead. This is something that is definitely worth coming back for.
My partner ordered a beer and I ordered the Cocktail of the Day which was quite delish, though the name of it escapes me at the moment. All in all I think that the server was great, very attentive, always smiling, and pleasant. I would definitely go back, but only because of the server and the mouth-watering beef ribs!Listed in: What's the deal?
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Review from Michelle W.
Richmond Hill, ON
10/3/2011
My boyfriend and I decided to try Highway 61 as they always have a groupon $12 for $20 worth of food.
The decor has a great southern feel and they play blues music which really adds to the ambiance.
Our server was super and very friendly. Everything was was brough to our table quickly and hot.
We pigged out - first we ordered the WIngs with Jack Daniels sauce and fries on the side. The wings were yummy and good sized wings also. We also had the Gator and shrimp bites - also very yummy.
For the main course, we had the baby back ribs and pulled pork with 61 sauce. I had mac and cheese as a side option. The ribs were good (not great), but we weren't overly impressed with the pulled pork. It was a little dry and they don't mix it with the sauce. I like when the meat has time to absorb the sauce. I LOVED the mac and cheese. The other sides (coleslaw and muffin) were also good, but we weren't a big fan of the baked beans. They had a weird taste to them.
Overall, I would recommend this restaurant and will be returning. Next time I will try the onion rings!! -
Review from Christine W.
Markham, ON
9/22/2010
I'm a little tardy with this review. I visited Hwy 61 a few weeks back on one of my "girls night out" dinners. There were 6 ladies in total and we were really hungry!
We arrived around 6:00 pm so it wasn't too busy. We were seated upstairs where they have live music.
Some of the girls started with the beer samplers. 3 half pint glasses on a wooden board of your choice of beers. From what I heard the beer was great. We warned our waiter in advance that we were hungry and that we would probably shock him with our food order lol. Here's a run down of what was ordered:
2 baskets of rings (best I've ever had!)
1 basket of sweet potato fries
1 order of brisket poutine
2 orders of coleslaw
1 order of baked beans
2 orders of cornbread
The Howler platter with beef brisket and a side order of beef ribs. (a carnivores dream!)
I'm getting the meat sweats just thinking about this night!
Ok so as I mentioned above amazing onion rings! They were crisp on the outside and the onion was perfectly cooked inside. It still had some texture to it - it wasn't mushy like most rings. The sweet potato fries were amazing! As was the coleslaw and baked beans. I didn't really try the poutine but from the moans down the table I'm assuming it was good. The cornbread was so-so. Others seemed to like it but I was thrown off by the little muffin cups it came in. I like traditional cornbread from a cast iron pan.
Now lets talk about the meat. Ahhhh meat. The beef ribs were great. Fall off the bone yummy goodness. By far my favourite thing on the platter. Pork ribs were good. I wasn't too keen on the BBQ sauce as I prefer it a little sweeter but still good. Pulled pork, brisket and half chicken all good. There was a sauce served with the platter that was out of this world! I'm not sure what it was but it was a very thin watery like sauce that tasted like heaven. It was perfect on everything!
All in all it was a great meal. No we didn't quite finish everything but we really tried. The bill was reasonable - I think about $30 pp. We didn't have dessert as we were all so full we were in pain lol. Actually thinking back now I was so uncomfortable all night I didn't sleep well. Oh well. That's the price you pay for good BBQ! -
Review from Payam Z.
Some of the most legendary Monday nights in my recent memory have started at Highway 61. The reason: probably unbeatable Monday night specials.
For $10 you can pick up a pitcher of a pretty decent Canadian microbrew. The weekly rotation varies from well known breweries such as Creemore to some uncommon brews from Muskoka!
There is also a sometimes changing food special to go with the drink, and from trying these platters, I have to admit that Highway 61 makes a pretty good homemade BBQ sauce! From these, I would definitely recommend the marinated BBQ wings, and the chicken or brisket sliders.
On some Monday nights, there is live music on the second floor, and they usually pick pretty good musicians as well (blues guitar etc.) so the atmosphere is perfect for some after work drinks and chow!
The service is friendly and pretty attentive too!
Solid 4* for Mondays! -
Review from Eating W.
North York, ON
11/18/2011
Waiters spend more time chatting with each other than serving you. The food is OK for me, but that's coming from a BBQ hater like me... The ambiance is nice,and fits in really well with the food.
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Review from Shari M.
Toronto, ON
I had planned a smallish surprise b-day party for my mom, and the perfect locaiton, in my opinion, was Highway 61. I was so glad my choice proved to be loved by all!
Highway 61 was so accommodating to our party of 15, and my request to bring in a cake. They did separate bills for all of us (yes - you read that correctly!!!), made sure we had everything we needed and kept coming back to see how we were doing.
