The Pilot Tavern

Interesting décor, good food, beer was cold. Service was great, prices appropriate.

The Pilot Tavern is where people in the advertising industry go to chill. I found out during my time at AdWeek 2016, after visiting with a bunch of other students after our long day visiting various agencies around downtown Toronto.
The location is ideal, and great for walking around when the weather is nice. When you first come in you realize what a relaxed atmosphere it is, and that’s exactly what I felt (even in business casual clothes).
I didn’t spend too much time at the bar, but the waiters & bartenders were quick, friendly, and really on top of things. You can tell they take their work seriously and that’s important when you’re catering to a large crowd in a small area.
Though I didn’t have any food items from their menu, the catered food for the event was quite nice. Calamari, sliders, dumplings, and the various amounts hors d’oeuvres were nice to have with a drink. I would recommend this place to anyone hosting an event!
I do see myself returning, hopefully in the summer to enjoy the outdoor patio with friends.

The Pilot was one of the top results I found online when I was looking for a nice rooftop patio during the summer. Located in the heart of Yorkville, The Pilot has a very relaxed vibe in contrast to the high-​end restaurants within the area.
I went to this restaurant twice because I enjoyed their patio so much the first time around. I ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich during my first visit with a glass of Fruli and tried a pound of their wings for my second visit (I do not recall which flavour unfortunately). I wouldn’t say the food was anything amazing or different than your typical bar. However, if you want a place with a rooftop patio that is more wallet-​friendly, give The Pilot a shot when summer rolls around.

Gluten-​free review:
I came here on a weekday for lunch and got the cajun chicken gluten-​free pizza. It was quite tasty and pretty good for a gluten-​free pizza. The crust is more on the crispy side than chewy. It’s an extra $ 3 for a gluten-​free curst, which I feel is unnecessary, but at least it tasted pretty good. The cajun chicken version uses pesto instead of tomato sauce, which I feel isn’t the best on a gluten-​free crust.
Overall it was a good experience. The staff was friendly and the pizza was good.
Note: I am gluten intolerant and don’t have celiac’s disease. My reactions range from mild (a few crumbs) to moderate (a full bite of gluten-​filled food) depending on how much gluten I consume. I did not have a reaction to the food here.

If it was an option for 0 star I would have chosen that.
The patio has rats walking around while you are eating your food. The funny thing is when we asked the waiter he said it’s not them it’s their neighbours. Will never go back

Love this place, I come here all the time, but seriously… Hire a fucking exterminator. The patio is basically a hornets nest. It’s basically a room full of people swatting like retards at wasps. Today, people actually brought fly swatters.

Tried to bring 20 employees there for after work drinks and food and was turned away? It’s great to see that this place is rich and successful and can turn away business. Bad move folks, infact, a very stupid move.

Nothing special. Decent rooftop patio. Repeat: Only because it is convenient.

The patio was wasp central, we had to move multiple times. Servers didn’t care and most of our meals were spent with wasps on our food. Very uncomfortable.

MICE RUNNING AROUND!!!
If I could give a rating lower than one star I would. Never have I eaten at an establishment that was littered with mice. We were seated on the rooftop patio. A table nearby started freaking out about something. We then figured out what it was. A mouse. Then we began talking with a separate table who told us they had spotted 3 – 4 mice. We had already received our food at this point so it was too late to cancel our order and walk out.
The worst part is that we saw the planters moving and noticed baby mice running around and climbing on the plants! Utterly disgusted at this place.
When we told they staff the shrugged it off and said they were aware of it and that they were fixing the problem this week. Now looking at Unilocal reviews we see this has been a persistent problem for over 3 weeks.
This place should be shut down. Very worried one of us will get sick from this food.

MICE ON THE TOP FLOOR! SO DISGUSTING!!!
My party of 8 was seated yesterday at the top floor of The Pilot and were enjoying a nice meal when my girlfriend shouted, «Look a mouse!»
Okay – one mouse, no big deal. But shortly thereafter not just one but 3 – 5 mice appeared running around our feet AT THE TABLE on the THIRD FLOOR of the patio.
I screamed and asked our waitress to move us, how could we possibly be paying for a meal with MICE running around our feet. SEVERAL of them.
Michelle the «manager» came over and was UTTERLY unapologetic. She said and I quote,
«Well we are outside you just have to deal with it.»
IM SORRY? DEAL WITH IT? If squirrels and raccoons were running around at our feet simply because they are outdoor animals does that make it okay? She assured us that her kitchen was on the bottom floor and there’s no mice there? I’m sorry. Such a «viable» explanation. What happens when the doors are closed on the patio, the mice just scurry around the cutlery, the glassware. Oh and another amazing line.
«I don’t know if you have ever worked in an kitchen before but a mice is actually one of the best things you can see.» DIDN’T YOU JUST SAY THERE WERE NO MICE IN THE KITCHEN.
Needless to say. Nothing was offered in return. Such a rude and terrible experience. We had to pay full price. My boyfriend has been sick all morning because of the food and who knows what else. My stomach is upset too and i’ve been walking on eggshells all morning thinking mice are scurrying around.
I’ve contacted Health Canada and sent an inspector over immediately. Truly DISGUSTING!

