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Lion On the Beach
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11:30 am - 1 am
Fri-Sat 11:30 am - 2 am
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Best Nights:
- Wed, Thu, Sat
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Good For Dancing:
- No
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
14 reviews for Lion On the Beach
14 reviews in English
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Review from Saquib R.
Scarborough, ON
8/17/2011
I am writing this review as it seems there is a dichotomy. From my two visits the food has been amazing (the Cajun calamari is perfectly done) and the specials have been well priced and in good quantity as well; this is not to say the quality suffered either. They had what I wanted on tap and according to my friend do a decent job on fruity drinks as well.
The patio was nice and service was prompt and good. The crowd here seems on the mature side, however I was there on weekdays. Overall I believe the food reviews have understated the quality and the patio is a great place to just sit and drink and eat with friends. -
Review from Brianna R.
Toronto, ON
5/20/2012 2 Check-ins Here
Why was the chili so tomato pasty? It was like they ran out of chili, grabbed the spaghetti sauce and dumped a whole whack load of chili powder in there. It was gross -- I couldn't finish it. And 1.00 for cheese that was really oily and greasy just goobered on top. Not my cup of tea -- and I LOVE chili.
The Beer was ridiculously expensive, beer doesn't need to be that expensive -- especially for Molson? Which apparently by their standards was "Premium."
The patio's are nice, I'll give you that. The bands on Saturday nights are usually god-awful bar music that's up WAY too loud -- so thank god for the patios... but what happens in the winter time? No where to escape.
The BBQ chicken was decent... Kind of flavourless, but good portion.
Meh, I probably won't be back. -
Review from Stephanie J.
East York, ON
5/7/2012
As a pub in the beach when you need a patio this place might be your best bet. It has two great patios for people watching. The beer selection is decent. The menu has all of the usual pub fare and a little more.
Had a great time here on a Friday night. The service leaves something to be desired, but it's not bad enough to turn me off. -
Review from Tunde T.
Toronto, ON
8/4/2011
I am totally surprised by the bad reviews! I live a the Beaches for 4 years now & Lion on the Beach was my favorite destination many years before that!
I have tried many items on the list & mostly enjoyed it,. The staff is very pleasant, down-to-earth people. Patios offer a great time to seat back & chill after a day at the beach.
In fact, I am heading over tonite! -
Review from Graeham M.
Toronto, ON
1/17/2011 2 Check-ins Here
It pains me greatly to provide such a low rating for a Beach(es) institution, as the location cannot be beat, the two, ya TWO sidewalk patios are amazing and the food is decent. BUT and there is a definite BUT, the owner is a tyrant. I have personally witnessed him berate staff in plain view of his customer base on several occasions, and have had to suffer uncomfortably as this same staff attempted to make futile attempts on his behalf for this truly abhorrent behaviour.
The staff seem nervous and unsure of themselves, constantly looking over their shoulders to ensure that they aren't committing some perceived slight. I cannot say that I blame them, as the majority of staff here are friendly, professional and courteous, it's obviously not an issue with the staff, but with the owner himself.
This in turn translates into sporadic service and at times a toxic environment. Not what one expects in such pub. -
Review from Vivek S.
9/26/2010
Nothing particularly special about this pub in The Beach. It's well East and there is lots of Lion iconography in here. Perfect if you have a lion fetish, which I totally do not.
My smoked meat sandwich was dry and hated my mouth. I enjoyed the fries, but that wasn't enough to save the meal. I probably just ordered the wrong thing. I'd return based on the respectable service and a rockstar patio situation.
Obligatory Title Pun: No day at the BEACH.
Menu Readability: Lions, lions everywhere. But seriously, the art needs some work.
Need to mention: There are two cool patios here and the inside isn't a bad place to chill either.
What this place teaches me about myself: I'm more of a tiger guy myself.Listed in: Lions and Tigers and Bears
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Review from Cheri D.
8/5/2011 5 Check-ins Here
This pub is okay. Nothing particularly great, but not bad either. I've been here a few times, and mostly to enjoy one of the two patios. That's right, TWO patios! One on either side of the restaurant. I ordered food a couple of times and it's been fine. Nothing spectacular. Caesar salad was okay. I had french onion soup there once too. Yum.
When i've gone, the Whiskey Sours haven't been the greatest. But the Gin & Tonics are good. Guess it depends on the bartender though. A glass of the house red is a good fall back option too.
