TorontoPubs’ Midtown Yonge Street Pub Crawl

Updated: 2017.01.17

Notes on this pub crawl: the walk (2.2 km) takes about half an hour in total or you can take the subway and hop on and off as all of these pubs are close to TTC stations. Keep in mind that the Rebel House is small and that the Monk’s Table is a little posh.

Notes on pub crawls in general: consider at least 45 minutes per pub visit and let your server know that you having just one drink and then moving on into the fizzy night so she/he knows that you’ll need your bill quickly. Pay by cash so you aren’t waiting for the credit card/debit machine and tip generously as you may be back one day for longer than just one drink. Check the pub’s website/Twitter (links in TorontoPubs review of establishment) in case they have an event that night. Also keep in mind the day and time, Saturday nights with the FIFA World Cup’s final on is not the best night for said pub crawl, but it is one of the best times to be in a pub.

Printable PDF of this TorontoPubs’ Midtown Yonge Street Pub Crawl with map with map.

The Rebel House (TorontoPubs review)
1068 Yonge Street

Wylie’s Pub (TorontoPubs review)
1234A Yonge Street

The Monk’s Table (TorontoPubs review)
1276 Yonge Street

Jester on Yonge (TorontoPubs review)
1427 Yonge Street

The Bull and Firkin (TorontoPubs review)
1835 Yonge Street

Fionn MacCool’s (TorontoPubs review)
1867 Yonge Street

Unfortunately, this pub crawl is not wheelchair accessible.

Wylie’s Pub

Wylie’s Pub (website)
1234A Yonge Street, Toronto ON M4T 1W3 (on the west side of Yonge, between Walker Avenue and Alcorn Avenue, the nearest major intersection is Yonge and St. Clair) 416-920-9063
Google Maps

Claiming to be a pub does not necessarily mean that one is a pub. (I have attempted this myself and it did not work.)

Wylie’s had a number of regulars, who were likely there for the weekend brunch on the afternoon in question. There were leather seats, lots of dark wood, grey walls, and wine bottles galore, modern paintings for sale, as well as a convex mirror in our little corner of the pub. The establishment was loud, too loud. Apparently there is a private party room downstairs and is open until two every night.

However, I must admit that, drawing from my vast pubbing experience, Wylie’s is not a pub. A restaurant, perhaps a bar, but not a pub.

Number of visits by yours truly: my first in early January 2014
TTC information: a three-minute walk north of Summerhill station
Booze selection: about 20 beers or so, with 12 on tap, along with Thornbury and Strongbow ciders. Yes, they have Pimm’s
Food selection: Indian focus with lots of typos on the menu (spies instead of spices, but what do you expect from a place with a backwards S in its name). My dish was overly spiced and I could not finish it. Unfortunately, I later regretted my choice of meal and we will leave it at that
Service staff: spotty — as in his attention, not his appearance. It seems that I am not alone in my assessment as other online reviewers have noticed the lack of attentiveness
Prices: not bad
Toilets: clean, but nothing fundamental done to them since the 1970s, rather cramped
Patio: nope
Wheelchair accessible: nope, there is a step at the front. However, the website states that it is wheelchair accessible
Televisions: one
Live music: no
Piped-in music: Arcade Fire

Rating: three and a half pints (out of five)

The Monk’s Table

The Monk’s Table (website, Twitter)
1276 Yonge Street, Toronto ON M4T 1W5 (on the west side of Yonge Street, between Woodlawn Avenue and Walker Avenue, the nearest major intersection is Yonge Street and St. Clair Street) 416-920-9074
Google Maps

After an exhausting day of antique shopping, the Monk’s Table offers respite for the weary shopper.

We decided to go the Monk’s Table as it often shows up in the best of the best pubs lists for Toronto. The Monk’s Table (formerly known as the Abbot on the Hill) is a small pub serving the oh-so-fashionable stretch of Yonge between Summerhill and St. Clair. The clientele reflected its surroundings with yuppies galore and a lot of older patrons. The pub is very, very dark, which I hope isn’t its way of hiding something, and looked old with its devotion to wood, gothic arched windows with stained glass, and a dark red tin ceiling downstairs.

I would not recommend the Monk’s Table for groups, as groups larger than three had to go upstairs as the small high top tables downstairs aren’t designed for groups. I agree that the Monk’s Table is a good pub, but the servers seemed a little uninterested in us and the booze selection, although impressive, was not the best. After our meal, my better half and I stumbled to the nearby booze mecca that is the Summerhill LCBO. Sigh.

(In case you are wondering, the Monk’s Hearth, sister pub to this one, is now closed.)

Number of visits by yours truly: my first, but not my last, in mid-November 2012
TTC information: a three-minute walk north of Summerhill station
Booze selection: more than 20 beers, with lots of European beers on offer, lots of Scotches, two ciders — Somersby and Sir Perry (I asked if they had Pimm’s and I got the usual blank stare, which is fine, but then the man sitting next to me, leaned over after the server left and said, “We have to teach these young ones about Pimm’s!” I smiled politely, but the man was older than my father (70) and the server was perhaps 15 years younger than me.)
Food selection: fancy end of pub grub, the Monk’s Table labels itself as a gourmand pub. Note, the prices are out of date on their website’s menu
Service staff: not the most attentive, my glass was empty for quite a while
Prices: not cheap
Toilets: upstairs, downstairs (and in my lady’s chamber), not bad, but the toilet downstairs is better
Patio: nope
Wheelchair accessible: no
Televisions: one over the bar downstairs and one upstairs
Live music: nope
Piped-in music: Céline Dion and Muse

Rating: four and a half pints (out of five)