Nightowl

Great atmosphere, good food, friendly staff, good drink selection.
We went in around 9pm on a Friday night, their restaurant was full but we were happy to sit and eat the bar. We ordered the wings and calamari, and wanted the riblets but they were sold out; we got the shrimp tacos instead.
The shrimp tacos were stellar! The wings were good, but for $ 10 we would have expected more than 4 pieces. The calamari was delicious but I wished the rings were smaller since it is all finger food. They were very accommodating when I asked for hot wing sauce on the side as well since my friend wanted honey garlic wings, and I wanted hot.
Would definitely go back, especially to finally try those riblets!

With my 30^th birthday approaching and not wanting to go with the obligatory nightclub scene to ring in a new decade, I was looking for a bar that had a little something extra to make the night special. I came across Nightowl Toronto and found that they had a live band on Saturday nights as well as arcade games and a foosball table. Pretty much exactly what I was looking for.
I booked a reservation via their Facebook page and they were very responsive and helpful with my request. On the night of, I didn’t realize I had booked a «standing reservation» so we didn’t actually have a table reserved for our group. The guy who had helped me book the reso was there that night and was apologetic for the confusion. He ended up getting us free coat check for the inconvenience, which completely solved the problem of not having a table to leave our coats at anyway. Perfect! My birthday guests were more than happy with the compromise and so was I.
The band — The Moonwalks — were AMAZING! They played indie rock, EDM, 70’s classic rock, and everything in between. I danced most of the night away without even noticing the time. The bar was busy but not wall to wall. We had lots of space to dance and roam around and we had an easy time getting drinks when we wanted them. Some friends were downstairs on the dancefloor and others were upstairs playing games most of the night. Everyone had a great time!
All in all, I loved this place! I had a very memorable 30^th birthday and would recommend this place to anyone wanting to have a good night with friends.
Thanks Nightowl!

Terrible service. The bartender short changed me on my already expensive drink. My food was slow to arrive and was under cooked. Save your money go elsewhere on College or go to Get Well.

Love this new addition to the Little Italy scene! After bar hopping on College Street on a Saturday night, we came across this place and decided to end our night here. Great vibe, not too hipster and my friends and I (all in our 30s) didn’t feel too old like we might in other places along the strip — crowd was mostly late 20s. Upstairs there are Atari arcade games, pinball machine and a foosball table and downstairs is live music. The beer selection is small and I can’t speak for the cocktails or food as we didn’t try them, but I’ll definitely be making a point to stop here again for a beer and a game or two of Bubble Bobble next time I’m in the area.

After reading all the astroturfed 5 star reviews from users with only 1 review (not to mention suspiciously high quality pictures of the food, drinks taken from the serving side of the bar etc, and of course the cringeworthy use of the word bae), I came here with skeptical expectations. Turns out, this place is alright.
I haven’t been inside this building since it was called the Grotto and had the cave like architecture throughout the dining area. That has been scrapped and the renovations make the place look new and clean.
Ground floor has a fooseball table, pinball, and a couple of video games to play near the front. After throwing a few loonies into an arcade and playing some vintage Bubble Bobble with a beer in my hand, the night was off to a decent start. While some places like Get Well let you play the games for free, charging for them here means that people don’t sit on the same game all night, so more people will get a chance to play which is a good thing since there isn’t many games to work with. There is a jukebox as well which admittedly was playing some fun music. Heard everything from classics like the Pixies to Green Day to modern stuff like the Weeknd and whoever does that catchy song that I’m pretty sure is in a beer or car commercial.
The rest of the upstairs is the bar area and then a raised dining area in the back. I stuck to drinks but the food did look pretty decent and at reasonable prices. On the drinks front, draft beer options fall under Sapporo ownership (so Sapporo itself, plus Sleeman Original, Okanagan Springs 1516 Lager and Pale Ale, and something else I can’t remember).
Downstairs has a small bar (no beer taps downstairs), and then a stage for live music. For a Thursday night, I was surprised how busy it was, so the place has a good energy (even if the musical acts may not be very inspiring, but at least there wasn’t a cover fee).
For me, College Street has always been an area which is all about bar hopping and being able to hit multiple places over the course of the night. Admittedly this place makes for a good place to stop into for that purpose, so 4 Unilocal stars it is.

Service is a joke, waited around 10 minutes at the bar to get served while it wasn’t even busy. Service is slow and not friendly at all. Literally the slowest service I’ve ever seen at a bar.

The Mac and cheese is unreal!!! Drinks are affordable, food is good and super cheap. It’s a good place to go with one friend or 20. Everyone is super friendly too