Northwood

I love the ambiance at this place. The staff is extremely nice and they serve really good cocktails. My favourite being the Choupette, its delicious.
Mr. H and I go quite often and even took our friends from the US, everyone loved the place. We once had to wait a long time before a table was available, there was one empty table but the customers were out smoking (for like an hour!) and the waitress was getting annoyed too. She said she would ask them to leave once they came back and move us over and she made sure to follow through.
The later in the night it gets to louder the place gets too so keep that in mind, the place does however have a relaxed vibe and fun to visit with friends.
(Ps: i have only been here late nights)

Really great bar with a cool atmosphere and drinks to match. Always a really good atmosphere here at the weekends. The bartenders are great for helping with recommendations. It’s very cosy and intimate. I lived right beside this bar in Toronto so I went all the time and now I can’t wait to return.

Coffee was fine but waiters are slow and kind of too cool for school. Nice décor and selection though.

Nice little bar with atmoshere and good selection of drinks, including some beers on tap. Little because seating might be limited, but patio in summer time is rather large. People are friendly.

This is one of my own main haunts on Bloor West. The cocktails are awesome, the ambiance is wonderful for meeting up with friends, and I’m really happy that they’ve recently expanded their food offerings. Check out the rotating weekly dinner specials, I’ve eaten on my own a few times and also have dined with friends. I went for dinner with a party of four with mixed dietary needs (one vegan & g/​f, one g/​f omnivore, two omnivores who will eat anything) and we all walked away happy and well fed. That night I loved the pickle plate, beet tartare (yes beets!), the white bean dip, and some perfectly cooked brussel sprouts. As for the cocktails, I’m a gin drinker and love the Paper Moon, the Paradis is also quite nice.

GO HERE for cocktails. The list is super long, and the staff is very helpful. The ambience is cute & cozy. Great for week-​night cocktails after work.
The food /​snacks are OK. I’m a vegetarian and have ordered the white bean dip. The dip is really smooth with a great crunch on top with the addition of various seeds. The dipping vessel it comes with is a thin, gluten free crêpe-​ish bread which was also delicious.

The atmosphere is what you pay for here. Cocktails will run you $ 12 – 15 and a beer on tap is about $ 7 – 10. The drinks are pretty good though and the wait staff is courteous and friendly. Sitting at the window bar was quite nice although the place got exceptionally loud on a Tuesday evening such that I was effectively yelling by the end of the night.

I love sitting here in the afternoon to work. The interior is so nice, the coffee is good and it’s possibly my favourite local chill out place. Admittedly I haven’t been here in the evening for drinks yet but the cocktail menu looks smashing

Oh boy… I’m not happy writing this. Service here is how I expect war criminals to be served in heaven. (Ignored, awful)
I have been here around 20 times and around the last ten have been some of the laziest instances of service. Don’t you want to come to my table and take more drink orders? Don’t you want to make money? Sitting half an hour without a drink order on a table and no water glasses is insane and I am embarrassed to stay I stayed.
It is never very busy when I come. And having to beg for the bill only to see the bartender start cleaning tables after saying «yes» is creepy. It’s also creepy when they only pay attention to you when they want your money. This happens all the time. Once the bill is down they’re like vultures.
Good luck on the patio in the summer as you could be having a heart attack and none of the staff would notice. They would probably start cleaning tables around your dying body.

A-​OK in my books.
DRINKS:
This is a great place for drinks, but wine wasn’t half price on a Wednesday (boo). There was a promotion for cocktails but we are wine drinkers.
FOOD:
Very limited snack/​food selection, all bread based. Cheese platter was good, pickled bow was good, pork spread was meh. Each one came with a lot of freshly toasted baguette bread, which is a nice touch but … so much bread.
AMBIANCE:
A+! Great décor, it was full but still not too crazy noisy. We sat at the bar and finished at a table. Lighting not too dark — not too bright. Stylish.
This is an A-​OK place to have a drink near Christie Pits. But I wouldn’t stretch to 4 stars because of cost and (to me) dissatisfying snack choice.

The perfect place to down a few bottles of Dieu du Ciel Rosée d’Hibiscus in the middle of winter when you’re really missing summer. Love the mood lighting and actual candles this place has — full of character without trying too hard.

Super hipster crowd here. Gotta love the exposed brick and wooden seating. Drink deals Are not the greatest but alright. I like the variety of light fixtures and cozy setup. Not much for appetizer situation. They cannot split bills, only offer cash machine that’ll charge you.

