Lipstick & Dynamite

L&D is a little dive bar with a pinball machine in the back and some board games. I came here a few times to play Scrabble and drink beer with random folks and always have a good time. The bartenders are super funny and good people with good sense of humour. Rotating taps always feature locally-​brewed beer which is great. Vegan brunch options are also so, so delicious.

Eccentric and bizarrely appointing, this is a great dive bar. It is long and narrow with a broad selection of beer. We wound up here because it was open in the early afternoon when most other bars surrounding it weren’t. It was nearly empty but I imagine it is a lot more busy at night. The staff was very friendly and the space was fun.

Good food, lovely service. A little loud for my taste, but we stumbled in not knowing where else to feed four very hungry vegetarians. The portions on everything but the taco salad were pretty small, but it’s bar and meant to go with beer, I imagine.

A combination of dive bar, awesome food, and fantastic service!
Ever since L&D opened we’ve been coming to have drinks and snacks, or outright meals. It’s got a decent selection of drinks with some cool beers on tap and a fridge full of bottles & cans. Rail drinks are just like you expect at any dive-​y bar, with prices to match.
The food is not what you’d expect, and not just because everything is vegetarian or vegan. While the menu changes from time to time, the quality and speed of service is always excellent. A standout is the oven-​baked fries with the exceedingly great homemade ketchup (always ask for a 2^nd helping!). The kale caesar is also tasty — we’ve made the trek out here on several occasions simply to get that.
But I think that above all what really makes this place stand out is its excellent service and the way that you’re treated when you walk in the door. It’s a nice level of nonchalance combined with a real warmth– we always feel so welcome.
And the velvet paintings rock!

This is my local bar of choice. There’s a nice selection of microbrews on tap — not so many that you need to worry about the kegs being old, but enough that you’ve got options.
Bar rail drinks are reasonably priced and there’s lots of thoughtful little touches like electrical outlets near the tables so you can charge your phone.
Music is awesome — just my kind of 80/​90/​00s alternative that perfectly suits the atmosphere, and they don’t play it too loud. Décor is also perfect. How many velvet paintings can one bar have? L&D aims to find out!
I can’t comment on the food, as I’ve only had bar snacks here once or twice — it is definitely a place I’d consider a bar, not a restaurant.

Yeah, it’s cool. Drinks are average, the art on the wall is hilarious and a good conversation piece. I especially liked the Elvis Zombie bust…
I went on a Thursday night, so not sure if it gets packed on the weekends or not, but it was pretty empty when I was there, and the food and drinks were all average prices and decent. The music is cool, very rockabilly. It is pretty small so I imagine people from the hood running into acquaintances a lot there. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area.

I really struggled with 2 vs 3 stars on this one. But to me, 3 stars means I’m likely to return, 2 stars means I probably won’t. Sorry L&D but I doubt I’ll be making a return visit. I had high hopes based on the positive reviews, but overall this spot left me with a decidedly «meh» feeling.
Contrary to what some reviewers have said we found the service to be great when we stopped by for lunch on a Friday. But that’s really the only area where I’d give high marks. The space is very dark, which works for a dive bar, but doesn’t work as well as a restaurant space during the day. The menu had lots of enticing vegan friendly options, but the food proved disappointing. I got a seitan sandwich with a side of the thai inspired daily soup. The soup came in an exceptionally small bowl and was pretty bland tasting. The sandwich bread was weird and almost seemed a bit under-​baked with a moist/​mushy texture. The filling was just okay. Bf got the chilli cheese fries (not vegan) and they were okay, but again, nothing special. We both felt the portion size and taste were not a good value in relation to price. For a comparable option that’s executed much better check out the E L Ruddy Café on Dundas near Dufferin.

FYI: Cash only!
I came here for lunch around noon during the week. I had never heard of this restaurant before, only decided to check it out because of the Unilocal reviews.
Firstly, this place is dimly light, and the Deco was pretty awesome. Loved the old school couches in the back and the random art along the walls.
I checked out the menu and loved that everything was veggie inspired, I was super eager to try out a handful of items but clearly that’s a tad too much food for one person so I settled for the Reuben sandwhich (mushrooms, cheese, sauerkraut) and upgraded my garden salad for a Cesar salad $ 2. Everything can be made Vegan so I asked for that option to see what it was like. It was good! I wasn’t sure what to expect but was happy with my choice and my upgrade. It was the right mix of flavours and textures. I was very happy with my meal and would definitely come back.