The service could definitely be improved. We came to sit on the side street patio (not the one in between the two buildings, which i do like as well) and the waitress basically tried to dissuade us from going out there and told us they stopped serving alcohol on that patio early. Since we didn't even come to drink it up, and just wanted to grab a bite, we sat out there anyways. Besides, the time she told us (10pm i think) was still an hour away!) Informing us would be fine, but giving us a bad look while your eyebrows are weird and tilting you head with an annoyed voice... not fine.
I'll still keep coming back to this place when my friends want to meet up. But i do like the Gull & Firkin across the street a little better. -
Review from Kat F.
Perhaps checking out Lion On The Beach for the first time on a day I'm surrounded by people I hate** wasn't the greatest of ideas, but the glowing reviews reeled me in.
The menu here is ample and there's lots to choose from, including an all-day breakfast, veggie burgers, pastas, wings and other pub grub. I settled on the startlingly well-priced Goat Cheese & Sundried Tomato ravioli ($8.95) which came loaded with tomato sauce and three big slices of garlic bread. It was really terrific.
There are two patios, one streetside and the other tucked between two buildings, and both are likely packed to capacity all summer given the location in The Beach(es).
Service was forgettable, and at 3pm I did feel bad for our server, who had a lonnnng night ahead of him dealing with unruly drunks. I'll be back on a calmer night to try some other sections of the menu and snag a seat on one of those patios!
** St. Patrick's Day revellers like this http://blog.nj.com/hob..., this http://www.holidayhotm..., this http://rlv.zcache.com/... & this http://2.bp.blogspot.c....Listed in: The Best & Worst of The…
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Review from Todd V.
Toronto, ON
9/14/2008 1 photo
The good thing about having friends in the Beaches (or "The Beach" as people who live in the Beaches like to call it) is that you get to go to the Beaches to visit them. The bad part about having friends in the Beaches is that you have to go to the Beaches to visit them. The neighbourhood is a great lakeside area with all kinds of great restaurants and shops, and of course the walk along the lake is fantastic. The bad part is that in the summer, Queen Street (the main access-way to the Beaches) morphs into a parking lot. One point of stress-relief is the Lion on the Beach.
Knowing that I'll have to suck it up and head east, at least I know that the Lion will sort me out when I get there. Two good-sized patios, a full bar and a good tap list (it's one of the few places in the city that serves Stiegl from Austria on tap), it's a great place to head to decompress from the journey. Their specials on any given night provide you with no reason to peruse the menu, but do so anyway. It's all quite good. Extra bonus for the fact that this place uses real potatoes in its fries. Because of this, and my desire to not sit on a streetcar going home that's not moving, it's good to sit a spell. The pub is great and you might as well wait for traffic to die down. For instance, around closing time, there's hardly a car on the street when you're phoning for your cab.Listed in: The Places I Go Out
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Review from Tom D.
Etobicoke, ON
6/15/2010
Good decor and ambience, nice patios (there are two);
Service a bit slow; food was good and once ordered it came fast; Canadian version of shepherd's pie is so cheap - tiny, not well layered but flavor OK. Overall good experience. -
Review from Phillip Jessie j.
Toronto, ON
5/25/2010
not as bad as the duke of york but pretty bad. Crap beer selection. Average food, I didn't like the layout either, way too open. A fly did a dive-bomb into my friends beer which they replaced however the service was agonizingly slow, someone at my tables fries(just french fries.. these should take about 3 minutes) took an hour before she canceled her order and we left, they didn't even pretend to have a good reason for not serving her.
I hear the burgers are good, after trying one I assume that the people who enjoy these burgers also enjoy the mediocrity of licks burgers. I barely had a reason to come here in the first place and I have absolutely no reason to come back.
This further cements my hatred of this far eastern area of queen street. -
Review from Bonnie K.
3/12/2010
I loved it here. The inside is very interesting, dark woods and nice ceilings. Came from Boston with my boyfriend and wanted to find somewhere fun to grab some drinks. The bartender was great and very patient with us. He was delivering the drinks to our table and didn't mind all my questions. He changed all the TVs in our sight to the Oscars.
We played darts, had some very average drinks, and were able to really enjoy ourselves. I would definitely come back here. -
Review from Abby R.
Toronto, ON
8/7/2008
Love the place, love the beer selection, love the patio, not so much on the food though. I've eaten here twice and while it's okaaayyy it's really not that great for food. But, otherwise, it's a great watering hole!
Listed in: The Beach
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Review from Ryan L.
Scarborough, ON
7/14/2009
Nothing special really. If getting something to eat was your primary reason for wanting to go here, you should just head someplace else. Not that there was anything bad about the food, but it's not really a place to go for a meal. Want some greasy, deep fried appetizers to go along with your beer? Sure. It won't be great, but it does the trick.
