Reviews Against The Grain Urban Tavern

A chilling place to enjoy good food, tasty cocktails and friendly environment. The outdoor seating during summer is just amazing.

Was there for a family dinner. Liked the fact there was no wait for a table for seven people, even on a Saturday night. Fairly quiet ambient noise, so conversation was possible. Service as prompt and friendly. Everyone liked their meals, though I found the BBQ brisket a bit bland--not the smoky flavour I expected. Would go back.

Might be one of the best patios in Toronto. Fantastic location, especially in the summertime. Service was friendly, but not super fast. Food was pretty good. The home fries were great. Good for kids (outside) except the kids meals were kind of pricey in comparison to other. ($12). But it is now one of my favourite patios in the city!

Excellent Event Venue. This is an excellent venue location. They food and service was good -- especially compared to some of the other catered events I've been to. The location was also excellent. There's plenty of parking, a great lakeside view (with a nice patio), and a nice interior.

By far, the highlight was the bar. They're very well stocked with some hard to find beers and liquors and the bar staff was really friendly.

This was a great place to host a party.

Wonderful experience. Visited on a Monday. Loved their half off apperizer special. The mussels and riblets were delicious! Great ambience and energy. Wonderful service especially considering we were quite a big group of co-workers. Highly recommended.

Been there many times. Always great food and great drinks. Could use better prices, but their location kind of justifies the higher costs.

Wonderful place with really interesting food. Best view in the city. Great beer selection. Staff could use a little more finesse training.

Went for lunch, the tenderloin salad was amazing!

Service was great. Had the burger and maple chipotle wings. We shared and both enjoyed it.

Great Place - good food. Just came back from dinner at ATG, and it was excellent. I had their burger with short rib topping and absolutely excellent sweet potato fries. My wife had the taco appy as a main course and it we very good. Service was friendly and prompt. THERE'S SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS about a lot of negative reviews all by people who've reviewed one resto and joined the same day they put up their review. Nothing any of them said made any sense to me, and I've been there!

It was hot and sunny ... my cold draft tasted good!

After a few weeks of being open, we decided to take our chances at the new Against the Grain Urban Tavern in the Corus entertainment building. Apparently this is part of the FAB Concepts group of restaurants, home to places like Mill St Brew Pub, Murphy's Law, Foggy Dew, Brazen Head and other mediocre Toronto pubs. So, I wasn't expecting much but I thought it would be worth a try because the menu looked interesting for a pub, and probably better than some of chains or sports bars in the area.

So, the first downside to this spot is the parking situation. We found a spot on the street where we could park for free, but we got the last one... and the parking lot was a flat rate of 10$ from 9-6 pm, and $ 10 from 6-12. But we got there at 5:45 so it was so awkward and would have cost us way too much for the quality of the meal. I can see this place being a great spot to bike to on a nice day, and stop for lunch and a pint... but once this place begins to get a bit more business, its unlikely we would find another free parking spot.

On the good side, the space is quite impressive. It is huge inside, with a nice looking bar (with large screen TVs.. even though they were playing infomercials..), and an even bigger outside patio that apparently have fire pits for night time, and lots of couches and lounge areas.

The service was also really great. This isn't fine dining at all, but our server was friendly and mature, which is apparently sometimes a lot to ask for in some Toronto pubs.
Okay, so the food, we tried:

Baja Spiced Chicken Nachos with salsa, guac and chili sour cream
These were pretty good nachos, but not the best I've had. While a bit skimpy on the chicken, the cheese was generous and perfect. It was still really stringy, but completely melted, and was layered throughout (we did ask for it on just half though so my mom, who's a cheese-o-phobe could have some).

Prime Rib Special with mashed potato, yorkshire pudding and veg
Apparently every Sunday, the have a different roast special, and today was prime rib for $20 with potatoes, yorkshire pud and veg. It was a very generous and surprisingly still tender piece of meat considering my mother insisted on it being well done. Potatoes were a bit bland but I am not a huge mashed fan.

Pulled Pork Tacos with molasses and tankhouse ale pork, gouda, avocado creme fraiche, and pickled watermelon and radish salsa
For pub food, I was pretty impressed. The pork was super juicy with a just hint of smoky sweetness, and I loved the watermelon salsa.

Daily Poutine with corn beef and a dijon gravy
I wasn't sure how sharp the gravy was going to be, so I asked them to put it on the side, which is why they probably thought they needed to pop the cheese under the broiler to get it to melt. But after I tried the gravy, I was happy and disappointed. Happy because I liked it, but disappointed because I couldn't taste the dijon at all. It just tasted like basic gravy.

Fish and Chips with pale ale battered Cape Capensis filet, served with fries, spicy beer ketchup and lemon tartar sauce
Their fries are pretty good here, and the spicy beer ketchup was an interesting accompaniment. Actually, it was surprisingly spicy, and had an obvious beer undertone. The fish batter was also pretty good, very crispy and not greasy at all.

So for 3 beers, 1 pop and the above, the total with tax and tip was about $120, not bad for a more interesting casual pub experience. There are quite a few other menu items that called my name (Duck Confit, Smoked Chicken Pot Pie, Short Rib Burger), so I'm sure I will be back on a nice night for the patio.

Upon looking at their website and menu, I expected it to be more 'Tavern' than 'Urban', but it was definitely the opposite. A trendy spot with a rustic name is how I'd describe it. Definitely nothing rustic about the décor. The patio was large and inviting. It had a variety of seating, live music and beautiful gardens of flame to keep you warm in the evening.

We started with the Vegan Taco. The sweetness of the dates cut through the savoury goodness of the onion. It was very fresh. The veggies were crisp and the mango slaw really brought the whole taco together in harmony. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. 
For the entrees, my aunt chose the Drunken Chicken Fricasee and I went with the Fried Potato & Whitefish. She said the breading on the chicken was perfect, not too thick or greasy, but crisp and favourful. I felt the piece of chicken was a little small, but she didn't complain. Polenta is always a treat and this was no exception. The tomato sugo was perfect for dipping the firm polenta. My whitefish went nicely with the ragout. I'm not a huge fan of olives, but the sauce was pretty good. 
Dessert was simple and fabulous. I often go for the complicated sounding gourmet desserts; today I just wanted ice cream. Vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate chips and stewed strawberries was the perfect ending to a savoury meal. So simple, but so delicious. Creamy and sweet, what else do you need?! My aunt is a pastry chef and loved the Key Lime Pudding in a Jar. Great idea and just enough!

The servers were great. They had a good sense of humour and weren't afraid to be themselves. Refreshing!