- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Coffee & Tea |
- All
Smokeless Joe
Categories: Nightlife Bars Restaurants Gastropubs Bars, Gastropubs [Edit]
488 College StreetToronto, ON M6G 1A4
Neighbourhood: Palmerston
(416) 966-5050
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Loud
10 reviews for Smokeless Joe
10 reviews in English
-
Review from Steph L.
3/29/2012
I like beer.
I like mussels.
If you like beer, and/or mussels, you will love Smokeless Joe!
When I'm serious about enjoying my beer, I prefer to enjoy my beer in a non-douchebag type of environment.
This place is just what I was looking for!
You can sit here for hours throwing back pints and catching up.
They have an extensive beer list, so you'll always have something new to try.
I'm a slave to marketing and they had these awesome "Hops and Robbers" coasters. So, for my second beer, I had to order a pint.
We started with a few oysters each. They don't have a large selection of oysters, but I was still happy with our oysters from P.E.I. They weren't cleanly shucked but that's alright.
I was surprised by the variety of mussels.
If you fancy jerk spice or bacon infused mussels, they've got them!
I like my mussels simple. We split a large order of the Belgium style mussels ($15) with a Blanche De Chambley base. Once we finished our bread, they brought us a refill! Awesome.
For dessert, we shared the carrot cake with ...espresso icing?
It sounded strange....but it was actually pretty delicious.
Even though the cake didn't taste anything like carrot cake.
I had a great time here! I'm totally coming back. -
Review from Valery C.
11/30/2011
Brought here by friends, Smokeless Joe is casual and low-key, a dive bar meant in the best way. The staff were friendly and relaxed, no attitude. Narrow, the main level has a few tables up front, a row next to the bar that properly dominates the space, and more tables in the back. I think there's another level also.
The beer menu had a diverse selection, one list of bottled imports, fairly expensive at an average of $15 for 350 mL or so, the other of their beers on draft, more reasonably priced but still pricey for a session. All in all, an interesting selection to choose from. I tried the Belgian Pauwel Kwak, a pale ale; friends had Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock, Fruli strawberry wheat, Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale.
We didn't have any food there, but that's on offer too. Nice place for a bar stop, quiet enough to have good conversation, not crowded enough to have to fight for space.Listed in: Food crawl: Toronto/GTA…
-
Review from Vivek S.
11/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
Meet the new boss, not quite the same as the old boss. For those who don't know, Smokeless Joe is a transplant. It's previous incarnation was a shortbus-sized subterranean dwelling on John street. The unlikely location was superseded only by the unlikely beer list (hundreds of options) and its outstanding edibles. This new location is no longer an impossible-to-find-a-seat hole in the wall, but rather a full two floors on College street (right by Bathurst). It's a grown up pub now, and has thus sloughed off a bit of its erstwhile adolescent charm.
That said, the bar is an awesome place to settle down. They have over 200 different bottles here, and usually a dozen or so beers on tap, but they were out of a bunch of things due to a busy weekend. I ordered my favourite standby, the vegan chili ($8). It's not quite the same as I remember it, but still a fair portion and mighty tasty. I will still a bit hungry, and watching our server shucking sparked an impromptu order of ten caraquets ($2.75 each). Good oyster; not very briny and it tastes great with some hot sauce.
No longer the coolest kid in club district, Smokeless Joe is more of an average Joe among the other spectacular options on College street. Still, I'm happy they are back in business. I will surely return.
Obligatory Title Pun: Hey JOE/where you going with that beer in your hand?
Menu Readability: One rarely needs to invoke bold and italic on the same word.
Need to mention: Their receipts are laughably old school, but they do take credit.
What this place teaches me about myself: I like my underground spots to be literally underground.Listed in: Hogtown Beer Haunts
-
Review from WaYnE c.
Maple, ON
11/24/2011
Smokeless Joe's blew my mind, completely unexpectedly mental H-bomb.
Beer Rookie(me) decides to have an enjoyable evening with Friends over few beers.
Accomodating dude sat us right away with the Beer List notes to us a handful of N/A.
Quite funny actually because the last thing I expect at a Pub is a Memory Test.
If you're wondering, I bomb'd as I barely knew 1/4 of the choices to start.
2-sided 8x11 Beer Selection($varies) provided -
1 side. Draft Pints. $Pint Value($6.00-ish)
2 side. Import Bottles. $Massive Destruction to the Wallet($15.00-ish)
Comme ça va? Beer Price Range: $$ - $$$$
At least it's not that Samuel Adams Utopias.
First time discovery Beer can be $10.00+ is a scary moment.
Now I know Premium Beering is not for moi but good as option.
At least not til "someone" from Maple, ON wins Lotto Max.