Richard P from Northwood is now messaging me trying to convince me of the benefits of their ‘tab’ system. See my previous review, it does not work. He says its hard to do separate bills and a lot of work for servers and customers (huh?!)…so they don’t want to do it. I wonder how all those other restaurants do it? Magic? Actually when you do split bills its so nice and easy for the customer and we love it! For now I’ll continue to avoid this place at all costs.
Richard P’s private messages to me explicitly told me that they do NOT do separate bills. They do allow you to try and calculate what you owe on the one bill that you receive, but that is NOT a separate bill. He also” justified” to me in previous messages why northwood doesn’t do separate bills, so I’m not sure what his comment to my review even means. Regardless, I will never return after the rude service I received. As the server at the last restaurant I went to told me «of course I can do separate bills for you, and any place that says they can’t is lying or has severely outdated equipment»
If anyone wants clarification on what was sent to me, feel free to pm me! :)

Every time I return to Toronto this is my first stop for a gorgeous cocktail. The real deal. Best on the block. Homemade bitters, aged cider, crafts beers & a ton more & my favourite the Choupette — elderflower, lemon, thyme and gin. The snack menu is pretty yummy too, I usually go for the plate of pickled veg.
The space is super cool yet romantic. Percect for a date or hang. They’ve usually got a great DJ spinning too.
During the day, the coffee is aces and the space is a dream for getting work done.

The owner has Phd in Film… no wonder the lighting is sensational! I’ve never seen better lighting in a bar.
Specialty cocktails are great. Lady Grey Sour… original and tasty.
Yogi Berra might say… «Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded». The last time I walked by, I wanted to stop in, but it was kind of packed.

Really loved this warm, friendly spot on Bloor near Christie Pits Park.
I came here with friends on a warm summer evening. By 8 p.m. the patio was full, but there were plenty of seats inside.
We stayed through the evening enjoying beers and conversation. The place got full, but never terribly crowded. Inside the décor and ambiance are tasteful and inviting.
The staff here are friendly and knowledgeable. They have an extensive selection of draught and bottled beers. I also hear that they do amazing cocktails. Maybe next time! Northwood is definitely worth a return visit.

A welcome addition to the bloor west hood. Impressive list of (bottled) beer and a few nice draughts. Wine list & cocktails are unique. Snacks are served (sandwiches and the like) and good coffee is part of the mantra. Possibly the best iced drip coffee i have ever tasted. No milk or sugar required!
I like when cafes are true to their name: serving both caffeine and booze in true European fashion.
The patio is lovely, as is the interior. The bathrooms are spotless and have a cozy cottage-​like charm. Thumbs up!

I spent the better part of a day at Northwood and enjoyed it so much I wasn’t even tired of being there at the end of it all. The atmosphere is great for working during the day and socializing during the evening. Seriously, this café covers it all.
An added bonus of being there so long means that I experienced a lot of what they have to offer, and from lattes to sparkling wine at happy hour, to cheese plates, everything I had I liked.
The menus are small, but creative and the staff is efficiently friendly. It would be one of my main hangs if I lived in Toronto.

So my last update was a little off. They have stopped with the oysters, and the patio isn’t in full swing, but…
They have done some pop-​up menus with varying chefs, but it looks like they’ve got some keepers for supper hour and they aren’t messing around. Get some of their delish delights (think: tortiere, pea soup with biscuits and braised beef poutine) to go with your craft cocktails and reasonably priced wine and beer. Mmm K?

Bar Crawl #1: Beau’s Kissmeyer Nordic Pale Ale & St Bernardus Abt 12
Happy Hour Everyday till 7 pm! $ 2 off drafts and bottles/​cans. Sweet!
Of course I have to start off with a pint: Beau’s Kissmeyer Nordic Pale Ale ($ 5.50 with HH specials!) and my Unilocal friend with a can of Howe Sound Lager ($ 4.5 with HH Special). And of course if you prefer some exquisite import: A bottle of St Bernardus Abt 12 ($ 28).
The interior is dark, dim and cozy. I like how Northwood is a coffee/​beer/​cocktail drinking place as that means I can hang out here the whole day.
Too bad they were out of the 8oz Cold Brew to go. I guess I have to come back soon to try out their cocktails and coffee! And free WIFI! Oh that means I can even Unilocal a bit!