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Hi-Lo in the east end/Riverside

Discuss Ontario's brewpubs, pubs, beer bars and restaurants here.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

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atomeyes
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Hi-Lo in the east end/Riverside

Post by atomeyes »

The owners of east end restaurants Ascari Enoteca and Table 17 are welcoming a new, grittier member to their family. Hi-Lo (753 Queen St. E., at Broadview) opened this past weekend in what was previously PicNic at Home and is, as co-owner John Sinopoli calls it, “a real neighbourhood bar.”
Teaming up with business partner Erik Joyal and Hi-Lo manager Gavin Holmes, Sinopoli wants the bar to be “a place that acts as a hub for people who want to go out and socialize, but don’t want to sit in a cookie-cutter Irish pub, a sports bar, or somewhere loud with a bunch of 19-year old kids.”
Primarily a beer bar, there’s a trio of taps (Beau’s, Blanche de Chambly, and Dos Equis), but a solid selection of bottles curated by Sinopoli, who calls himself “the beer nerd of the group.” In addition to Heineken, Labatt 50, and PBR, barkeeps will pour suds from breweries including Southern Tier, Dieu de Ciel, Rogue, Innis & Gunn, St. Ambroise, and Black Oak.
someone has to sit Sinopoli down and explain what a true beer geek is. selling LCBO offerings makes you just a regular, boring bar.
and Dos Equis on tap? thhhpt.

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Craig
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Post by Craig »

He's the beer geek in a group that make their living off of wine-centric restaurants.

Still hard to consider it a beer bar with three taps.

chris_schryer
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Post by chris_schryer »

To be fair "primarily a beer bar" isn't a quote, it's probably the writer's own assessment. It sounds more like they're trying to pull in hipsters, and still have "nicer" things. Plus, hipster-beer generally is approved of by old men, so they've got a few generational ranges covered. I'm going to go ahead and predict their success. I might stop by, but wouldn't make it a destination.

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Craig
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Post by Craig »

chris_schryer wrote:To be fair "primarily a beer bar" isn't a quote, it's probably the writer's own assessment. It sounds more like they're trying to pull in hipsters, and still have "nicer" things. Plus, hipster-beer generally is approved of by old men, so they've got a few generational ranges covered. I'm going to go ahead and predict their success. I might stop by, but wouldn't make it a destination.
If I'm in that neighbourhood I'd go to the Comrade.

devonsleigh
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Post by devonsleigh »

I stopped by last night and had a Dos Equis (that was the only beer they had on tap that I've never had). Tap list was meh, bottle list was meh although they did stock ST IPA and Pumking.......nothing that you couldn't pick up at the LCBO.

Clientele was a mix of hipters, long haired burly guys, and me. Likely won't return unless the taps improve. There's a better bottle selection across the street at Comrade or go to Prohibition for a better tap selection.

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

Still I might check it out, exciting area now compared to 1998. East is the new west I take it!

Wait till all those new condos south of River St and east of Cherry St (West Don Lands) fill up with affluent wallets, er I mean new Toronto people. A lot of them will want to eat and imbibe within leg travel distance and the Opera House area isn't far at all.
In Beerum Veritas

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Craig
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Post by Craig »

Belgian wrote:Still I might check it out, exciting area now compared to 1998. East is the new west I take it!

Wait till all those new condos south of River St and east of Cherry St (West Don Lands) fill up with affluent wallets, er I mean new Toronto people. A lot of them will want to eat and imbibe within leg travel distance and the Opera House area isn't far at all.
That and eventually finally build the downtown relief line, which should hit queen at Pape or so and go West from there.

Property values have been going up about 10% a year in Leslieville for the last three years at least. As a landowner, I hope that keeps up! :D

atomeyes
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Post by atomeyes »

squeaky wrote:
Belgian wrote:Still I might check it out, exciting area now compared to 1998. East is the new west I take it!

Wait till all those new condos south of River St and east of Cherry St (West Don Lands) fill up with affluent wallets, er I mean new Toronto people. A lot of them will want to eat and imbibe within leg travel distance and the Opera House area isn't far at all.
That and eventually finally build the downtown relief line, which should hit queen at Pape or so and go West from there.

Property values have been going up about 10% a year in Leslieville for the last three years at least. As a landowner, I hope that keeps up! :D
you waiting for the downtown relief line?
should be done by the time you and i move into nursing homes.

Belgian: east will be the new west...in 5-10 years. west still going too strong.

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Craig
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Post by Craig »

I think that after the Scarborough and Eglington stuff is done it's going to be too painfully obvious that they need the DRL for even the TTC and City Hall to put it off any longer.

We have the stupidest transit strategy in this city. Our main lines are already well over capacity, so we focus our resources on getting more people on those lines instead of trying to deal with congestion. Sorry, pet peeve of mine.

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

atomeyes wrote:
squeaky wrote: That and eventually finally build the downtown relief line, which should hit queen at Pape or so and go West from there.

Property values have been going up about 10% a year in Leslieville for the last three years at least. As a landowner, I hope that keeps up! :D
Belgian: east will be the new west...in 5-10 years. west still going too strong.
I love Queen West right now. I'm worried about it hitting the saturation point of commercial exploitation very quickly and losing its creative bohemian roots.

Queen East is sort of the Brooklyn thing where it's extremely creative so that even year-to-year there's more new things happening very quickly. Sky's the limit so it's exciting to see the landscape change constantly.

As for Leslieville land values, 10% per annum might even be conservative but that's still a good chunk of equity. I was hunting in that area and over 11 years the value increase is substantial. I bought in Southwest Birchcliff near the Beach and the area values have jumped similarly (has a more quiet suburban vibe but great lake and Bluffs access.)

Toronto - you can have it all, wherever you are! ;)
In Beerum Veritas

atomeyes
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Post by atomeyes »

squeaky wrote:I think that after the Scarborough and Eglington stuff is done it's going to be too painfully obvious that they need the DRL for even the TTC and City Hall to put it off any longer.

We have the stupidest transit strategy in this city. Our main lines are already well over capacity, so we focus our resources on getting more people on those lines instead of trying to deal with congestion. Sorry, pet peeve of mine.
those lines will be completed in 2020.
a DRL, if started tomorrow, wouldn't be complete until 2025.

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

atomeyes wrote:
squeaky wrote:I think that after the Scarborough and Eglington stuff is done it's going to be too painfully obvious that they need the DRL for even the TTC and City Hall to put it off any longer.

We have the stupidest transit strategy in this city. Our main lines are already well over capacity, so we focus our resources on getting more people on those lines instead of trying to deal with congestion. Sorry, pet peeve of mine.
those lines will be completed in 2020.
a DRL, if started tomorrow, wouldn't be complete until 2025.
I can dig.

Yes it's ridiculous we don't have the Downtown Relief Line, yes it will be insanely expensive and disruptive but why put off what we needed 30 years ago, because by now it will cost more than double for something we should already have working beautifully in place.

And if we'd had the finished line for the last 15 years, wouldn't it have made a lot of its cost back in added revenue because it's more useful? I can't believe we're still talking 'IF' we build it. It's gotta happen anyway.

More points to ponder!
In Beerum Veritas

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Craig
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Post by Craig »

Pretty much everyone wants the DRL built: The Feds are in, the province is in, the TTC is in and city council is in. The only person who doesn't want it is Rob Ford, who says that downtown has enough subways, so what we need to do now is build subways out to the suburbs.

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