Outside Opera Bobs

Party on a Condo Balcony

A crowd heading out for some St. Paddy’s fun

Inside Opera Bob’s – Green Bowlers

Some Irish Music at Dakota Tavern

The Party Happening with Lemon Bucket Orchestra at The Garrison

Bohmer Restaurant is holding a Speakeasy New Year’s Eve, with a 5 course tasting menu with a glass of bubbly, for $75 pp.

At this year’s Dakota Tavern New Year’s party, CATL will have everyone dancing with a show starting at 10PM.

The Painted Lady sticks to what it does best, with music by Salazar and burlesque from Anastasia Burlesque.

The Ossington is planning an 80s boogie funk New Year with “Love Handle NYE Edition” with DJs starting at 10PM.

Opera Bob’s is hosting their 3rd Annual New Year’s Eve-Stravaganza, with live music from The Unknown Culprits and guests. Admission is $20 but go buy tickets in advance as they sold out well before the big night last year.

The Garrison‘s Annual New Year’s Eve party features Chronologic and Shit la Merde and tickets are available at Soundscapes and Rotate This for $20.

Lower Ossington Theatre‘s new event space, LOT, is hosting a New Year’s party for $10 with dancing all night. Tickets on sale now and the party starts at 10p.

UPDATE: Fishbar has announced their dinner menu for New Year’s (scroll down) and for $55 pp they are offering a 4 course meal, drinks not included.

People will be dancing at Levack Block. Featuring DJ Dougie Boom in the backroom with special guests in the front. Entry is $20 in advance, $30 at the door, plus there’s a $40 VIP wristband = entry to second floor & champagne toast at midnite. Doors open @ 10pm, serving till 3AM.
Tickets available at the bar from Thursday to Saturday from 5pm or through PayPal via levackblock@yahoo.com

We’ll keep updating this post as we learn of more happenings in the neighborhood.

Fratwurst

We asked Fratwurst to answer our profile questions, and they answered.

How did you get involved with the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival?

 

We did it last year and had one of the best sets we’ve ever had. The Toronto Sketch Fest is an event which we look forward to all year.

What other troupe’s show at this year’s Festival do you most want to see?

Peter and Chris, The Majors, Kerpatty and Jape. These four troupes, coincidentally are performing with us on the 11th and 13th at 7:00pm. We go way back with Jape and they’re fantastic geniuses.
The Williamson Playboys are phenomenal and need to be seen to be believed. National Theatre of the World, 2 kids one hall, Falconpowder and the Imponderables are legends in Toronto. 3 Peters, Ladystache, Shoeless, Vest of Friends, Classy Affair, Cheap Smokes, Good Game, Shark Jump, Smells Like the 80′s, Touch my Stereotype and the Regulars. These are all troupes we have built a rapport with and would be pissed off if we didn’t mention them and go to their shows. Can’t burn bridges…

Why should we come to see your show?

We will be coming off of a streak of glory as we will have just performed at the Tim Sims Encouragement Fund show, Cream of Comedy on November 7th. Whether we win or not, it represents a level of prestige in the comedy community for up and coming performers. We’re doing that show with an amazing troupe who ironically have perfect teeth- British Teeth.

What is your favourite place on Ossington? If you haven’t been to Ossington, where do you most want to go?

The Lakeview holds a special place in our collective heart-By in our heart, we’re being literal- The collected greasy goodness from all the breakfasts. We used to perform at Opera Bob’s when a friend of ours ran a show there years ago, but we still swing by now and then. The Lower Ossington Theatre is rising as one of the best places to see a show. Rocky Horror, baby. Also the Caledonian because it has innis and gunn on tap- amazing.

The Toronto Zombie Walk kicks Halloween off early when it returns to Trinity Bellwoods Park on Saturday, October 22. The 2011 9th Annual Zombie Walk is open to everybody who wants to dress up and participate, and if you have been there or read about it, you know people dress up! The walk begins at 3pm, but go early to see the crowd and enjoy the Zombie Wedding!

Reposado is planning a Halloween bash on Saturday, October 29 with prizes for best costume, live music and Duggan’s Beer.

