The Horseshoe Tavern

I know there are many things wrong like a potentially bad customer service situation and sticky floors and dirty bathrooms but you don’t come here to EAT, you come to soak up the atmosphere of an authentic dive bar with tons of history where both The Stones/​Bob Dylan/​Blue Rodeo/​kd lang/​Barenaked Ladies/​Hayden/​just to name a few/​have played inside its grungy sweaty walls. There is so much history, you could write a book about this place. I used to work here and even though its was years ago and probably one of the worst times in my life, I still feel happy when returning and seeing that indeed, «some things never change.» Its great :) I love it. And its so walkable to so many other places that actually DO have good food and different atmosphere, you can bar hop and restaurant hop to easily 6 different locations in one night and only pay for parking once. LOVE IT. I highly recommend !!!

This is my home from home in Toronto — clientele are friendly and staff are ace. We always come here — live music is the draw but pool keeps us coming and cheap drinks mean we always stay longer than intended. Despite living in London, UK, we now have mates here. A good place.

First impression not that bad, security is really nice. Was here for a show and had to line up to get into the back. As they were letting people in the person taking the tickets started yelling «people with tickets line up here, will call line up over there.» Ok I had a ticket and I was next in line so I walked up to the woman standing in front of me. Not really knowing what was going on the man behind the desk ripped my ticket out of my hand yelling «tickets right HERE» as he did it.
I’m not incompetent and I don’t like being treated like I am. Needles to say this experience totally ruined my views on this venue/​bar. I don’t recommend it and will not be returning. There are so many other choices in this area and you think the staff would want to keep business coming.

This place is such a dated dive — capitalizing on its’ name and heritage to overcharge ($ 20 for a Cover band?) guests and avoid renovating the seriously depressing interior
The all-​black walls, chipped and scratched feel imposing and make the room seem even smaller. A gold and silver shiny curtain, circa Disco 1979 is the backdrop, along with a few high school musical aluminum cut outs of stars and shapes. There is no ambient lighting and the sound system is outdated and unpleasant.
You’ll almost certainly walk into a low wall, chair or a step (black steps to the bathroom in a black room with no lights — great idea). I find the majority of shows to be full of unfriendly people who want to headbang or stand perfectly still. No one really dances or socializes outside out their group.
This place needs a serious renovation and a new attitude.

Beware of using your credit card in this place. Left my credit card with the bartender upon his request to run a tab (quiet afternoon, no live music). Two hours later my credit card company’s fraud detection shut down the card after six $ 100 transactions at Tim Horton and two $ 100 transactions at Swiss Chalet. Not happy and won’t be back.

The Horseshoe is split in two parts — the bar and the concert area. The bar has a pool table and an A&W delivery window, to order fast food. Great music venue, lots of sitting and standing room, great sound.

Total dive bar with a super casual atmosphere. The place gets pretty packed at night when there’s bands playing. They also have an A&W take-​out window towards the back. It’s pretty smart — you input your order on a touch screen and you collect your order from the adjacent pick up window. The patio is also an excellent spot to people watch on queen West.

A typical dive bar. The bar tender was abrupt. The atmosphere was very dingy. Shabby place

Horseshoe is my favorite venue for live music in Toronto. As someone else said, it is a complete dive, but in the best possible way — from the ubiquitous stale beer smell to the graffiti covered bathrooms, the place screams rock & roll! I’ve seen a handful of shows here, and have always been blown away by the sound quality for such a small space, not to mention how close you can get to the action without it being too crowded. And if you’re hungry, you can order A&W through a window next to the bar — how cool is that!!!

This is a typical dT bar, in my opinion. It had nice atmosphere and relatively good deals for drinks and appys. Great location and easy to get to by ttc. Very centrally located so it makes for a good meeting point. It’s nothing out of this world, but for what it is, it does well. They have great nights of live music which is always a good time!

Came here to meet up with a friend for a beer after work. Have never been here before but would come again. We had a blast! This is your classic good old watering hole. Good prices and hilarious bar staff. If you get hungry there is an order window to an a&w next door. You order with a computer and pay there. The window will open and they slide you your burger! Honestly … It’s amazing and hilarious. Or maybe i had too many cold ones :)

It was my very first time to visit the well known venue at queen and spadina. It’s very easy to get too and lots of green p parking in the surrounding.
The place is small with a small stage in the back. They were able to get St. Paul and the broken bones to play in their venue. Amazing! The crowd was a mixture of hipsters, seniors, students and the randoms. It was a great atmosphere!
The stage itself needs a lot of work. Although, I think they are maintain the originality of the place. The acoustic is not the greatest, but that’s not a deal breaker. But from the look of it, this venue is great for a date and just a casual hangout.
The place itself is cool and if there are any other concert playing, I will definitely consider it. They get the coolest band and it’s definitely worth a visit. But beware, the only downfall is the online website offer tickets but charges processing fee up the wazoo! Not cool!

