If you asked me to name a place in Toronto that always has a line-up whenever I pass by, Bellwoods Brewery would immediately come to mind. Now that I’ve been myself, I can tell you why I believe that is — In no particular order : they offer great micro-brewed beer, made onsite in large vats which are on full display and add to the decor; their servers are attentive, cheerful and helpful; the place is small, made cozier with those aforementioned vats, that take up a significant portion of the floor-space.
The line-up shouldn’t stop you from going though, as it moves pretty quickly — on their site, they state that a spot for a party of 2 or 4 will usually be had within 10-20 minutes. My friend Julie and I went on a Friday evening and found that it wasn’t too bad. Granted, given the popular time we chose to go, our wait was on the long side at about half an hour, but there were friendly people around us who we chatted with, and hey, this fine lady and I first met while waiting in a line-up, so I’m not going to knock them!
Oh, and we were there when it was still too cool to open the outdoor patio, which is large and doubles their capacity (You can see a photo of it in this post, when I wrote about the Ossington Street Festival last summer). Since our weather went from hats, mitts and boots to full-on summertime in the blink of an eye, it is bound to be open now. All those additional tables will surely lessen the time until you’re seated with a delicious cold beer in hand.
Or, if it’s more the beer you’re after, you can skip the line-up altogether and buy some to take home in the attached shop.
Here’s a look at Bellwoods Brewery, located at at 124 Ossington Avenue (west side between Queen Street West and Dundas) …
↑ Amoungst other things, Julie is a talented writer and very skilled knitter. Check out her work on her blog Knitted Bliss. ↑
↑ We shared an order of fries, which came with a sprinkle of fresh herbs and a dish of garlic mayonnaise. They were really good. ↑
↑ I went for an IPA called, quite suitably, Cat Lady. ↑
There are 6 tables and a bar on the main floor. I popped upstairs to get a bird’s-eye view, and found a few more small tables up there, as well as a washroom.
↑ I recognized their posters as having been printed at “Kid Icarus” in Kensington Market. (I wrote about this cool shop and print studio in this post. By coincidence, I was with Julie then, as well.) ↑
Thank you for reading,
xo loulou