Last year’s show must have been a success, because Lower Ossington Theatre is encoring the Rocky Horror Picture Show this October. The show runs Thursday, October 20 – Monday, October 31, with a sing-along edition on the 27th. Tickets here.

The Garrison is holding a Halloween House of Horrors on Saturday, October 29, with a $5 cover with costume, or $8 without. DJs Shit la Merde, Scott Cudmore and Jilly Botting will be entertaining party-goers starting at 9:30PM.

Also in the Halloween spirit, Crafted is running a “Best Costume Idea” contest and offering a pound of coffee free to the winner. Check into the shop for more information and/or to enter.

Additional parties announced: Levack Block is hosting a Halloween party weekend with DJs and costumes Friday and Saturday nights starting at 9PM. On Friday night, head over to Watusi for a Halloween Dance Party with DJs and a prize at midnight for the best costume. Opera Bob’s is having a party on Saturday night after 9:30PM and giving out some good prizes for costumes: $60 Opera Bob’s gift certificate for best group costume, $30 for best individual costume.

Please check our calendar for these and other upcoming events.

Thursday night’s event is for a good cause, and also includes the opportunity to:

• Play Blackjack, Roulette, Crown and Anchor with professional casino dealers,
• Celebrity bar tending, including 2010 Miss Universe, Elena Semikina
• Great give-aways and prizes including signed baseball bats by Jose Bautista, Brett Lawrie, Adam Lind and J.P. Arencibia
• Question & Answer session with Gregg Zaun
• Jays season wrap up and MLB Playoff Preview

Opera Bob’s is no stranger to charity events. They regularly provide a venue for many local charities to raise funds for all sorts of great causes. Head over on Thursday to Opera Bob’s and enjoy the tail end of the baseball season while helping others!

So, let’s get it over with. Robert Pattinson sightings have been fast and furious ever since his film started shooting at The Lakeview. Bloggers from Hollywood to Toronto have obsessed over where he hung out on Ossington, and the results are in: Crooked Star and the Dakota Tavern. Good choices, vampire.

Speaking of The Lakeview, the owners are being lauded as starting a new trend of restaurateurs opening food shops, as they’ve done with the well-stocked take-out and grocery, The Lakeview Storehouse.

Opera Bob’s is turning into a destination for baseball fans in Toronto. With the introduction of “Jays Days”, where they duplicate the ballpark experience for away games, with a hot dog/beer/popcorn vendor, special menu, full sound and big screens, they are getting rave reviews.

Also getting rave reviews, from Joanne Kates no less, is Bohmer restaurant. She loves the beautiful space, and if you haven’t been, they have early evening specials and serve Sunday brunch.

The Lower Ossington Theatre started a weekend cabaret series this June and comes recommended by the music critic at The Star.

The Churchill on Dundas gets a recommend as an alternative patio to the too busy Drake Sky Yard. Looks like we need to update our Patio Guide!

Opera Bobs Public House at 1112 Dundas Street West, just east of Ossington, begins a Jays Days promotion with “Opening Night” next Friday, June 17 for the Jays vs. Reds game. For this series of 6 away games, Opera Bobs will reproduce the live viewing experience in the comfort of their bar, with ballpark hot dogs (free on Opening Day!) and bagged popcorn, a host, and the volume turned up on the game. They will also have food and drink specials, and a comfortable atmosphere to watch. The National Post has called Opera Bobs “one of the best bars in the city to watch a baseball game” and these Jays Days specials will likely add to fans’ enjoyment.

Down on 93 Ossington, Bohmer Restaurant is adding some early evening bar specials to the menu. As of this Thursday, June 16, they are launching $4, $5 and $6 drink specials and some 1/2 prized nibbles at the bar or in the lounge. This promotion will run every Tuesday through Staturday night from 5:30PM-7PM until further notice.

So, if there weren’t enough reasons to get you over to Ossington Village for some enjoyable evenings, maybe these two very different options will.

This just in! Delux Restaurant at 92 Ossington has announced $1 oyster Tuesdays starting tomorrow, June 13. This special will run every Tuesday from  6P-close and applies to all the oysters they have.

If you know of any other specials or special events in the vicinity, tell us in the comments or via email.