We had some after work drinks at the Pilot Tavern. The rooftop patio was really packed a but luckily, we had made reservations. However, it was overwhelmingly loud and difficult to have a conversation with anyone within 1m of your… the walls seem to just amplify the ambient sound. I don’t think I’ve been on a patio or bar with so much steel and sheet metal for their décor, but I think it works well. The nachos and assorted appetizers were great to share, though they were demolished pretty quickly. We had wanted to charcuterie board, but apparently it was sold out… and our server told us that it has actually been «sold out» for a couple of weeks. Drinks were reasonably priced.

Visited the Pilot for the second time with a friend for food and drinks. We sat on the patio and it was great! I ordered the thai noodles which were pretty tasty, while my friend ordered the quesadillas and enjoyed them. Overall, it was a good atmosphere and we enjoyed ourselves. I will be back again!

Hosted my party at Pilot on Friday and we had a fantastic time! The root top is rated one of the best patios in Toronto and is quite popular as it’s been around for ages.
We ordered loads of food and drinks. The nachos and fries were good but the Fish Taco was fantastic and I recommend that. Apparently their seafood items come highly recommended. Wish I had room for the sweet potato but will be back for that!
The staff is excellent and friendly. The roof patio does get a bit busy and there is usually a line up outside but fear not because the volume fluctuates. So, have a seat in the main seating area and after a drink (or 4 I’m not judging!) the line will die down and you can sneak up quicker.
The roof top seating will appear pretty dense as you come up the stairs. However, you really need to make your way to the back as there is usually loads of open space there which people can’t see from the entrance.
The crowd various but is always buzzing. And who knows who you might rub shoulders with? This place is a favourite amongst everyone from lawyers to young professionals and also friends just looking for a good chatty time out apart from the King St. bars.
Had the pleasure of randomly meeting the owner and his wife who are fantastic people and take such pride in the business. I will definitely be coming back to try other options on the menu.

Great little addition to the Yorkville area. Low key, good beers — it’s like an updated version of Hemmingway’s.
p.s only place to be is the flight deck. But be ready for the stairs. Can get quite busy during the week after work.

Delicious food, beautiful jazz and wonderful atmosphere. That’s a theme for today at The Pilot! So glad we made it there today through the traffic, it’s so worth it! The room wasn’t even full at first, and there is no cover fee. Unbelievable.
The food is really good. I had mahi mahi. Great dish, with pineapple salsa, steamed rice and delicious salad.
Prices are very reasonable. Highly recommend. We had a great time!

Decent place for a brew. Nice atmosphere and they have surprisingly good wings. Service is great.
I don’t really have any complaints. Why four stars? No Cafferys. I was looking forward to that when I saw it on the menu as I haven’t had it for around 15 years.

Went for lunch yesterday. Before I begin I will give it 4 stars for ambiance — I love the décor — exposed duct work on the ceilings… bold colours… art work that are people’s work of art (this time it was photos of original concert tickets — the Doors, Woodstock At/​Fair event, etc). There is apparently a jazz band that comes in the afternoons (3−4pmish I was told), but I didn’t get an opportunity to see it. Also I was told there is a reserved section right by the jazz band for regulars. I thought that was kinda cool to recognize the regulars like that.
Ok so for the food… nothing special to be honest. For lunch I decided to hae the grilled cheese on rye with fries. It was a pretty tiny grilled cheese… and it wasn’t even that great. Just cheddar. not even some fabulous melt-​y gooey cheese. The fries while nice and crisp where cut so weird. Most pieces were like 2″ long… so tiny… almost felt like eating hash. Nothing special. I went with a large group and no one raved about there food. So far that I would say 2 Stars for the food. The service was decent — very pleasant.
I would stick to drinks and listening to the jazz band if going back

I finally got to try the patio here and was very impressed. On Sunday we had the worst thunderstorm I can remember and The Pilot was nearby so we dropped by for a pint to «weather the storm».
Climbing up the many flights of stairs worked up quite a thirst, and I was impressed by the size of the patio and the fact that it was completely covered and heated.
I ordered a Keith’s and my friend ordered a gun and tonic. Both drinks were reasonably priced and my beer was nice and cold.
The service was also very good and our server dropped by frequently to see if we needed a top up. I will be back soon, since this might be one of my only ‘patio’ options once the weather gets cold.

Fantastic bar, great atmosphere. As everyone else says, the food is pretty nondescript. But you really come here for the history of the place and to have a chill night.
They were accommodating to our group of 12, even though we went without a reservation, as it only really filled up around 11:30. I would have loved to experience the rooftop patio, reading all the rave reviews, but we took up half the back raised level.
Everyone seemed to have a good night, though they were pretty slow with service. Next time to check out the upper levels and maybe come for the Saturday night jazz!

Le bar respecte la thematique d’un cockpit tout en metal avec sa deco faite dhelices davion. Bar ideal pour les groupes recherchant les frissons du quartier de downtown.
The bar respects the cockpit theme: all metallic and with planes helix.
so it is a nice bar for groups looking for the downtown thrill.