I liked that when I booked the reservation they took my e-mail address and confirmed the booking via e-mail. They also remembered my name and approached me directly a few times to make sure everything was taken care of.
There was a lot of moaning and wow amongst our large table. Everyone loved every mouth full!! I loved that my aunt and a couple other people got one of the platters, it was meat paradise!!!
I had the white quarter chicken. It was so moist and juicy. Perfectly seasoned. I had my chicken with a side of beans (mother effen good) and slaw. Our table had pretty much a bit of everything - meat poutine, pulled pork, ribs (Flinstone size!!), soup, beautiful avocado and strawberry salad, etc, etc.
The pricing is just spot on. For 15 of us, app's, mains, some beers, pop and coffees - the bill was less than $400!!
Big thanks to the staff who made us all feel at home and when my mom went to go buy one of the Highway 61 t-shirts, they were so excited that they ended up giving it to her at no cost!
Again, Highway 61 has won my family over and we will be back!!Listed in: Mid Town
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/2/2010
After reading my friend Dale "thy neighbour" M's review of Highway 61, I chose this locale as the… Read more »
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Review from Jamaal M.
Toronto, ON
11/21/2010
I had fun last night. The live blues music was fantastic, the service great with a happy and accommodating waitress.
The meal, which was almost entirely meat, was fantastic. We had two kinds of ribs, roast chicken beef brisket, caesar salad and onion rings. All of them were fantastic. Although the caesar salad definitely wasn't their "specialty" with what tasted like Kraft dressing, the rest of the food was fantastic.
My favorite ribs and onion rings in Toronto. -
Review from Bobby C.
Toronto, ON
2/19/2012
Delicious and properly done smoked beef brisket, fair beer prices
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Review from sarah l.
11/12/2009
To celebrate Laura's last day with her left mandibular second molar, and we ordered way more food than we could eat at HWY 61 - we got the assorted BBQ platter for 2 which was enough for 4 regular people (Pork ribs, quarter chicken, pulled pork and brisket). There was also a live blues band which was awesome and unexpected, and they played at a reasonable volume for a dining room. Thumbs up.
The best:
The waitress put our meat plate down in front of us and said "here's the deal; there's a bunch of pulled chicken on there too because the guys in the kitchen said 'That quarter chicken is fuckin' small, yo!'"
The good:
- the band was really good and played a Tom Waits cover
- there is a great beer selection
- the meats are mostly local
- it's pretty reasonably priced
- the coleslaw is GREAT
- the baked beans are good
The bad:
I didn't *love* the actual BBQ. In detail:
- The pork ribs were side ribs, which is not my personal preference
- The sauce seemed like it was having an identity crisis - it wasn't watery and sweet like southern sauce, but it wasn't thick and smoky like Kansas sauce... It was not my personal preference of sauce.
- I don't like it when the meat doesn't come sauced - cooking the meat in the sauce is what imparts some of the complex through and through flavors to me.
- The brisket was chopped and I like it sliced. It was extremely fatty and tasted like chopped steak (it was my least favorite).
- the Fryers were out of service so we didn't get to have chicken wings or onion rings or fries.
Weird-and-funny:
There was a woman who had had too much to drink harassing the band to autograph her (yellow) shirt from a blues festival that they clearly had not been to. It was really funny, and they tried to back away slowly.
Would I go here again?
Yes, but I would order judiciously. I would have a quarter chicken dinner or try the wings. I wasn't in like with the pulled pork (probably because it wasn't cooked in the BBQ sauce) but I thought the pulled chicken was okay. In summary, I really liked BEING here - I seriously had a great time - but I didn't like the food, which was slightly devastating to my plans of 'finding a great BBQ joint.'
Food 2 stars, Restaurant 4 stars so we'll call it an even 3.Listed in: Places Where I had a Great…
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Review from Dale M.
Toronto, ON
12/31/2009
Decemburger Bonus Round!
Highway 61 offers Southern comfort cookin', with all the finesse and none of the frills. They do it roadhouse style, and they do it well. Tonight for New Year's Eve, six of us dined on down south favourites like fall-off-the-bone ribs, pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw and the grand finale to my Decemburger, the Smoked Burger.
The Smoked Burger is a different approach to the all-beef patty. Chopped beef is smoked till it's cooked through and then coated with house-made barbeque sauce before ending up (1) on a caramelized bun,* (2) on a plate, and (3) in my belly. I had mine topped with aged cheddar, which was a good choice (being smoked, the patty is naturally a bit dry). This is a burger everybody should try at least once.
As an added bonus, I may also have discovered Toronto's finest onion rings. Highly recommended by Sonya "I need to start yelping" F., they were well worth the risk of betting on a non-yelper's advice. The rings came out a bit thicker than I'd have expected, but they were cooked perfectly and breaded in a delightfully crispy batter. The middle of the onions retained a bit of crunch, but without any raw flavour; the onions were sweated perfectly and not at all slimy. I think they use sweet onions here (vidalias, e.g.), which makes all the difference.
