THE DOCK ELLIS 1280 Dundas West, 416-792-8472, thedockellis.com
The sports bar: a place someone like me – deeply apathetic about athletics and averse to glaring screens in booze sanctuaries – routinely avoids.
That is, till I found one that didn’t suck by my standards – the Dock Ellis.
Recently opened by owners Andrew Kaiser (the Emmet Ray), Callum Woods and Alain Pitout, it’s got none of the things I dislike about prototypical sports-centric watering holes (insipid beer, boring food, sterile lighting and one-dimensionality) and lots of things I dig in general.
The kitchen, helmed by Trish Gill (formerly of Beast), offers delicious bar snacks late into the night, while the taps pull craft brews from Amsterdam, Beau’s, Kensington and Stone Hammer to wash down orders of beef-brisket-slathered wonton nachos, wings and fried chicken sandwiches ($10). Veggie options are available, too.
Flipped from its former life as Portuguese sports bar the Red Cherry in just 28 days, the Dock Ellis pays homage to its namesake’s infamous outspoken sportsman – whom Kaiser regards as a “man of morals” – by going about its business with a lot of heart.
“We wanted a fun place where sports are part of it but not all of it, a place where everything’s done well,” says Kaiser. “We created a bar where we’d want to drink.”
Most enjoyably deviating from standard sports bar banality is the open invitation to mingle. Communal seating establishes a sociable vibe, and there’s lots to do besides sitting transfixed by balls for hours. Pool, shuffleboard and foosball spark good times.
A cocktail list of classics and signatures by bartender Collin Coulis is coming soon, and Sunday brunch – featuring skillet cornbread and chorizo pigs-in-a-blanket – caters to hungry locals and football fans.
Hours Monday to Saturday 6 pm to 2 am, Sunday 12:30 pm to 2 am
Accessibility Entrance barrier-free, washrooms on main floor
drinks@nowtoronto.com | @s_parns
