Bryden’s

This place was cute, very old and familiar feel to the place. Came in for a beer, the bartender was very knowledgeable.
An older crowd mixed with student aged types, which was super cute.

Excellent food and service is so welcoming & attentive ! Nachos are delish !!!
It’s a cozy place, dim setting. Nice and intimate and casual :)

This used to be a brilliant place but now the furniture is dirty and the place smells. Food used to be good but has gone downhill. Good variety of beers here though. Would go back if the get new furniture and clean the place up a bit.

I’ve been to Bryden’s twice now and it’s been excellent each time.
The 1^st time was just some beers with a friend and it was fairly quiet. The beer selection was awesome and the apps were very good. I highly recommend the nachos.
The 2^nd time was for my birthday and I called ahead the day of and was told they can’t take reservations but they would do their best. When we got there the place was very busy but we managed to get a couple tables pushed together. The place is small and can’t seat a ton but the wait staff were great at getting everyone what thy needed even if it took a few trips.

We went to Brydens for brunch because the wait time at the brunch place across the street was 1.5hr and we had already paid for parking. It was quiet on the Sunday morning but the server was really nice and attentive. I got a three egg omelette with a side salad instead of fries and my boyfriend got the eggs Lenny and we started off with nachos: P.
The nachos were perfect and crispy.
The omelette was good but I liked the side salad the most, it was fresh and the dressing was an aged balsamic vinaigrette that was perfect.
The star of the brunch was my boyfriends eggs Lenny which was a smoked salmon eggs Benedict with crab cakes instead of an English muffin and jalapeño hollandaise. The burst of seafood flavour was eye opening. The crab cakes were a mix of fresh and imitation crab and it complimented the salmon perfectly.
The price was also very good, especially compared to most top brunch places that charge 12 $-15 $ for a eggs Benny and even more for seafood on it, while we only payed 11 $ for the eggs Lenny.
Overall the food and service were great. The interior is a real kind of rustic lots of new restaurants try to imitate. It looked like a local pub and not super fancy but the quality of food and service should not be underestimated!

I heard about this place years back, with Bryden’s apparently being one of the original craft beer bars in the city before it became a trend. After a while of being curious about it, I finally had a reason to go for a drink at Jane St & Bloor and made a point of stopping in, and now I’ve even returned a couple times since.
The environment is somewhere between dive bar and ghetto living room, with the one wall being comprised of vintage couches and coffee tables and then some 4 seater tables in the middle of the room and then the bar along the eastern wall. Its comfortable, and the furthest possible thing from pretentious which is probably appropriate for the area.
The beer list is really solid, with lots of great craft beer options including a variety of Ontario brews and a few imports. There are 7 rotating taps and you’ll usually find some very interesting one off options. I settled in on a tasty pint of GLB’s Thrust IPA on my first visit which was a nice unique tap option.
Food wise, I stopped in on a Monday which was $ 6 app night including $ 6 pounds of chicken wings. The wings were really good! A good size and the «Very Medium» flavour were quite tasty and just about the perfect medium flavour. They also had some more unique options like Jerk flavoured wings which apparently were quite good as well. Wings reminded me of the Wheat Sheaf. Another visit included a pulled pork sandwich, which admittedly did not impress.
All in all, this place is pretty cool. Food is decent, drinks were great. Although I’d still say this place is a bit below the caliber of some of the newer craft haunts, but once you go this far west, it’s probably one of the best available.

Our go to place on Mondays and Tuesday’s for their weekday deals and good selection of beers. Service is casual and always friendly. The nachos are one of the best of had!!! The only complaint is the bathroom as they only have one stall and it’s not always in the cleanest condition, but they’re always busy so I guess staff doesn’t have time to attend to it.

Bryden’s is a unique neighbourhood pub that’s hard to describe. It’s not a pub like Duke of «Insert Generic Name Here»; it doesn’t have big shiny booths and a fancy long bar or waitresses in mini-​skirts. It’s small; has assorted seating (couch, wooden chairs, a few cushioned, wing chairs and a small outdoor patio). They have a good menu of appetizers and main courses (from healthy choices to more pub type fare) and they absolutely have the best nachos I’ve had in Toronto (Axis nearby is a close second). It seems to have a loyal clientele coming in regularly from the Bloor/​Jane neighbourhood. I was here twice this week alone and had nachos both times (if it wasn’t so good I’d get other things). You can seat yourself and the lone waitress is surprisingly efficient at managing the outdoor and indoor diners on her own and keeping track of orders and getting your drinks really fast. Monday and Tuesday nights have amazing deals on pitchers of beer (Mon) and $ 6 apps including the nachos (Mon and Tues). There’s a movie theatre right across the street which could make for the ultimate frugal date combination ($ 7 movies Tues night). I look forward to going back mid-​month.

Came here on a Monday afternoon. The selection of beer is great. The waitress was very informative and knew her beers. Mondays special is 6 dollar apps. We tried the crab cakes and honey&jack wings, the crab cakes were not great they were made with imitation crab and the sauce taste like peanut butter. The wings were average nothing special. The drinks are best here and service is great. If not for the food it would be 5 star.