When I was in Toronto a couple weeks ago, I stopped in here on a quiet Sunday to treat myself to brunch. I was drawn to it because I thought the name was cool, but when my server said the menu was all vegan, I got really excited. I’m not actually vegan, or even vegetarian anymore, but I do know that vegan food can be even more amazing than food with meat, plus I was just plain hungry.
I ordered the breakfast burrito, something I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t think I’ve ever eaten before in my life, but my brekkie burrito standard has now been set very high. It was just massive. I now forget all of what was on it, but it definitely had vegan equivalents of breakfast sausage and havarti cheese, as well as beans and potato. It was spiced with curry, I believe, and just the perfect amount to have given it a kick. I also asked for some hot sauce to dip it in, which looked like homemade chili sauce. The burrito was so girthy that I couldn’t actually dip it into the sauce without slopping the contents of the burrito all over my hand, but I consider this a plus because it means the cook wasn’t stingy with the ingredients!
My server was very attentive, friendly, and nice enough to have given me the WiFi password without my even asking her.
The interior of the restaurant is kinda cool, though a bit dark unless you sit at the window. As well, the washrooms looked a bit grimy, but I understand that it’s a bar as well as a restaurant, so in light of that, these two observations are to be expected, and they weren’t so significant to have knocked my breakfast burrito experience down from its 5-​star pedestal.

Bad service and bad attitude characterizes this place. There are a ton of much better bars in this hood with a similar vibe.

I’m between 3&4 stars. The food is surprisingly good, but the service was slow considering we were the only two in the bar. I guess it’s a chill kind of place, but it was unnecessarily slow. There was also a slight funky smell. The décor is green roomesque but nothing particularly original. I’d still recommend the place if you’re not in a hurry, and it’s really not that bad, just nothing impressive about it either. So, what I’m trying to say is: «meh.»

Stumbled in here looking for mimosas and ended up finding a great selection of vegan foods. Its not normal to love oatmeal as much as I do so obviously that’s what I ordered. They were cooked perfectly; soft and creamy but still with the texture of oats. I was very impressed that it came with a generous portion of REAL maple syrup. Such a treat. My friend ordered the breakfast burrito which is humongous and even though he is as far from vegetarian as you can get, he really enjoyed the tofu scramble filling. The staff were very friendly and attentive as well. The only reason this gets 4 and not 5 is the nasty gross bathrooms. The smell was absolutely disgusting. Someone needs to clean those things.

My friend and I walked by this place a couple weeks ago and noticed delicious looking tacos a person was eating. We stopped and looked at the menu and noticed there was a pint and sandwich deal for $ 12! I have been back two times since.
Lipstick and Dynamite has an amazing atmosphere, food, drinks and staff.
Lipstick and Dynamite has a super 80s vibe, always playing old music and movies (!!!). It is such a comfortable and cozy place to be in. There are tables, comfy couches in the back, and obviously a bar to sit at. There are books in the back available for reading, and an assortment of games to play. Such a fun place.
Although Lipstick and Dynamite is a bar, it has an amazing selection of delicious vegetarian food. I have been super satisfied with everything I have had. The first thing I tried was the cauliflower poboy sandwich. The sandwich had roasted cauliflower, tofu, artichoke hearts, and other things I can’t remember. It had so many layers of flavour and was so delicious. On my next visit I tried the walnut tacos. They had walnut taco meat, a jalapeño pineapple salsa, slaw, sprouts and more. Again, so fresh and SO many layers of flavour. On my most recent visit I had the kale caeser salad. It came with tempeh bacon, a large amount of home made croutons and covered in nutritional yeast. I also tried the new brownies that they are offering. They came with a raspberry sauce that was so good that I almost licked the plate clean.
The staff is super friendly and always very welcoming.
Seriously, I am so happy that I discovered this place while wandering down queen west.

Thanks for the intro Dil. Let me help flesh out the final verdict. Lipstick & Dynamite is, pun intended, dynamite! I stopped in post checking out Citizenry after one of the owners of Citizenry recommended L & D (FYI: Citizenry is a phenomenal café/​boutique a few shops over). The food at Lipstick & Dynamite is great, and the service is wonderful. I got asked by two different employees (owner and cook) how my food was. How often can you say that?
The food is all vegetarian and vegan (there are some things with cheese that can be made with vegan cheese) but you would have no clue just looking at the exterior/​interior of the restaurant. And you carnivores and omnivores out there, you will not miss anything when it comes to the food here. I eat milk and meat, and I just had one of the best sandwiches of my life and it was vegan. With Joni Mitchell playing on the stereo and a dive bar feel, this place cannot be pigeonholed into any one category. A big hell yes to L & D. Thank you for staying open late and for being so reasonably priced. You are a wholesome alternative to pricier options on the Ossington Strip.
Definitely give this place a try if you are hungry or down for some drinks.

Very much a local hang out. Recently opened. I only dropped by for a beer while walking on Queen and tried the very interesting locally brewed watermelon wheat beer they had on tap. A few of the veggie inspired menu items looked delicious and I plan to try them next time I drop by. Very interesting décor. Not a busy, noisy place if you want a quiet spot to have a conversation over a drink and don’t want to be disturbed. No final verdict for me until I spend a little more time there and try the food.