Bar Poet — Restaurant in Toronto

I was at Bar Poet to get drinks and dinner with a group of friends on my birthday. While the experience began on an okay note, our server seemed nice, we were seated relatively quickly and our food was pretty good. However, our server (who’s name I know, but will not disclose here because I believe it wasn’t his fault) severely messed up our bill and overcharged us $68. When we were seated, our server told us that our orders would all be put on one bill, which is totally fine, as we were a group of nine people. When 4 people decided to leave early, our server cashed them out separately from our group. He told us that the items that were paid for would be zeroed out on our final bill. However, we ended up being double charged for these items, resulting in a total bill of $266.80 instead of the $198.80 that we should have been charged.

As it was clearly an honest mistake on behalf of our server, I went back a couple days later to hopefully resolve this issue and get the refund that I was clearly owed. I had an unbelievable experience trying to resolve this issue at Bar Poet. I showed up with the physical itemized receipt from that night, as well as a photo of the tip receipt, and immediately the manager began to imply that my story was fabricated. Despite the receipts and bank statement screenshots from the people who paid separately, he used phrases such as “I don’t feel good about this” and “to play the devil’s advocate, you could be showing me transactions from shots at the bar that weren’t part of this bill.” I felt extremely disrespected to be accused of trying to scam this establishment, when I clearly have documents and timestamps of every transaction made that night. For some reason, he could not track down one of the transactions in their POS and refused to refund this portion of the bill. He disregarded my photos from the night with the items on the table, including timestamps, and refused to check the cameras or pursue other approaches to proving this transaction. It’s unclear to me whether he just genuinely did not believe me or he was having a power trip because I am a younger person of colour. At this point, it is not at all about the money and much more about the principle, lack of professionalism, and the disrespect I endured trying to resolve this. Not only was I not refunded, but I will not get the two hours back that I spent having to prove that we were wrongfully charged.

And I honestly should not have been surprised given that my last experience was also not pleasurable, with our rude and unattentive server, but I decided to give Bar Poet another chance. Even after this error, I was optimistic that they would be able to resolve this effectively. But with this experience I am extremely put off. My friends and I will likely not return and I am disappointed in the utter lack of professionalism and blatant disregard for negative customer experiences. This manager was deeply condescending and did not seem like he was interested in helping me resolve this issue.

I really hope the Bar Poet staff tighten up on their conflict resolution skills and start to care about the experience of the people that keep their business running.

P.S. An image, for the...

The arancini ($15) was seriously good. Made with mushroom risotto, there’s an earthiness to the creamy rice ball that’s stronger than the cheese only versions. But add in sambal cream and chili oil and that hit of heat goes so well with the comforting starter.

Somehow, we ordered a lot of dishes incorporating chili. The NYC spicy rigatoni ($18.95), an item so highly recommended in Google reviews, was surprisingly plain: pasta tossed in a spicy rosé cream with a fine dusting of Parmigiano. While it was tasty, a few spoonsful were sufficient, I can’t imagine having an entire dish to myself.

Even the Dovercourt and Queen ‘sweet’ calamari ($19) had a zing. The menu describes the sauce as being tomato based (pomodoro aioli) but tasted like the spicy rigatoni. Regardless, it’s a flavourful dish as goat cheese, chives and pickled peppers mingles with the squid. Even though the ingredients do detract from the calamari’s crispiness.

Bar Poet is known for their pizzas (all $22). If you like pepperoni, you’ll love the Hot Rod, a pie covered with tiny pepperoni with hot honey creating a sweet, salty, and spicy bite. For me, it was a bit greasy and heavy, but likely wouldn’t bother a pepperoni aficionado.

I preferred Rob’s Favourite Pizza, which sounded like a hodgepodge of ingredients, but they work together so nicely. A white pizza made with alfredo bacon sauce, it combines pulled chicken, brie, kale, spinach, caramelized onion, hot honey, chili flakes, and Parmigiano. Despite all the spicy elements, the pizza was the least spicy of the dishes we ordered, likely the chili and hot honey calmed by the creamy ingredients. Rob knows how to create an interesting meaty pie.

The pizza crust stays dry on the bottom despite an ample number of toppings. While it doesn’t have the requisite crispiness I enjoy, there was a lovely chewy consistency and sour dough finish that makes it tasty even without dipping sauce. Additionally, I love the inclusiveness of Bar Poet’s pizza menu with pies available gluten-free as well as vegan.

Everyone raves about the tiramisu ($9). While it wasn’t terrible, it also wasn’t great. It incorporated too much cream (didn’t incorporate enough mascarpone) and not enough of the espresso ladyfingers. While the Skor bits adds a unique element, left in chunks it was too crunchy and would be better in powdered form.

We were intrigued by the peanut butter espresso martini ($19), which emits a faint aroma of peanut butter but none of the taste. A decent rendition of the drink, it’s really sugary given it’s mostly made with Tia Maria and no vodka. Ultimately, one is enough, and I was glad that I switched to their other cocktails like the white...

The Wyck Recommendation: Bar Point Rating: 3.8/5 Unmarked Doors, Marked-Up Cocktails, and a Side of Bathroom Arcades

Intro Scene We slipped in like a whisper. No sign out front, no neon beacon—just a black door that looked like it led to a disgruntled landlord’s fuse box. Inside? Candlelight, a hundred secrets, and a crowd that looked like they all used to date each other in 2017.

What Was Ordered

A tall citrus cocktail that glittered like a sunburned apology

A pink can of something vaguely alcoholic and fully mysterious

A flatbread that tasted like pizza’s thin, desperate cousin

A brown spirit-forward drink I can’t name but still blame for my emotional honesty later

Service Commentary Staff were cool—like, emotionally unavailable at brunch cool. Not rude, but definitely practiced in the art of disinterest. They’ll make you a good drink, but they won’t pretend to like you while doing it.

Vibe Check Everyone here is either in a band, dating someone in a band, or thinking about starting one. The crowd was moody, flirty, and pretending not to care about being seen. Which, of course, means they deeply did.

The Space Itself Dark wood, heavy menus, candles flickering like they’ve been through something. And just past the washroom? Arcade games. Not random pinball either—King of Fighters and X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Nothing says “digestive reset” like uppercutting Cyclops while waiting for your date to reemerge from a dimly lit bathroom.

About the Neighborhood It’s right next to CAMH, so whether you're spiraling or just romantically brooding, you're already in the right zone. Dundas West near Brock—where vape ghosts haunt alleyways and parking is a hallucination.

Hits & Misses ✓ Cocktail glassware that felt stolen from a Wes Anderson prop room ✓ Pizza that hit harder than expected after 9pm ✓ Unmarked entrance = sexy little secret ✗ Service? Hot if you like being ignored ✗ Fighting Magneto next to the toilet = hygiene roulette

Final Verdict Bar Point doesn’t want to be your friend—it wants to be your favorite mistake. It’s the kind of place that makes you feel cooler just for knowing it exists. If you’re feeling unwell, lost, or dangerously attracted to someone in a trench coat—you’re already halfway to CAMH. Might as well have a cocktail first.

Rating: 3.8/5

Perfect For

Romantic flings that aren’t meant to last

Nights where you want to feel mysterious but...