After years of by-​passing this place, I finally ventured into last night, and to say the least I was disappointed. Yes, its been there forever, and yes it has a lot of history and has been known to host some famous bands in the past but that’s all it really has or had going for it.
It was not overly busy when we got there (10pm on a Saturday night) but it took what seemed forever to get a drink. There were two older guys behind the bar that were slower than snails and they did their best not to notice me waiting. What irked me even more was that two people that came after to me were served first. (A good bartender always knows who is at the bar first)
I finally got served and wanted to pay by debit and then glared at me and said cash only. I could have sworn I saw someone else at the end of the bar pay by debit.
He then pointed at the ATM behind me and said he would give me my drinks when I used the machine (in which the bar makes a service fee on)
Aside from the attitude the bartender, the crowd was pretty lame, the band was just average, beer selection was limited, and this truly is a ‘dive’ bar.
If you want to experience an old bar with live music and history, check out the Rex which is just down the street from here, and if you have been thinking about hitting this place, don’t bother, its not worth the time.
Thank you Mr Old Guy Crap Bartender for giving me crap service, I have received much better service from people that work at ⁷⁄₁₁ :(

Dive bar in the best possible way.
I just recently checked out the Horseshoe because of how close it is from my work. I’d heard about it but never went. Went in for just a drink as they don’t have food (they have a pick up window to the A&W next door) beers are reasonably priced but not much selection. They have Heineken Creemore, Coors Light, Bud Bud Light. All of the beers a typical bar would have. No PBR or Guinness which is surprising.
The front bar is open every day starting at 12 and are open until 2:30AM
It’s a very comfortable neighborhood bar feel that you don’t get with a lot of bars in Toronto let alone on Queen West.
It’s been around for a long time over 65 years and it’s a Toronto landmark. The Horseshoe is known for music and they have had some pretty big names perform here over the years.
Now they book indie rock bands and tickets are usually under $ 20. They showcase local bands and get touring bands. They’ve booked some great up and coming talent and have even had some big names do a few secret shows.
The venue area is pretty small and can only hold a couple hundred people I think capacity is 400. There’s a front bar area and then there’s the show room in the back where you need tickets. If you wanted you could probably sit at the front bar and listen to the music for free.
I went to see Alvvays here and the sound was great no issues there. The stage was small but an intimate venue for a show. Sight lines were pretty good, even though I was in the heart of the crowd, I could still see. There were also tables and another bar in the showroom.
When the show was done, I had no problem getting home and it’s about a 10 minute walk to Osgoode station.
I’d definitely come to the Horseshoe again for a show or drink!

Wow, The Horseshoe… I haven’t been here in a while. But I used to be a regular back when I was in University. And I am willing to bet that not much has changed. The place is grungy, and mind you, it attracts a handful of 50 year olds. However, as in any bar on Queen, you’ll find your fair share of attractive young men and women who are in the rock/​indie scene.
The place is rad for live music — small but fun venue. The bar doesn’t offer very much, or atleast didn’t in my time, other than cheap beer and some basic drinks. And I don’t think Horseshoe does food.
I would recommend the Tavern to anyone bar hopping or venue hopping on Queen St. It’s not really a place you can go to and spend an entire evening at, unless your friend or a band that you really really like is performing.

Is is with great sadness that I bestow The Horseshoe (one of the greatest taverns ever) with two stars. These generous stars are for the amazing experiences I have had in the past. My friend went outside to have a cigarette after already being admitted to the bar and having a beer inside. One beer. The rest of us paid our cover to see the band and headed to the back. We found out that our friend, who had wanted to see the Toasters more than anything was not allowed back in the bar because the bouncers said she was wobbling and behaving in an intoxicated manner.
Now, I understand this principle. I work in a bar and I have had to cut off more drunk people than you can imagine, But this was when they were drunk. My friend was tipsy and a little silly, but there are sober women out there with less brain cells than she displayed. She tends to be a wobbly and unpredictable gal at the best of times. But not drunk. We sat on the patio talking for about 20 minutes after they refused her admission and she was upset, A few other friends were pissed that we had to pay to get in and then our friend was cut off. We asked for our money back and it was refunded, which was very gracious of the concert promoters, but terrible business on the part of the bouncers.
Anyway… I don’t want to be the person who goes on about how their friend shouldn’t have been cut off. But honestly, this used to be a cool bar. And I work in the industry– these guys were being idiots– my friend was far less drunk than the guy who pushed her out of the way to flirt with another friend of ours. He was loaded had no ability to contain himself.
The bouncers need to get off their power trip– it the freaking Horseshoe, not some ram packed club! And even if it was, I would respect them for doing their job, but being in the biz myself, I’m gonna call bullshit. I don’t know what’s up here, but it’s not a good scene.
So long, Horseshoe. Your bouncers are in no way helping your business– especially since I saw one of them grab a little baggie from a «friend“of theirs who was just dropping off ‘something’. You look the other way– so do I. You fuck me over a couple of times– I’m not so forgiving… Guess it’s hard luck.

