Houndstooth — Restaurant in Toronto

I had to leave a review because it was one of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had at a bar 😅 please don’t hate me for leaving this, I’m still leaving five stars, but maybe it’ll help with some improvements, if that matters!

I walked in, there was so much empty floor space and the tables were all small and weirdly laid out. A group of people were sitting at the one large front table chatting. My bf and I walk half way to the bar, equidistant is an employee mopping, a woman by what seemed to be a dj booth organizing candy who was also chatting with someone, and a woman behind the further bar. After waiting a bit with no one acknowledging or directing me, I go “hey is this a private function or is the bar open?” I look in each of their directions and none of them really notice me and I wait an uncomfortable amount of time, like 15 solid seconds (it doesn’t sound like a long time but count it out after asking a question as a confused patron 🤣). My bf goes “I don’t think they heard you”, and then all three kind of at once all say something along the lines of “it is a private function but we’re still open”. Okay so ALL of you heard me… but none of you answered???? Awkward vibes guys. And then I stand for a bit and end up gesturing to a table and ask if we can sit and the girl behind the bar nods and smiles. Everyone is friendly, no one is rude, I want to emphasize, just so awkward feeling 😅 So we sit at the table for another few minutes, then I go up to the bar and ask, “hey should I order here or do you have table service”. “Order here!” She’s friendly about it, but like, why didn’t you tell me that at any point??? 🥺 I don’t think I missed a sign that said it’s bar service only? She made a good reco for a non-alchy bevy and I buy a cookie which was delicious. The cheque was reasonable too. My friend arrived, I told him he had to go up to the bar, he waited while the guy who was mopping was sitting at the bar (maybe he was busy doing something, we couldn’t tell), the girl organizing candy was sitting with the front table (so maybe she wasn’t an employee after all but part of the private function?), and the server girl who helped me is making a coffee without acknowledging him. Few minutes later he comes and sits back down. A few minutes later she’s back to the bar. We wait a bit and I get her attention and just end up kind of asking “hey, is it okay for him to come up and buy a drink?” She goes “yeah of course! Sorry I was just over there making an espresso, come on up I’d love to help!” Friendly, sure, but SKSBEURITPYJWH GIRL what why didn’t you like say ANY of that and why did you wait for us to ask if you knew we had been waiting 🫣 it was giving no vibes, no thoughts, no feelings. Not rude! In fact, friendly! But babes, if I wanted to feel this awkward I’d walk in on my parents having s*x.

If you’re proactive and looking for a generally clean place with good prices and probably always lots of sitting room, come here. Hell, I’ll probably be back (hopefully you don’t recognize me 😅). Some room for improvement, but hey,...

Although the staff was very kind here, the experience was not worth it.

It was very dark inside, and looked slightly beat up. Drinks are ordered and paid for at the bar, no table service. A beer is taken out from the fridge and opened for you. No glass is provided. There is not much variety for beers.

Downstairs, the bathrooms do not have doors. There were 2 entryways and I was not sure which one was men's and which was women's. I had to peer inside one to see urinals, to realize I was not in the right one. The stalls in the bathrooms do have doors, but they are old and hard to close.

Overall, seemed like a depressing place to be on a...

Amazing space with fantastic staff. Great selection of drinks at reasonable prices.

The venue rents out practise spaces to bands, and often has live music and DJ events (full disclosure, i have booked events in the space). As a promoter, working with the folks at Houndstooth is a dream.

I'm always happy to support new venues, especially when they...