On tap, Highway 61 serves only Ontario craft brews (bonus star rightfully awarded), including the Hockley Valley Stout that I tried - a touch on the thin side, but nice and chocolatey, as promised by our more-than-competent server. Don't expect a Guinness-style creamy head on this one (it's not nitrogen-driven), but expect the same sort of flavour plus the chocolate.
I also ordered the Mac n Cheese, and announced before trying it that "it's difficult to make a good Mac n Cheese in a restaurant," and I stand by that position after the face. This one wasn't that great, but it wasn't far off of what I had at Harlem for twice the price.
Our entire group left stuffed and thoroughly satisfied, and the price was noticeably less than what one might pay for a similar experience elsewhere. Most important today, though: the burger was bang-on.
* The bun appears to have been toasted on a flat grill with a bit of weight on top, leading to a consistently browned underbelly. Love.Listed in: Decemburger and Beyond!
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Review from Dave W.
Toronto, ON
6/8/2009
Totally agree with John A. (except I usually drink beer)
The ribs are great, the brisket is great and the specialty beers (Not only the Highway 61 Lager) are great.
The service was excellent. When trying to decide on these new beers, the waitress offered samples and we ended up finding two new brews that were, as I said, great.
Oddly, I don't really enjoy any of the sides. An odd thing to dock marks on, but still... -
Review from Thom H.
7/1/2010
Carnivores, start your salivating!
Generally speaking, I'm not interested in a purely carnivorous dining experience. And I don't usually like places with barn wood and novelty posters from yester-year. But this place really exceeded my expectations by quite a wide margin.
The food was way better than I expected. The variety of ribs was interesting and the care that they used in preparing them was really quite impressive and delicious. Like Kat, I recommend the beef ribs. But the other thing that really bowled me over was just how friendly the staff were. They were just this side of too nice, but in a good way. Between the food, the friendly staff and the reasonable prices, it was a great place that I can heartily recommend.
I'm holding back one start b/c the pork ribs were nothing to right home about. I like my own better. Get the beef ribs. -
Review from sunnee s.
Toronto, ON
5/20/2011
it was both good & bad, but with the bad outweighing the good .
the good: this place reallyyyyy gets you in the mood for ribs . the atmosphere is very southern-like . kinda cozy in a charming southern pub way . maybe this upped my expectations too high . OH . their onion rings were delicious . soo crispy !
the bad: they ran out of brisket . i really really wanted to try their brisket . it was around 730pm . boooooo . so we ordered beef ribs . UGH . i did NOT like the ribs, although my bf ate it happily with the only complaint being there isnt enough bbq sauce . for me, there was a little smell/aftertaste of old used oil . my bf thought it was due to the meat being pretty fatty . whatever it was, made me feel a little nauseas so i couldnt even finish my yummy onion rings . :( i ended up eating only 2 ribs . i felt like such a pansy . :((((
i guess another good thing about this place is its steps away from hollywood gelato . we headed there afterwards for me to cleanse everything down . blehhh .
EDIT: i completely forgot to mention my fav part . they gave me my water w lemon in a mason jar . mason jar !! i love my water in mason jars . :) -
Review from Amy K.
North York, ON
2/9/2011
Best beef ribs in Toronto!!! The menu boasts a large selection of bbq meats that will please any meat lover. We also loved the chicken, super tender and fall of the bone delicious! Sweet potato fries some of the best I've had, and the dipping sauce that comes with it is amazing. Not exactly the most romantic place, especially the first floor is a bit small and cramped. But the upstairs part had an excellent live music band. Would definitely return!
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Review from K T.
Markham, ON
5/19/2010
The 4 stars are for the beef ribs. It was flavourful, juicy and it slided off the bone. The pork ribs were however a bit dry. I really enjoyed the experience and would definitely go back.
It's a small restaurant so we waited 1.5 hours to get seats for a party of 9. There was a nice cafe next door which kept us occupied. I would recommend an earlier dinner to avoid the wait.
This place is worth trying. The men loved it. -
Review from Steve N.
Toronto, ON
5/5/2011
Had dinner there last night and was quite disappointed with the meal. There are no sides included with the ribs considering the $28 for a slab of ribs. The ribs and sauce were not even smoky and flavorful.
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Review from Chantal m.
Scarborough, ON
4/19/2010 ROTD 7/11/2010
So I came here after reading Shari M's review and update for this place, she seems to know her meat so I decided to take her word for it. It was my boyfriend's birthday over the weekend and he's a bbq freak so off we went.
