Danforth Sidebar — Restaurant in Toronto

I hate to stereotype, but who else finds restaurants located close to live performance venues meh? Their strength is their location, while the food is merely decent and service passable. Dine along the strip of King West where the Princess of Wales Theatre, Roy Thompson Hall, and TIFF reside, and you’ll know what I mean.

Sadly, Danforth Sidebar fits the stereotype… being close to the Danforth Music Hall has its downfalls. Perhaps the dish that best showcases my point is the pan seared scallops ($23). The dish’s presentation was pretty but look closely at the scallops and they are unevenly done. Ultimately, they are a tad overcooked, but tastes good.

Yet, good luck trying to add another scallop onto the dish if you arrive as a table of five. The answer is simply, “no”. At first, I thought it was a joke, but it’s sadly not - the reason being the dish hasn’t been priced out per piece. Perhaps it’s my finance background, but can’t the equation be simply solved as $5.75 each ($23 divided by 4)? Rather, the answer is no as Danforth Sidebar doesn’t care to keep guests happy or increase their bill totals.

Their menu’s naming convention could also use some work. It lists the cauliflower cotija ($17) as “corn puree, pickled cactus leaf, jalapenos, cotija cheese, hot honey, warm corn tortilla”. Sounds like an incredible vegetable packed queso dip, sign me up! What arrives is a skillet of watery stir-fried vegetables sprinkled with cheese… what? Why was this not listed as ‘cauliflower tacos’ when there’s a similar item called ‘barbacoa tacos’ on the menu? It’s in fact tacos and not a dip.

If that weren’t bad enough, the cauliflower was too mushy and for something listing corn as the first ingredient there wasn’t much of it in the dish. Once I got past the queso disappointment I found it made an okay taco - at least it had nice flavours from the pickled cactus leaf and hot honey.

The short rib poutine ($21) had the makings of a great dish with a large slab of tender short rib, thin potato fries, large chunks of cheese curds, and a beefy gravy. The beef just wasn’t seasoned enough so the poutine didn’t elicit that sinful richness you normally find in the dish.

Under seasoning was a similar sentiment for the striploin in their salad. Thinking a 5oz steak was too small for a main, we added on more steak (another 4oz) to the steak salad (total cost of $27 with the addition). Steak salad plus steak was a great hack as the kitchen ended up substituting the hanger steak (what normally comes with the steak salad) for a full striploin instead. And the steak could have been delicious if it just arrived saltier and hotter.

The salad itself was delicious combining cherry tomatoes, crunchy cucumber, avocado chunks, and a creamy dressing. With a full steak, the kitchen should have plated it on a larger dish as the tiny side plate made it difficult to cut the meat. Also, having the cold salad on one side and the striploin on the other would also mean the meat wouldn’t cool down as quickly.

One draw to Danforth Sidebar is their reasonably priced wine – a bottle of prosecco...

Spent a lot of time here one night - wasn't busy and no one was waiting for our table. We were a quiet party of 2 enjoying buckashuck oysters and the $1/oz wine. Service wasn't good, one of the servers perhaps was new, but really didn't hit the mark in any way shape or form (absent, unable to answer questions, brought us only half the wine we asked for etc.). We ordered a variety of food. Steer clear of the zucchini flowers, they were awful. Pizza was tasty. Sliders alright but came out room temperature and slightly soggy. The fun part of the evening came after. We paid our bill and my minimum tip for a mediocre (at best) type service is to match the taxes (13%) - in my eyes this covers any house tip out and compensates the server for still doing the job, even if I personally believe it wasn't a job well done. Another server who largely took over our table nearing the end of our visit, approached us and essentially asked us why we tipped so little. I think her words were something along the lines of "well below average." Let me say, there appeared to be no intent of apology or means to learn from mistakes and it was simply to insult us. I was dumbfounded by the abrasiveness of the server and caught off-guard so I was less than eloquent with my words or explanation, but my word I nearly wanted to take the entire tip back at that point. We didn't even finish our glass of wine we were so uncomfortable we had to leave. My friend and I have both worked in the service industry and know how decimated the industry has been due to COVID, but were so disappointed the way the night ended. The only reason I would go back is for...

Great food and atmosphere! Located beside The Danforth Music Hall, Sidebar has lots of good food and drinks for your pre-show dinner. One of the standout features of the restaurant was the display of set times for concerts (at Danforth Music Hall) at the entrance. This made it easy to plan our evening and know when to expect certain bands to take the stage.

In terms of ambiance, Danforth Sidebar has a cozy and inviting atmosphere. The decor is stylish and the lighting is low and warm, creating a relaxing and intimate setting with music playing in the background. The service was also great, with friendly and attentive staff who ensured our dining experience was enjoyable.

From the menu, we have tried the pepperoni pizza, deluxe pizza, steak salad, and tiramisu. All of them were very delicious! Portion sizes are a bit small for the steak salad. However, the pizza was delicious, from the crust to the toppings; it was very filling. The tiramisu was the perfect end to our meal as well! Also, we ordered some of their music-centric beverages.

Do note, they take reservations and have limited amounts of walk-in availabilities. If you can, they will give you a table and let you know when you need to be done by for their reservation. Additionally, bathrooms are located in the basement with stairs and four individual bathrooms. Also, the ATM is located in the...