5 Best Bars in Old Town, Toronto

This laid-back dive bar has an excellent selection of draft beers and classic pub fare, from poutine to nachos and chicken wings. It’s a fun spot to watch sports.

With more than 150 beers from 30 countries, including 50 on tap, this enormous restaurant/bar has a corner on the international beer market, but the best thing about it is the oversize year-round sidewalk patio on the Esplanade, ideal for an afternoon brew. The lines are ridiculous on weekends—do as the locals do and go midweek instead.

In a cozy underground setting that's part beer cellar, part library, and part pool hall, C'est What offers more than 40 taps of Canadian beer, plus a menu of globally inspired pub grub. The main room is home to a couple of pool tables and a comfy fireplace area lined with couches, while an adjoining room hosts live folk, rock, and roots acts a few times a week.

Once a Soviet themed-bar, Pravda now channels the opulence of a 1920s speakeasy; it offers happy hour cocktails and operates as a supper club in the early evening, which is popular with the after-work crowd. As the night wears on, it transforms into a lively nightclub with a DJ and performances by an aerialist, belly dancer, or live musicians. Take a tour of its glass-encased walk-in freezer on the second floor, where you can don a fur coat and sample more than 70 vodka brands from around the world, such as French, Latvian, and Polish vodkas, each for a fee.

Not far from the historic St. Lawrence Market, the Sultan's Tent and its front bar, Cafe Moroc, re-create a traditional Moroccan banquet atmosphere, complete with plush divans and metal lanterns. In addition to wine and beer, they have a specialty cocktail list that puts a North African spin on classic drinks, like the Arabian Caesar or the Moroccan old-fashioned. There's live music and belly dancers every evening.