Vip Snooker & Bar Club

Background: Looking for a venue to host a casual «manly» birthday party. Guest count about 20, event would be hosted on a Saturday evening, and I wanted a bar and food to be available. Venue must be up to date, laid-​back but not dirty or shady. Central location.
Location: Southwest corner of Warden and Ellesmere in Scarborough. Ample parking space, close to HWY 401.
Pre-​event Service: It was very hard to get in contact with this establishment. No one ever answers the phone. I called daily, at different times, never once answered. When I asked, I was told they were «busy» but truth of it is, 1) no one is usually in the wicket and 2) they choose to ignore the phone.
I emailed to contact VIP’s President Arthur Yip (about 2 months before the event). He was pleasant to speak with, though responses and short and curt. I was able to get enough information from him via email to convince me to check out the place in person.
When I first arrived, I was greeted by Fred (an older gentleman) who showed me around. He was very kind. I was impressed by the quality of the tables and the set up of the venue. There is a lounge at the front (we never used it) but it was nice. The bar is in the middle, with the kitchen behind it. Well placed, in my opinion. We discussed where I would have the party (in the back, by the dart machines). I asked about their busiest hours on Saturday nights, to which Fred said around 9. I agreed and booked 5 — 8, Package 2 and asked if I could upgrade the package on the day of if necessary. Fred said yes. He penciled me in and said I could pay on the day of.
About a week before the event, I emailed Arthur again to confirm everything. He responded with a photo of the available karaōke room (updated with a pool table and dart machine inside) and said that they would be busy and that we could have the room. The room was lovely, but I knew it would not be enough to accommodate us, so I declined and insisted that my original agreement be honored. Arthur agreed and on the day off, Fred said that even though we don’t want the karaōke room, it was there for us to use if we liked. That was a very kind gesture on their part, and I appreciated it.
The Karaōke room is definitely something I would consider for a small group (around 10 people) who enjoy karaōke mostly.
Event Service and Quality: On the day of, I showed up about half and hour early to make sure everything was in place. I mostly dealt with Thomas (he does not speak English very well), but his service was impeccable. He was constantly checking in on us to make sure everything was okay, when to bring out food, and clearing out the garbage. Fred also frequently stopped in to clean up garbage. A waitress (Samina? — not sure if that’s her name), was also popping by often to see if we needed anything. There is a service button available in the back if we wanted to call them, but we never used it since they were always nearby.
In the end, we had 15 people show up, the kitchen provided large trays of snack foods (that were more than enough for our 15 big guys). I was personally afraid that there would not be enough food, so I brought my own. Completely unnecessary. The food there is enough, and judging from our guests (and my own experiences) it was decent bar food. Wings and spring rolls were great, chicken fingers were okay (dipping sauce was provided), and carrots and celery (which most of the big guys avoided LOL, but they were fine).
Dart Machines were a lot of fun. Darts are provided by the venue, if your tip breaks, there are more darts or just ask for replacements. Machines cost $ 1 per player per game, up to four people. A game can last around 15 minutes. TONS of fun. You can exchange for loonies there if you don’t have your own. All our big macho guys loved it as well as the snooker tables.
Thomas also took the cake into the kitchen for refrigeration and asked me when I’d like for it to be brought out. He provided me with a knife as well.
The establishment was still open to the general public, and it didn’t get TOO busy. We were in the back so we had our own «private» feeling space while other people did their own thing near the front.
The ONLY thing missing was some good music in the place. They started playing music around 7pm, but it would have been nice to get something going for the event. I didn’t ask because I wanted to see what they would do unprompted.
Pricing: 15 guest party, Package 2, 5 — 8pm, it cost just over $ 320 (tax and tip in). WELL worth it. I would certainly do it again. Cash bar: beer was about $ 5.
Overall: I would highly recommend VIP as a venue for casual birthdays for men. ⁴⁄₅ for a great venue and lovely service, minus 1 point for never answering the phone and trying to change the arrangements a few days before the event.

swamped fridays, cool staff, friendly players…

The place inside looks better than outside. Been coming here for years. You should totally have the spicy chicken wings — their specialty dish! A little pricier than other pools halls in the same area.

Definitely a cool place to shoot some billiards
The VIP Snooker and Bar Club is a pool hall with around 25 pool tables in a dimly lit hall. The place looks crummy and dirty on the outside with tinted windows (with whatever windows they do have), but the interior is clean, nice, and calm. There is a lounge area with some comfortable seating and some televisions scattered around showing sports channels. They have a nice bar area as well with some private rooms for karaōke and other pool tables (private pool rooms).
The rate is charged by the minute and is $ 13 – 15 per hour for a group of 2 – 3. They charge higher per hour for more people. The rates aren’t too shabby and are cheaper if you go before 6pm. Just make sure you see the guy at the counter in the very front.
They do have food and drinks here. The drinks are pricey as pitchers are about $ 17 and the food looks to be crappy Chinese food, so I avoided it. It wasn’t too loud and we all had a good time. Definitely will come back to shoot pool and watch some sports.

I have been a frequent visitor for 3 years here and it’s always been great.
The inside is dark, but not too uncomfortable on the eyes. It is quiet and not noisy at all. The price is good, around $ 10 per hour. There are 2 pool table sizes. There is a bar and lounge area which is always comfortable.
I’ve always felt that it was clean. Nothing seems dirty or untidy. It is almost always open.
I highly recommend this place if you are decently close in the area.