The Bar Towel

Anyone know if it's open this weekend? Would love to check it out...especially if Mamouche is on tap

napoleon wrote:Anyone know if it's open this weekend? Would love to check it out...especially if Mamouche is on tap

pretty sure it will open again on tuesday

atomeyes wrote:

napoleon wrote:Anyone know if it's open this weekend? Would love to check it out...especially if Mamouche is on tap

pretty sure it will open again on tuesday

It was indeed closed last night.

Open tonight.

Food is Italian bar snacks -- quite tasty!

Rough tap breakdown right now: 3 "regular", 4 ciders, 1 Cantillon lambic, 5 Oxbow, the rest (13) are Ontario and Quebec (about half are saisons).

I was first in line for the grand (??) opening yesterday evening and stayed for about an hour. No more than 10-12 patrons during that time. It is very small and capacity cannot be much more than 50 people, but the atmosphere is great.

They had 26 taps (A-Z) with primarily local (Amsterdam, Bench, Bellwoods, Folly, Halo, Nickelbrook and Rainhard) farmhouse ales, saisons and sours, with some Quebec (DDC, TDD and LTM) and a tap of Cantillon Mamouche, which did not last long, as it had apparently been tapped at last week's soft open/Oxbow event. Also five Oxbows and a few ciders on tap.

Everything was being served at proper cellar temperature (bottles included) - nothing "cold". All taps are available in 3oz, 6oz and 9oz pours (Cantillon was only 3 or 6), with a few of the 3oz available for as little as $1.75. There was also a selection of 28 bottles, which was dominated by Cantillon (3), Del Ducato (5) and Loverbeer (9). Of the 28, they were also pouring from five different Oxbow large formats (i.e. you could get a 3oz or 6oz pour without having to invest in the whole bottle). They indicated that this feature would continue and was not just as a result of having the leftover Oxbow.

Overall a great spot that I can only imagine will continue to get better. Hot tip - make sure you stop next door at PG Cluck's for fried chicken on your way out. Easily some of the best I've ever had.

^ Mostly agree. Popped in for a while this eve for some Oxbow brews (Farmhouse Pale deliciously hoppy on draught, and the well-worth-the-trip Goods From The Woods blended sour, from bottle) plus a full pour of TDD Dulcis Succubus on draught. Tasteful picks abound and I like not having to buy large pours of say Cantillon with which I may not fare as well drinking much of.

Overall a nice spot in a great space, I would not call it 'very small' - it's got an extremely deep interior if not so wide, lending a nice intimate feel to it plus there's an excellent back patio, all looking very well-arranged and cool. I'll have to swing by for a few small pours of stuff, easily managed after a work day. I will also keep an eye out for those often-great Revel ciders (and of course West Avenue), so a kudos to any bar that supports their best efforts!

Were just a handful of die-hard beer heads in there tonight, was nice.

Stopped in for a quick one (ok, few) last night. Agree with what's already been said. It's the real deal. New York City in Toronto. Out is the traditional hipster look (mismatched chairs, weird artwork, vintage salvage decor). In is a premium bar that doesn't need to be flashy and loud to prove that its top of the class.

^ Was going to say Cass, Birreria has the vibe of a new Williamsburg Brooklyn joint or a better Midtown / Lower Manhattan bar. Great atmosphere is part of the appeal to hang there, as well as the qualified beer consultants.
Hey FYI Julian says the old Volo at Yonge-Dundonald is closing forever after this week so cheap pints there on Saturday, if any of you are in town to honor this venerable institution at its original location (I have duties away in Muskoka so cheers.)

Yes, original location closing as of Saturday, with Zwanze being its last hoorah. They're actually pouring all draft beers at $5.00 all this week.

very few bottles left

jeremyg wrote:very few bottles left

I assume you're talking about the original location? Hard to imagine Tomas' reserves at Birreria are already running low; the cantina seemed pretty well-stocked!

There is definitely no shortage at Birreria. Hearing OG Volo running out of taps too, but I have to think they'll replenish for Saturday.

Went there the other week and enjoyed a whole bunch of the 3 and 6 oz pours. Unfortunately they had an issue splitting our bill which was a bit annoying, but it had only opened recently so hopefully that issue has been fixed by now.

I quite enjoyed the fried chicken sandwich, though I was annoyed that the food menu is entirely in Italian. I mean I know it's in Little Italy but it was annoying to have to look up everything on Google Translate to see what it was. It'd be great if they just had a small English description.

skootles wrote:Went there the other week and enjoyed a whole bunch of the 3 and 6 oz pours. Unfortunately they had an issue splitting our bill which was a bit annoying, but it had only opened recently so hopefully that issue has been fixed by now.

I quite enjoyed the fried chicken sandwich, though I was annoyed that the food menu is entirely in Italian. I mean I know it's in Little Italy but it was annoying to have to look up everything on Google Translate to see what it was. It'd be great if they just had a small English description.

That would be illegal in Quebec. Love the Quebec language rules.

Speaking of menus...anyone actually have a link / photo of the beer and food menu? I'm mostly just curious about how crazy the prices are.

I had to take a pic of the food menu for Google Translate so I could figure out what I was ordering (gotta love technology) but it looks like it didn't save it.

This is the only other one I have, of the oxbow bottles and a couple others:



Prices for food seemed on par for Volo. I had the fried chicken sandwich which I believe was $12. Portion was a little small but the quality of the chicken made up for it.