Sweaty Betty’s

The original dive bar of Queen west, small place but I enjoy the specials. Great spot to wait for the ossington bus :)

Not the biggest fan of this place, but I’ve stopped for a beer a few times. I’m not the pickiest person ever, but it’s something about the smell that just turns me off.
If you can get past that, snag a seat in the back room. That’s if it’s not occupied by the same people every time I go there — I swear, it’s happened twice now. Crazy old pictures and furniture that makes you feel like you’re sitting in some guys trailer living room from the 70’s.
Beer selection is decent, but I swear the lines are never cleaned. It’s either the persistent smell that’s actually permeating the beer, or I accidentally dropped my sock in the cup.

Only stopped for a drink but I loved this place! Bartenders were super friendly and I loved the dark coziness of the place. If i lived nearby this would be my regular go to.

I love the back patio. I like where it’s located, the service and drink prices are the same as anywhere else. I have a bunch of friends in the ‘hood so it’s an easy pick for a meet-​up. I seem to end up here more often that I would expect since I’m a nomad in the city so maybe they’re singing my particular siren song.
High fives all around.

Bartender wasn’t the nicest… The blonde guy with short hair… I would have tipped him but he had a bad attitude…
The only thing that I liked was the shot with the pickle brine chaser… Yum!
If u get too drunk there is s ton of cabs in the area and ttc access! !

Small, relaxed and eccentric; the small space is fun and a good spot for a beer. I’m not a huge fan of their cocktails but it is cozy and open late. I’ve been here several times after other spots have closed down when I should be in a bed on a weeknight. Its a good spot to wind down an evening.

Great vibe here, very open and friendly, instantly have a welcoming atmosphere w great conversation. Drink pricing is standard for any bar however music is a great selection of classics. Will return without a doubt. Great staff with great conversation.

Happened to stumble in because the brewery down the street was closed for a private party and being from out of town with no clue where to go, I chose based on the name only. I needed beer. As I often do. It’s how I travel, okay. Upon entering, I thought to my self, «This is a nice little dive.» We grabbed a couple local beers from the very welcoming tender who pointed out the patio out back…(pause for drama).
The patio, mind you, is just past the most fabulous little dimly lit, comfy chair annex. I love me some low plush seating and candles. I love me a little snuggle with my beer. The kind of nook where all of the sudden you may be sharing said snuggle with a stranger and in the moment, you’re totally okay with that.
The patio was just glorious. Nice wooden benches, totally fenced in. Wasn’t expecting it to feel so cozy.
The clientele were all over the board. An older gentleman sitting alone talking on his flip phone, a group of college agers doing tequila shots and talking about «last night», and us, a thirty something couple from Wisconsin looking for a beer. We shared a patio for an hour. And it was magical.

There is a family of skunks that lives underneath the back patio.

Friends of a friend suggested we take a tour of this tiny bar at the mouth of the Osington strip advising us that it had one of Toronto’s best Old Fashioneds around. After a night of crafting this drink at home we decided to take the suggestion of said friend and venture out for a try of «one of the best.»
Arriving, it’s small and dim spot with perhaps a half a dozen seats in the front, a dozen or so in the back room but a good sized covered (packed) patio around back. As you’ll see from the other Unilocaler pics the bar is decorated in the eclectic-​random style that so many others utilize along Os’ that make the most of older tiny spaces. For this I award them full points.
As for the drink, I’ve had OF’s that were too sweet, and OF’s that were far too alcohol forward, but this was the First time I’ve ever had a «bitters» heavy Old Fashioned. The aromatics provided by the angostura bitters were so prominent and overpowering, that I nearly gagged and had to actually muscle this cocktail down. Yuck!!! As opposed to a top 5 best, I would say it was in my top 5 worst Old Fashioneds to date… maybe even the top spot sadly… eek
Will I be back? Sure, as I said the ambiance is super chill and they seem to have plenty of other beers and spirits on hand — I’m all about second chances, especially for a cool venue like this.
I’ll return and hopefully be able to upgrade this review to something more befitting.

Pretty cute place, small and cozy. I didn’t feel that comfortable here, it’s just a personal preference. There isn’t really room to move around… you walk in and there’s the bar area. Go up a flight of tiny stairs and there’s this room with dim lighting and mismatched couches and vintage lamps. On a Saturday night it was pretty much just filled with couples and small groups people people quietly chatting away. I like meeting new people, interacting etc etc. I don’t see myself doing that here, everyone sticks together and sits together. Patio is nice, I would definitely come here with a significant other (or just… someone i wanna get temporarily cozy with?) on an off night but I definitely wouldn’t pick this place to party of a weekend.
Beer is pretty damn cheap doe!

Loved this spot! A lot of people had termed it a dive bar but I think its more of a warm cozy place with a nice little patio in the back. It was not too noisy when we arrived (earlier in the evening on a Friday night) and they had some good specials going on. I really enjoyed the banana infused bourbon — different and tasty!
Nice place to catch up with a friend or 2 over some drinks.

