The Drink - Cocktail & Pizza Bar — Restaurant in Toronto

Awful experience and I can't believe the way they treat people of color in this place...

I had an appointment with a friend to hang out in this place but during that day TTC line 1 had issues so they were late. The place was packed and the only two seats I found were at the bar table.

I sat there and saved the other seat for my friend. I ordered a first drink thinking that my friend would arrive soon but TTC issues made my friend arrive way later than expected.

The old guy (owner?) at some point came to me saying in a very unfriendly way that what saving a seat for a friend was unfair to the other customer, and that I should stop doing that if my friend doesn't come soon. Which is a perspective that I could understand, except that they didn't even want to hear what I had to say. How was I supposed to know that TTC would delay my friend so much?

When my friend arrived the bartender asked us if we want to order something. My friend wanted something specific that they didn't serve so they didn't want to drink anything. When it was my turn to order, the old guy started latching on me: he intentionally moved next to me to be sure that I order something... After I order he went back to where he was positioned just before... I'm sure that if I didn't order a second drink he would have thrown me out of the bar.

White people treating people of color severely and latching on us when we don't meet their expectations or broke their rules (unintentionally or not) is a common racist behavior... I will never set foot in this...

I normally love this place, it’s super fun and has a great atmosphere. HOWEVER, the past two times I’ve been here, the most recent being the nights of the pride parade, the bouncers have been less than favourable. My friend lost her phone here because we were rushed out (I was tired and leaning on the table so they kicked me out, reasonable because others would be enjoying it more), and when we realized her phone was left there the bouncer would not let even ONE of us come back in, even the ones of us that were not intoxicated whatsoever. So we could not even go right back in to see if it was still on the table before anybody took it. I feel this is unfair because an iPhone is a very expensive possession, and we had JUST been in there a moment ago.

Happened before too when my friend and I went out for a smoke and we were not allowed back in because the bouncers had switched out and not communicated whatsoever so we had to try and call our friends to bring our bags out with them. Otherwise the atmosphere once you actually get inside is great, but the bouncer experiences I’ve had have been very unfavourable as someone who tries their best to be as non-disruptive as possible. Not sure it’s going to be my first choice after a repeated bad experience like this, but I’ll probably come back if everywhere else on church...

We started to go to The Drink to dance because there was usually no wait time and the music there is good.

However, the last couple times we went there, the bouncer made people wait in the line for a long time (15+ mins). Despite the fact that many people had come out of the club and left, the bouncer still would not let us in.

Last night we went there again, same thing happened. We followed the rules and patiently waited in line, after 10+ people had left the club, the bouncer would not let us (group of 4) in. And at some point, two people came out of no where and started talking to the bouncer, and the bouncer LET THEM IN right in front of us. Keep in mind that The Drink does not charge a cover, and those people got in only because they knew the bouncer.

Even though we decided to the patient and waited in the line to get in, when we got in, it was NOT busy at all, there was plenty of space.

I think they are just doing this to increase their visibility on Church Street. Since most bars there can get quite busy and do have a line most weekends, and The Drink is typically not as busy. But if that's their business strategies, I think this place would not sustain, as we will NEVER...