Overview:

Like any major city of more than four million people, Toronto has a complete range of restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs to suit all ages, styles and tastes.

It also helps that Toronto has been officially noted as "the world’s most ethnically diverse city" (by the United Nations) so the dining and drinking establishments often take on the character of the host’s nationality. Be it an English pub, a Jamaican club, a Greek taverna or a Japanese kareoke bar, you are destined to find ‘your’ favorite pub or club somewhere in the city. The following are but an embarrassingly small representation of the choices awaiting you including Sports Bars, Power Spots, Drinking and Dining and some basic ‘hang out’ bars.

Easy & The Fifth is basically two bars in one - the ground floor a huge bar with an old speakeasy feel while The Fifth resembles a private dinner club five floors above the packed club. The entrance to the nondescript warehouse is through an alleyway, then up a slow creaking freight elevator. There is a long bar with neighborly regulars, intimate candlelight dining in a room that holds a maximum of 40, soft leather sofas next to a subtle grand piano with a cosy fireplace (in winter) and a jazz band on the deck in summer. As well, the restaurant, under Executive Chef Didier Leroy was just named Number One in the City by Toronto Life magazine. Only open Thursday to Saturday, this is the perfect spot in the bustling Nightclub district for a relaxed summer drink on the fifth floor patio.

The Kit Kat quickly became and remained the hottest party and dining spot on trendy King Street West. The area seemed to grow with the restaurant, and it's become Toronto's Entertainment district of theaters, concert halls, and sports domes. The tiny, elongated Kit Kat is known for its fabulous food (try anything with their special angel hair pasta) personable service, and well-heeled crowd.

It's a favorite among the downtown community as a cheerful lunch spot as well as its pre and post theater party atmosphere. Strangers become regulars very quickly at the Kit Kat.

A less formal cousin of the New York Joe Allen, Allen’s on the Danforth this is a friendly and relaxed neighborhood restaurant/pub in ethnic Greektown. Host John Maxwell provides the city's most extensive and eclectic beer list served by a well informed staff. Allen's serves up possibly the best burger in the city (try it with some sweet potato french fries). A packed party atmosphere reigns supreme on nights and weekends at this casually chic Irish style bar.

Allen's prides itself on a huge summer backyard, seating onwards of 100 patrons, surrounded by 10-foot-high barn-board fencing and cooled by the surrounding trees and greenery while the ten-foot-long charcoal barbecue sizzles with shrimp and lamb burgers.

This personable power bar serves marketing mandarins, CBC producers, stockbrokers, lawyers, and folks from the surrounding entertainment District who enjoy the friendly cigar-bar atmosphere of Club Lucky. It's the perfect spot for an after work libation or after theater discussion. Both service and cuisine are ‘guaranteed excellent’.The second and third floors can be reserved for dinner meetings or celebratory parties. Business has been so good that Owner Al Carbone took over the house next door and effectively doubled his space and the little front patio and backyard multi-levelled outdoor tables are always filled in season.

This ever-expanding pub, a Toronto legend, started as a little ground floor affair in a renovated boardinghouse of the city's student Annex area. The Madison now sprawls over four floors and outdoor patios, and has doubled its space by taking over the mansion next door. The pub grub is good (burgers, wings, and fries), but the kitchen has expanded with the premises and now features some substantial dinner fare, including large, perfectly cooked steak and roast beef dinners, and substantial platters of Italian pastas. The Mad however remains first and foremost a pub, albeit a huge one. Bloor Street business suits mix freely jeans clad university students from surrounding University of Toronto residences and every night is a party, especially under the weeping willows of the various patios.

A retro lounge/restaurant that, thanks to affable hosts Tim and Pam, has become known for its friendly service, great food, and some of the best bar bands in town. The funky little Orbit Room sits in the middle of Little Italy's cappuccino and cannoli cafes. When you climb the steps to the second floor bar, however, you enter another time and place. This laid-back lounge, specializing in martinis and Manhattans, opens at the 5 pm cocktail hour. Hors d'oeuvres are served nightly (try the coconut battered shrimp), and dinner ranges from Thai concoctions or basic North American fare. The tiny back patio at the second floor tree level is perfect for summer relaxing. Check in advance which nights The Dexters, their rockin' house band, is in session. An added note for music lovers: Alex Liefson, of the rock band Rush (and now a Member of the Order of Canada for contributions to the Canadian music industry) is one of the bar owners, so you never know what famous rockers will drop in and take the stage for an impromptu jam session.

Soccer fans with thick accents from DownUnder and the British Isles have claimed this pub as their ‘home away from home’. Hemingway's is also a Yorkville magnet for anyone who likes a great pub atmosphere although this won't be a typical sports bar experience for you unless you're a true soccer fan. Soccer paraphernalia and team scarves line the walls. There is also a little restaurant area with good basic meals. Upstairs, however, there are two floors of good solid pub grub with pints of draught, dart games, and friendly regulars. This is a casual alternative to the chic and trendy restaurants and bars of Yorkville and the packed, double-decker patio, filled with tables and sun umbrellas, is the perfect meet-and-greet outdoor bar for summer schmoozing.

Gretzky’s is the hockey fan's ultimate bar, with memorabilia covering the walls while souvenir sweaters are for sale. The place is always packed when the nearby Skydome hosts a sports event. As you enter, the bar area to the left is usually filled with amateur-jocks-turned-stockbrokers. The restaurant area is quite large and the staff very casual and friendly, just like the restaurant.

The food is good and ranges from pub grub to more substantial dinner fare of steak and chicken. Want to party in private? With several hundred of your closest friends that is? There's a huge back room that can be reserved for private office parties. And yes, the Great One does drop in for dinner when he's in town. Located in the heart of the Entertainment District, this is one of the most unforgettable addresses in town for any sports fan.