Btw, Washrooms look nothing like the Gastropub atmosphere in Dining space.
Probably give you the feeling of Home, it is so clean you feel bad messing it up.Listed in: On my way to Alcoholics…
-
Review from Kent P.
11/21/2011
Smokeless Joe is a nice alternative to many of the bars on College, which don't really seem like "bars", but more poor man's King West lounges.
The beer selection and space is impressive, they've got an upstairs party room, a back patio, and the bathrooms are expansive and airy.
What takes SJ down a few notches for me: price per pint ($6.75 is high if you're a session drinker), and the food is hit or miss. I went in pretty hungry and asked the barkeep to suggest something- which turned out to be the BLAST (BLT+Salsa+Avocado). Very underwhelming with a giant, inedible, and stale ciabata, and very thinned out inner toppings ($12). I ordered the vegan chilli because I wasn't satisfied/satiated and it was much meatier (in a vegan way) and quite deliciously beany ($8).
The bill came and is printed out from a machine that has to be older than most of the people reading this and we needed the bartender to tell us what each charge was. Was pretty confusing - although they didn't have a problem splitting the bill onto credit-cards....so that's a positive.
I would recommend stopping by for a beer or two....but wouldn't make a night out of it. -
Review from Gordon J.
Toronto, ON
11/1/2011
My wife and I used to be fans of Smokeless Joe when it was on John St by King. It was a very small pub in a basement with friendly staff and an excellent assortment of beers on tap and in the bottle. They moved this summer to College just west of Bathurst and just recently re-opened. We decided that it would be fun to check it out.
I'm glad we did.
The did an excellent job of doing the decor and the place has a warm cozy feeling even though it is larger than the old place. They also have an upper floor. We didn't go to have a look though.
The staff is friendly as before. Not just the bartender that served us but all the staff were friendly and fun. There are 19 beers on tap and a good selection of bottled beer which they say they are continually expanding. The staff seemed to really know their beer.
In the old place they were known for their mussels and oysters and they carried this over to the new place. The oysters were quite popular and kept Rob our bartender quite busy shucking them. I came close to ordering a couple myself.
It was a fun night. I'm glad that they have re-opened and glad we went. I really wish they were closer to our neighborhood as this would be my regular spot. Although it is a distance away, it is a place worth going out of our way for. -
Review from Teena D.
10/30/2011 5 photos
Smokeless Joe used to be downtown on John Street. They suddenly disappeared in the summer and there were rumours that they would opening at a new location.
Three months later they recently reopened on College Street, just west of Bathurst. We checked it out last evening.
The old location was in a basement and cavernous. The new location is on the street level (they also have space on the second floor) and they have renovated it to be similar to the old digs.
We sat at the bar ... Rob, the bartender, took good care of us.
The food menu consists mainly of mussels (they are very popular). In addition to ensuring everyone has a drink, Rob also gets those ready.
The draft selection is good ... lots of craft beer. And their beer menu is still quite extensive, though not as large as it was at their old location.
Glad to see them back! -
Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
New Smokeless Joe is located on College just West of Bathurst which I found it much better than their old John Street location.
Still the great staff and the great beers selections as the old location and even have more on taps!!!
For the time being, only the main floor is opened but they opening up the upper level soon and by next patio season roll in their backyard patio will be up and running too!!
My order of Belgian Style Mussels ($15) was great to go with my beer. The bartender was really helpful in helping my Yelp Drinking Buddy to find the beer that he enjoyed.
Now with the full kitchen in this location, they are able to expand their food menu too..
BTW, kitchen closes at 12 and earlier but you can always order some raw oysters. -
Review from Kat T.
10/14/2011
Smokeless Joe's 2.0
The new version is a lot like the old one. Same old Mullet-ed cook, great wait staff, and super selection of beers.
The new version has a cave-y architecture, I love it! The brick walls, the beamed ceilings, the curved archways.
The new version has 2 floors!
Just like Le Select is missing their hanging bread baskets, Smokeless Joe's no longer has the prop-up tables ready for a crowd at any time.
They no longer have the oysters sitting on an ice bed display.
They no longer have the page after page of bottled beer.
Instead, they have decided to go more for draught beer instead of storing large quantities of bottled beer.
Tonight, I got a Pineapple beer, and my husband got a Belgian 8.5% Delerium Tremens. Perhaps this makes them more like other pubs, and less like the deep-storeroom of Old Smokeless Joes. But, there isn't a Hooters across the street, nor a chain Shwarma place.
A little further from my place, but maybe we're all headed West? Still love Joe.Listed in: 30-Day Yelp Challenge, Hmmmmm Beer.
-
Review from Quaid M.
Toronto, ON
10/23/2011
Try the African Peanut Soup, it haunts my dreams.
The chili is decent but nothing special.