I’m sure you already know that the Stones played here before a few times and so have a few other big name bands so what you want to know is, is it going to be crowded as hell and will I get in, and how’s the atmosphere.
Well, this is from someone who went there on a weekday night and it was crowded and there was a small line to get into the bar (not to mention there was another line to get further back into the next part of the bar that had the stage, which you had to pay extra on top of the cover charge if you had to pay one).
It’s got character and you can tell it’s been around the block a few times. Worn down fixtures added to the charm and history of this spot. If you’re lucky, you’d be able to find a table or corner to huddle around with your beers and friends, otherwise, you’re shit out of luck for god knows how long because it was crowded. Price of the beers were standard as with all the other bars around but this bar was the only one that we went to (and my cousins and I hit up at least 6 bars) that had a line at the door was it was packed to the brim.
It’s pretty loud in there too as you’d imagine and not much in terms of lighting so you get that underground historical atmospheric mood to it.
I thought it was ok, honestly because the band that was playing that night was just ok and I was looking for something a little more chill and kick-​back. If you’re game to strike up conversations with your neighbors, get rowdy drunk, and listen to some ok to great live music with a heavy touch of history, this is your scene.
Parking: Limited paid street parking
Price: $$
Wait: None to a lot (depending on who’s playing)

As old as the Stones, this is one of Torontos original rock venues. Seriously, as Evelyn mentioned, everyone talks about how the Rolling Stones performed here before they were ‘big.’
The staff manning the bar are hilariously old and bitter rockers. What’s funny is you can tell what generation they came up in, like the guy who was clearly a rock’n roll biker dude of the 60’s/70’s at one point, or the woman who screams 80’s hair metal generation. It seems like Horseshoe retains you behind the bar for life!
Following in the footsteps of the Rolling Stones, performing at the Horseshoe is like a badge of honor for indy and up and coming bands. That being said making this part of your regular live music rotation is always a good idea b/​c you might just see the next big thing getting their start — and then YOU can brag to your grandkids that you say XYZ band at the Horseshoe… before they were big!
Booze is cheap but they definitely have a little bit of everything — heck they even had Tito’s Vodka behind the bar and that ISH is just coming up in the Toronto scene!
Worth checking out if you’re looking for something historically Toronto to do when you’re in town!

Came here to see one of my favorite bands.
Very indie vibe — the door people were super nice and personable. It’s definitely a very small venue, but the drinks were reasonably priced and there were places to sit if you were there for a concert. Weird gross downstairs bathrooms.
One thing that bothered me about this place was the weird set up. When you walk in, there’s a bar, and then in the very back there’s a stage. Between these two rooms is a ticket counter — the back area with the stage has a smaller bar with less service — no beers on tap, only a fridge in the back. Basically, if there was a paid concert that you were interested in seeing, instead of going into the back ticketed area, you could just sit yourself down at the front bar, grab yourself some of the beer on tap, and listen to the live band play without having to get a ticket.

I visited a lot of music venues on my trip to Toronto, but The Horseshoe was my favorite. Though we were there to see a very popular band that had lines going out the door, the doorman was polite and assured us he’d get us in as quickly as possible. Once inside, I could see why it’s such a local institution… it’s perfectly dingy, dark, and woody. My only complaint was the strange shape of the main room… long and skinny with low ceilings so that if you didn’t get a good spot and are under 5′ 7″ or so, it’s impossible to see the stage. That being said, it was surprisingly easy to grab a seat at one of the communal tables once I got tired of straining my neck and my tippy toes. Also surprisingly, the acoustics were pretty darn good for the squashed feeling of the space!
You can tell that a lot of fabulous music has happened within these walls, and I was happy to be a part of it if only for one night!