Good food, excellent service.
Cosy atmosphere, a crazy selection of beers. I had the pad Thai w chicken, very tasty & filling.
The man had the pulled pork, I wasn’t a huge fan of the spice blend but he really enjoyed it.
Over all a lovely place to sit & have a drink or a meal.

Great place to take shelter on a cold winter day, or in this case cool down with a cold beer in the summer! Love the crab cakes and all the finger foods. can’t go wrong. Even sent a few friends this way when looking for something this way!

Good selection of local craft beer. I’m a big fan of wheat beers and they had side launched weis on tap. H-​E-​L-​L-​O! For the win! Went their for a busy meeting and it was what you would consider a casual pub like what the Bishop and the Belcher used to be on Queens St West when it was still open some 15 years ago except much smaller. Had the El Loco nachos with triple meat. Perfect match for beer on a nice summer day. If you happen to pop by Jane Station I’d recommend spending at least an hour here.

It’s a Holiday, May 18, Victoria Day. Back in Bryden’s. Busy, busy. Martina is doing the work of six regular employees. Nice day, the patio is open. She smiles at everybody. She even remembers my choice of beer.
Note to Martina’s boss: Give this lady a raise!

Great outdoor patio overlooking Bloor west. The food is excellent with generous portions and very reasonably priced for this area. The nachos are claimed to be the best damn nachos period and love up to their claim with a huge dollop of guacamole included. Tons of cheese even down to the bottom layers. The wings were great and meaty. Love the ambiance and excellent service.

Great Ontario craft beer selection. Alright setting, the chairs in the front window are nice. We only had appetizers (calamari and Brie-​artichoke dip), but they were really good. The burgers looks nice.

First rate place. Had a great experience here, just before the holidays as I was there for an industry event for craft beer reps. The place may be slightly smaller but the selection of incredible craft beer is HUGE.
I really like this space, as I mentioned it a little smaller and right ON the intersection of Jane and Bloor (Bloor West Village) but it’s cozy, a great pub for winter drinks especially if you’re from the neighbourhood. Looking at it, it gives off the the look from the décor and furniture of an irish pub to give you some perspective.
That however changes with the aforementioned beer selection (did they even have anything Irish ha ha), and the pub style food. I got a chance to speak with the owner during my visit and he gave me a history lesson on the place, telling me that when he took it over years ago it was his goal to bring a gourmet spin to traditional pub faves — something many people would call Gastro-​pub fare. Brydens has been doing it longer and I’d dare say before the term was even a dirty thought.
For the record I had the Jerk Chicken/​Carribean wrap with spuds — just the right amount of spice, perfectly portioned and cooked. Delicious (Plus it absorbed my booze so I could go home and not be a mess the next day, so… #WINNING)
I wish I lived closer to this place as it’s definitely my kind of local hang out. Check it out if your walking in BWV!
Eatcrest Out!
PS — I forgot to mention, because they’re a great customer of Great Lakes Brewery, they were one of a very few who go a special limited edition Egg Nog Porter (and only a small portion). If you’re a porter fan you’ll love this… it’s CLEAR (picture a wheat beer in colour) but the thickness and smoothness of a porter and the taste of a cup of Egg Nog! Jumpin Jesus Craft Beer! 7+% ABV as well, it’ll get you in the holiday spirit even if you don’t celebrate!

I have passed by this place a million times and never gave it a second thought, I just thought it was another mediocre pub… Turns out I was wrong.
They serve craft beers (yay) at reasonable prices (double yay) and have some awesome specials– like Monday 10 $ pitcher night! I also enjoyed the atmosphere of the place, a little dark, just eclectic enough, approaching on the dive bar range, but not quite there yet, and with an interesting assortment of people. The only downside was the service– which was terrible, but judging by other reviews I can believe it’s a one off. Oh and the mixed drinks. I ordered a bourbon sour and it may have been the worst I have ever had. This is clearly a stick to the beer type place, and that’s okay with me. Nachos are actually pretty good, and there were some enticing looking menu items. I would give it 3 stars if I take into account the service but I am going to go for 4 because there was just something about this place I really liked, and it was crazy busy and there only seemed to be one server so she may have just been overwhelmed. I will certainly be back!
*Update*
Bryden’s has become a regular spot for me, and I’m happy to say I’ve had much better service since writing this review! It was really just a one off. Oh and it’s not approaching dive bar. It’s there. Took a couple visits to not be distracted by all the awesome chairs, but it is definitely a dive through and through.

Bar Crawl #6: A sip of Great Lakes Raspberry Hissyfit Grisette
I don’t remember much about my visit to Bryden’s and I know I will be coming back. The beer list here are all craft beer from local breweries and I like how they really featured Great Lakes Brewery, my favourite brewery!
The set up here is quite roomy with some sofa like area where one can lounge and enjoy your drinks!
Bryden’s beer list is seasonal and on rotation, I just love surprises.
I will be back!

Great food and great beer.
What else do I have to say?

Gord and I had supper Friday at Bryden’s … we hadn’t been there since December.
It’s a good pub if you are into craft beer.
We both ordered the Chicken Parm Sangwich. ord got his with potato salad and no marinara sauce (he doesn’t like tomatoes). He said it was good. I had mine with fries and no mushrooms or onions. It was delicious! I’d get it again.
Our server was friendly and took good care of us.