Between the two of us the waitress must have thought we were nuts. My boyfriend ordered the wings, 7 tail ribs (they were half priced because it was their sunday special) and the route 61 burger. I ordered the koko taylor salad (mixed greens, strawberries, avocado, pecans and goat cheese), and the beef brisket sandwich. WOWZA, the beef was SO DAMN tender I could have eaten the meat alone. It was stacked high with just enough barbeque sauce, happy accident, the waitress slipped and ordered me a large salad instead of a medium and let me have it for that price.
The salad was great and HUGE. I tried a bite of my boyfriends burger,boy was it mm mm good even if it was on the smallish side. Like Shari said the texture is PERFECT.
My boyfriend said the wings were too spicy (he ordered a medium) but he is very sensitive when it comes to heat so we took them home for my mom to finish. Overall, the prices were amazing, we ordered so much food plus 3 drinks and the bill came to $50. Our waitress was great very nice and easy going, didn't catch her name however.
My boyfriend was definately pleased and I'm sure we will be back. -
Review from Ray L.
North York, ON
1/19/2011
Good food. Good ambiance. Great blues music in an intimate setting. IMHO, Highway 61 is one of the best kept secrets in Toronto's blues scene.
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Review from Karen G.
We went last night for our second time. I had the Cobb Salad which was just ok - I was disappointed that the pulled chicken on the salad did not have more flavour. Trying to eat healthy is challenging here since their wings are really good as are their ribs. We had the beef ribs which are huge but on the fatty side. Great BBQ sauce. Great brisket (but also on the fatty side). On this last visit, our food took a long time to arrive which was disappointing since the 6 year old in our group was starving. Furthermore, the food wasn't as hot as we would have liked. Our first experience a few months ago was better but I would still give this place another try when I am craving BBQ.
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Review from Danielle B.
7/18/2009
This place is great and I go all the time. The trek out to Leaside is well worth it! Pulled pork is amazing, as are the sweet potato fries and huge onion rings. The servers are upbeat and friendly, and very knowledgeable about the menu and beer pairings. Great live music and a patio perfect for people watching. A awesome place all around!
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Review from Dan P.
Toronto, ON
4/6/2010
This place is great. Here's why:
1- Super friendly people.
2- Excellent BBQ (ribs are awesome)
3- Good sides (especially the onion rings, amazing)
4- Great beer list with lots of local microbrews
5- Outstanding live Blues music. Great names, and they even get a regular local on the harmonica most fridays who rips it up along-side the band.
All in all. Love it.
A PS to the original review: I just went back to Highway 61 with a Vegan in my group. Sounds crazy, a vegan at a BBQ place, but the waitress walked us through 5 or 6 different vegan options on the menu, and had a great understanding of what ingredients were in each sauce, dressing, batter, etc. In the end he went with the hoodoo Herbivore Portobello sandwich and fries he said it was by far the best porto sandwich he'd ever had. Apparently you typically expect either a spongy texture, or a hockey puck. This he said was like biting into a nice tender steak. Loved it.
And PS. If you ask them for beer recommendations they just may bring a whack of samples to the table to help make your decision! Love the Hwy 61 Lager. Really nice. -
Review from Rosanne P.
Toronto, ON
7/12/2009
Recently visited for the first time for the Tuesday night Campfire Open Stage hosted by Colourblind Blain. Great Food - had the pulled pork sandwich with a side of beans. This pulled pork and beans is up there with Phil's BBQ. Loved it. The music was great too! For dessert we shared a piece of homemade apple pie (made in-house) with ice-cream. DE-licious. Service was fast and friendly.
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Review from Matt K.
East York, ON
11/6/2009
I really enjoyed my meal here. I opted out of getting a beer, as i had a wicked hangover at that point, and needed some good old fashioned BBQ to sooth my soul. My friend and i both ordered the pulled pork sandwich, with slow cooked onions to top it off. I would consider myself to be a connoisseur, as ever since my mom got a slow cooker, when i was 6, I have loved her rendition, and a bevy of other restaurants try at it. This pulled pork was fantastic, although a little cooler than i would like, the taste was fantastic, and the bun held up to the last bite. A basket of the yukon gold fries as a side, it was a fantastic lunch. The barbeque sauce is absolute top notch, and the service was great. Two monstrous biker'esque gentlemen beside us, ordered the B.B king platter, and at a wopping 55 dollars looked a little understacked. They seemed to have enjoyed it though. If your ever on bayview and crave some bbq, i'm pretty confident you will enjoy it as much as i did, as far as pulled pork goes.
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Review from Boots B.
York, ON
7/16/2011
sorry guys. this was horrible. i went with 6 guys that love bbq. we couldn't eat it. this is not a snob thing, it was that bad. i had the beef ribs and wow - fat fat and more fat. i'm shocked they served it like that. and the back ribs were covered in sauce. you couldn't taste the meat. you might as well order a steak and pour a bottle of ketchup over it. i think the menu and decor were good and if they fix the kitchen, this place could work. but as of now - probably the worst bbq i've every had.
