The Bar Towel

They used to have a few gems on the bottle list. Most are gone or are "locked in the cellar" that nobody seems to ever have access too.

BeerBistro has been slowly fading the past couple of years. When the new owners came in....things seemed sloppy for a while, and they just haven't put an effort into getting special, great beers in.
If I didn't enjoy the mussels there so much - easily my favourite in the city - I doubt I'd ever go anymore just for the beer. Even the staff nowadays isn't at the level it used to be. Too bad. Hope they get their act together and don't fade away forever.

I moved the posts about distribution and bars standing out to it's own thread: http://www.bartowel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10416

El Pinguino wrote:BeerBistro has been slowly fading the past couple of years. When the new owners came in....things seemed sloppy for a while, and they just haven't put an effort into getting special, great beers in.

I sometimes feel they are coasting a bit like it's still 2005. The place could use one or a few shots of vitality, because the basic formula is good and I like eating there. They might want to do a full quality/value reassessment of the food menu, keeping what's great & maybe replacing/tweaking a few. The Sea Bass was about two bites for $35. This kitchen seems good with greater potential. BB should commit to a program of occasional bottle imports (eg. USA) as a small token gesture. It can feel a bit barren when some of the best draft beer items are sold out and then the 1-2 bottles you asked about also aren't available.

Letting all those things go leaves BB a pretty OK experience, but going out in Toronto's getting too expensive for OK. Who can say… Maybe the Hacker and Stiegl drinkers will keep this place afloat anyway?!

Belgian wrote:

El Pinguino wrote:BeerBistro has been slowly fading the past couple of years. When the new owners came in....things seemed sloppy for a while, and they just haven't put an effort into getting special, great beers in.

I sometimes feel they are coasting a bit like it's still 2005. The place could use one or a few shots of vitality, because the basic formula is good and I like eating there. They might want to do a full quality/value reassessment of the food menu, keeping what's great & maybe replacing/tweaking a few. The Sea Bass was about two bites for $35. This kitchen seems good with greater potential. BB should commit to a program of occasional bottle imports (eg. USA) as a small token gesture. It can feel a bit barren when some of the best draft beer items are sold out and then the 1-2 bottles you asked about also aren't available.

Letting all those things go leaves BB a pretty OK experience, but going out in Toronto's getting too expensive for OK. Who can say… Maybe the Hacker and Stiegl drinkers will keep this place afloat anyway?!

Ya....if I liked the mussels at Bar Hop more I'd probably have no reason to return to BeerBistro anymore. I used to really enjoy going over the Cellar Beer menu at BB, it had so many special treats on it years ago. Last time I looked at it, it was a sad shell of what it once was.

In reality I probably should avoid BB, met an ex-gf there many years ago, which turned into a nightmare, haha...

I remember the Cellar menu before it turned into the 'Seller' menu.

Somebody probably looked at the inventory, turnover & margin and said 'why are we doing this?'. I'm sure it was a labor of love to the former owners and also something of a private indulgence. Who's to say they didn't take the best of it all with them?

A bit ironic that Coles owner Mike S was inspired to create Blue Monk in the upscale image of bistro, and his beer selections are improving rather than sliding backwards. Bistro's kitchen can be hard to beat though.

Belgian wrote:Bistro's kitchen can be hard to beat though.

I used to think so too, but was quite underwhelmed on my recent visit. Hopefully it was just a glitch.

midlife crisis wrote:

Belgian wrote:Bistro's kitchen can be hard to beat though.

I used to think so too, but was quite underwhelmed on my recent visit. Hopefully it was just a glitch.

I'm not saying it doesn't need a once-over, but the potential is sure there. It's uneven and the prices can be slightly wacked, let us fairly say. Blue Monk still has less potential that I can see, food-wise.

Nor should they, in my opinion. BB has to cater to a snooty bay street demographic that justifies an expensive, more upscale menu. Blue Monk has a crowd a lot more like what you find in Barhop, a lot more plaid than suits. I think their quality pub grub hits their demo just right.

Maybe Craig I've just not been as lucky, to me it seemed like Monk were stretching their kitchen capabilities to be even half as good as Bistro. The use of ingredients and flavorings and prep methods seemed much more basic, to my layman's eye. I'll try Monk a few more times if you insist the food is better than I say.

Although my God, the rising Elmwood prices added onto the hurting CAD USD exchange! Makes some experiments painful. Things sure change.

Gastro Pubs (Toronto) really deserves its own BT thread! Some of the kitchens have striking offerings, and we should cover the current highlights in detail in order to support and promote what the better bars are doing right.

* Edit / Monday *

Had the Pulled Pork Primanti $15
beer braised & house smoked, coleslaw, gouda, potato - still kicks major ass!

I spent a few hours there after a Slowdive concert at Massey Hall a couple of weeks back. It was only my second time there in five years, although previous to that I was a fairly regular patron. Admittedly, I've had a lot of new beers in those five years, so the menu seemed less exciting to me than it once would have been. Nonetheless, I agree with the concept of coasting, if not receding. My friends and I sampled the cellar menu as well, which seemed greatly reduced from what I recall. The time visited was from about 10:30 to close on a Friday night, and although not particularly busy, I found the service to be spotty. I returned for nostalgic purposes but will undoubtedly seek out greener pastures on my next visit to Toronto.

I had a bit of time to kill yesterday afternoon so I stopped into Beerbistro for the first time in what feels like forever.

Still had a fairly lively vibe for a Saturday afternoon, but helped by the World Cup game that was on. Was served by a friendly bartender who seemed to be quite knowledgeable about beer. Still a fairly Euro focused beer list - had a Superflux from BC (not sure if that's made here or not) and Czechvar Dark which is always nice to see. I see on their site that they still have a cellar menu, but it wasn't presented to me.

https://www.beerbistro.com/drink

So many fun memories over the years there. It's still mostly the same layout but there's a very noticeable addition of a large partition to add further separation between the dining and bar areas. Nice to see that it's still going although no longer a place buzzed about by the beer community. But still a good spot for a reliable beer in the area - a lot cozier than the cavernous Craft which is basically next door.

Funny. I was just walking by there the other day. I didn't have the time to step in, but I made a mental placeholder to revisit. I used to like how the place was not too loud (unlike Craft, that you mentioned). Most of the time you could actually have a conversation with someone, which is the whole point of going out for me. Every once and a while they would have some circus animals chasing a puck or a ball around on screen with a couple of loud mouth announcers blaring away. Pity, I might have given them some business on that day/night. I guess they have enough people who think that's good time to keep them in business...

I shall get down there again soon. i feel a need for some muscles and frits. I hope the menu hasn't changed too much.

I too have many fond memories of that place, it was definitely my favourite spot in the city for a while. Those prices sure do remind me why I don't go out much anymore though, nearly 10 bucks for a 400 ml draft on most of those beers; yikes. Obviously there are still less expensive places, but my routine these days is usually a beer or two at a taproom and then cans to-go. Either way, nice to see they're still around after all these years.