A new Canadian-themed restaurant and bar, Grizzly Bar, is opening in downtown Toronto and it‘s not holding back on the maple syrup and national pride.
Opening on April 11 in the heart of the city, Grizzly Bar is a bold celebration of Canadian culture. The bar, dreamed up by Jason Kapalka and his wife and Chief Marketing Officer Jessica Langer, aims to be part eatery, part immersive experience and all unapologetically Canadian.
Kapalka and Langer told Now Toronto the idea for the bar began as a light-hearted but sincere response to the escalating trade war with the U.S.
“It was not a nationalist but a patriotic response to what our neighbours are doing. We’re actually really happy to be Canadian. We don’t want to be the 51st anything, we love Canada,” Langer said.
“We wanted to create a space where people could come and be excited and happy about being Canadian.”
CANADIAN CULTURE REIMAGINED WITH FOOD AND DRINKS
Grizzly Bar doesn’t just show its patriotism by the exterior — it pours it into every drink and serves it up on every plate.
The food menu draws from coast to coast, with Alberta beef burgers, Montreal smoked meat, seafood from the Maritimes, and iconic desserts like Nanaimo bars and moetart’s award-winning butter tarts.
The team has also found ways to modernize Canadian staples, with a vegan poutine using Collingwood-based VEGCHEESE and sourcing all of their breads and buns from Toronto French bakery Petite Thuet.
“Although we don’t have a super globally known food culture, we certainly have a globally known spirits culture,” Langer explained.
The drink menu is a love letter to Canada’s spirit – figuratively and literally. With over 30 local beers, ciders, and seltzers, many from Toronto and the GTA, the drink list is exclusively Canadian.
An example is a drink called, The Hadfield, a cocktail named after Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, which features an audio component. Guests are invited to wear headphones while slowly sipping on the drink, listening to NASA black hole recordings layered with Hadfield’s voice and guitar solo.
Another offering includes ungava gin from Northern Quebec, infused with Arctic botanicals, and a local bourbon-style whiskey from Felix Spirits in Toronto, used in place of American imports.
“We’re trying to find small producers [in Canada] that hopefully will become bigger producers and we really want to boost our suppliers,” Langer said.
YOU CAN PAY WITH CANADIAN TIRE MONEY
Grizzly Bar aims to spread joy about being Canadian and doubles down on its theme with a fully-immersive space designed for fun, nostalgia and straight up Canadiana.
A nine-foot inflatable grizzly bear will greet patrons at the door and there will be 1,000 square feet of projection screens around the bar to transform it into scenes of Canadian landscapes to Second City Television (SCTV) sketches. The bar has partnered with SCTV to feature curated content to put on rotation.
In true Canadian fashion, there’s an element of self-parody woven through the bar’s elements.
“One of my favourite things about Canadian culture is how much we like to make fun of ourselves, and we like to have fun with the idea of it,” Langer jokes.
“Canada’s biggest export is humour. We didn’t want to take this too seriously. One of the things that Canadians are pretty good at doing is poking fun at themselves,” Kapalka chimed in.
They also announced that Grizzly Bar will accept Canadian Tire money as a form of payment.
Canadian Tire is even providing official swag to those who pay in their currency.
CANADA INSPIRED EVENTS AND PERFORMANCES
Grizzly Bar isn’t just a place to eat; it’s also a venue, a stage, and a cultural showcase.
The bar plans to host live comedy and music events, with partnerships already in the process with Second City for regular stand-up nights.
Local Canadian comedians, musicians, and emerging talent will get a chance to perform in front of the bar’s crowd.
Another original event they’re doing is the “Great Canadian Apology Contest,” where teams are given absurd scenarios and must perform elaborate apologies. This can be spoken, sung, interpretive dances or any other creative form.
“We’re not interested in engaging in anything other than we’re happy to be Canadian, and we want everybody in Canada to enjoy,” Langer said.
BUILDING SPACE AND JOY FOR EVERYONE
Beyond it all, the couple is sincere about their mission to build something positive.
“We hope that it will create excitement about Canadianness. We hope that it will draw people who are visiting Canada to the bar. We hope that Americans who choose to spend their money in Canada will come up and visit us,” Langer said.
“We really hope that we will be a beacon of positivity in the current climate. We want people to understand how fun Canadians can be.”
Also, anyone who visits the bar within two weeks of receiving their Canadian citizenship will be welcomed with a free poutine.
They have also launched “Canuck Check,” a playful quiz for anyone wanting to test their Canadian knowledge. You will then be entered to win a year’s supply of maple syrup.
Grizzly Bar opens on April 11 at 739 Queen St. W. To find out more, visit grizzlybar.ca/.
