WELDON PARK 569 College, 416-551-7055, facebook.com/WeldonParkToronto
Weldon Park takes me back to the good old days when I was smuggling water bottles filled with booze from my parents’ liquor cabinet to the park around the corner.
It’s a throwback to when it took only a few illicit sips to kick-start rambunctious fun, a portal to a less serious stage of life we’d all kill to return to, at least for an evening. Weldon Park channels an inside-out bush party – it’s playful, nostalgic and earnest in its exuberant confusion.
Weldon Park-goers hang out on stools upholstered with astroturf or plant themselves on low concrete “walls” under make-believe street lights, sipping tallboys of cheap beer and $5 gin and juice while bopping to rap beats.
In the back of the Park, behind a heavy wooden door beyond the dance floor, is a cocktail bar. It’s like a rite of passage to enter that more intimate space to request a cocktail. And Weldon Park’s bartenders know their stuff: they pour classic and signature drinks, prepare seasonal, house-made chasers to soften your shot-taking and, best of all, charm as they serve.
As Weldon Park matures (it’s been open less than a month), exciting details will solidify: barrel-aged cocktails, liquid nitrogen shenanigans and a backroom program intended to showcase some of Toronto’s finest barkeeps. In the meantime, a terminal allergy to fun is the only reason to avoid this spot.
Hours Daily 9 pm to 2 am. Back room currently open only on weekends.
Access Entrance at street level washrooms tucked in the back beyond the dance floor. A wheelchair could fit, but it’s up one step.
Patio Why? You’re already outside, and you can spill onto College to smoke.
Bartender’s choice
I was that asshole who asked bartender Tyler Newsome to make me “something fun” of his choice, and received this beauty: Bulleit bourbon, Amaro Montenegro, Fernet Branca and cardamom bitters finished with a twist of orange ($12).