This place is a GREAT dive. It reminds me a lot of the bars I used to hang out at back in the day in Detroit. Charlotte the bartender is awesome. I told her I was from Detroit and she bought me a shot, who does that?
This is not a bar pretending to be a dive it’s a true dive. It was wall to wall people on a Friday night and I felt perfectly at home with the freaks and the hipsters. It was kind of chilly so I can’t say that I was sweaty at Betty’s. I will make sure to come back the next time I’m in town.

Another dive bar on Ossington. Not a bad spot really and the patio is small but packs in a lot of people. The back room is like being in a weirdo’s living room, lots of old furniture and creepy-​ish photography all over the wall.
Bartender was friendly, beer variety is limited but quite cheap.
Go for the patio.

Very cool place.
I don’t think I’ve been to a bar with such a diverse crowd of peeps. A real motley crew of people up in thurr. Not tons of seating because it’s such a popular place.
Beers are about $ 6 – 7. Nice options (about 8?) when I was there, but I wished they had an IPA on draft.
The bartender was busting her ass but super friendly and helpful!
If I lived in Toronto, I’d definitely be hanging here more.

Sweaty Betty’s is a place that I go to. Beyond that, it’s a place that I like to go.
It’s like going into Ronnie’s 069, only it’s less scary and the music is usually better. The small back room here has a couch that I like to sit on. Others think it might have bed bugs… they need to get a grip.
Last night I ended up on an accidental double date, and three out of four of us thought Sweet B’s was the place to hit. The fourth can’t legally vote in Belle Canada, so he didn’t get a say. We drank good beer and bad tequila and sat in the back. We also got a pickle bowl, as one does here. The tiny forks are the cutest.
As I leaned into my fave couch we realized we were in a room full of Irish people. Drunk fun Irish people! They were on their way to The Dog And Bear for Karaōke, naturally I made a Commitments joke. Then 4 blokes gave me and the lovely lady next to me their best «Roid Sally Roid» and my life was made.
PEPPER PROPS To Roddy Doyle. The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van are all solid books.

Am I at a bar or at a university student’s house? This was a question I was asking myself throughout my stay at this bar.
Sweaty Betty’s is a small bar located on the up and coming Ossington strip. A group of us entered this bar on a Saturday as part of a pub crawl, and I must say that I truly enjoyed this stop of our crawl. This place is cozy and laid back, the front of the bar has a few tables and the back of the bar is akin to someone’s living room with couches and chairs. The back room really did give me a house party vibe from my University days.
The bar has a small selection of mostly local beers, I enjoyed a Mill St. cobble stone stout and was quite happy to be drinking it. One negative was that the music and atmosphere was a bit too loud making it difficult to converse with people around you. Overall this place is a cozy place to hang out and just chill with some friends if you are in the area, but I would not go out of my way to come here.

I was here with some fellow Unilocalers during a pub crawl event. The bar is small, cozy, dark and crowded. Drink’s of choice appear to be Beer and shots from what I could see. The place can be loud when the music is going so may have to yell in a big group. Our group had a couch and a few chairs in the upstairs corner. They had a few beers on tap but bonus points for one of my fav’s — Blanche du Chambly from Montréal. I ordered two pints and some shots. Prices are very reasonable and the shots were cheap. You need to order your drinks at the bar which I’m not used to, I prefer having drinks brought to the table — maybe I’m getting old!
My pet peeve is the bathroom being downstairs with very narrow stairs. I imagine a few drunk folks have taken a fall through the years.
I wouldn’t go out of my way for a visit but would probably stop by for a pint if I’m in the area.
BK

This is a cozy place with an eclectic setup and music to match (I thought they were stealing the music from my phone as the playlist was almost spot on what I have on phone)
Beer selection is decent and seems like a shot and pint kind of place.
It does get packed so beware of lineups later at night. The interior is a hodgepodge of several pieces of furniture thrown together but I guess they know they are not selling the interior here rather they are selling character and they do that well. I felt like I had walked into some laid back college kid’s living room. Service was decent despite the mad rush of people.
I had a Blanche De Chambley and was even given the orange slice as garnish. I also got a couple of tequila shots and they had an extensive selection for tequila as well. It does get packed so beware as there was a lineup of people trying to get in at one time.
Service was decent so 0.5 stars for that.
Decent place to visit if you are in the area and this kind of vibe attracts you.
3.5 Stars.

Based on the size of this place I can see why Betty would be sweaty when this place is packed. There’s a front area which looks like a traditional bar, a rear area that’s more of a lounging place packed with furniture that looks like it was picked up off the side of the road, and a patio that is partially covered by foliage.
Enjoy the pints at $ 1 off before 7:00 and don’t forget to check out CD #48 on the jukebox, The Cure’s Greatest Hits, I’m sure you’ll love it.