Some of the businesses on Ossington are well connected to social media including our Dani Elwell of Jaiden’s Petals, who blogs from her site and is very active on Twitter. Opera Bobs keeps people up to date on Facebook. And don’t forget to be tempted by the tweets from Pizzaria Libretto, Union Restaurant and Bohmer who let everyone know their specials in the twitter stream. Want Tattoo advice? There’s even Imperial Tattoo on Twitter. There’s lots more examples on our street and you can check out our Ossington Places twitter stream here. But there are places on Ossington that don’t even have a website including the Crooked Stars and Sweaty Bettys. Are they losing out?

Luckily, without leaving our home of Ossington we can find out, or at least have a good discussion about, the efficacy of the medium. HomeStars (disclosure – my employer – and no, it wasn’t by coincidence it is hosted here – Thanks Shaun!), a social media site designed for contractors and homeowners looking for those contractors, is hosting an event for Social Media Week called Is Social Media Your Prize Winning Pig – Think Again where we’ll debate the effectiveness of social media. It should be entertaining, and could even get hostile.   The event will be tomorrow, Tuesday, night from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Garrison, on Dundas just west of Ossington. If there are tickets still available you can register on the Social Media Week site here. Or you can just come by and see whether you can slip in and get on a side of this debate. Because the week may be full of people who are ‘social media strategists’ it’ll be good to have some social media cynics. Are you one? Want to share your opinion? Come out and have some fun, get in on the debate, and join in this global conference on the future of social media.

Take a look through the entire schedule of Social Media Week and try and check out some of the other events. The week will end at a great event close by at the Gladstone Hotel where there will be an evening of Powerpoint Karaoke, which if you’ve never seen, definitely has to be experienced.

If you’re looking to find Dinner on Ossington on Christmas Day you’re going to be pretty much out of luck. There are a couple places to get food on Christmas day including the Pho place Tien Thanh and Lakeview Restaurant, and you’ll be able to stop by Sweaty Betty’s and Opera Bob’s for drinks.

We’ve collected the hours from many of the local restaurants, cafes and bars for the Christmas weekend so you don’t end up heading out to a closed restaurant or bar.

Enjoy the holidays everyone!

Restaurant	24th	25th	26th	Notes
Beau Lieu Bistro	Closed	Closed	Closed
Bohmer	Closed	Closed	Closed
BQM	Open until 5pm	Closed	Closed
Communist’s Daughter	Open	Closed	Open	We miss Michael J’s Christmas Carols. Bring it back!
Crafted by Te Aro	Open until 1pm	Closed	Closed
Crooked Star	Open until bartenders discresion	Closed	Closed
Delux	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed until the 4th of January
Foxley Bistro	Closed	Closed	Closed
Goed Eton	Open until 1pm	Closed	Open!
I Deal Coffee	Open until 5pm	Closed	Open!
Lakeview	Open	Open	Open	Always Open as usual!Yum!
Levack Block	Closed	Closed	Closed
Opera Bobs	Open	Open	Open	To escape your family, head to Opera Bob’s for a drink
The Ossington	Closed	Closed	Open!
Paramour	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed all the way until the 3rd of Jan
Painted Lady	Closed	Closed	Open!
Pizzeria Libretto	Closed	Closed	Open!
Pho Tien Thanh	Open	Open	Open	Get your Pho here to warm up!
Rua Vang (The Golden Turtle)	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed all the way until the 30th
Reposado	Closed	Closed	Open
Salt Wine Bar	Closed	Closed	Closed	Open on the 27th
Sweaty Bettys	Open	Open	Open	Bartender may close early on 24th and 25th.
Union Restaurant	Closed	Closed	Open for Dinner
Watusi	Closed	Closed	Closed

Prepare for Halloween at Goed Eten this week. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 3PM, they are setting up space for pumpkin carving, so head over with the kids for after-school snacks and pumpkin carving!

The Lower Ossington Theatre has a show to get you in the mood for dressing up! A LIVE production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is running from Thursday, Oct 28 through Sunday October 31.

The Painted Lady is throwing a Fetish Party on Saturday, October 30 from 9PM. Judging from the photos pasted in their front windows, all festishes are welcome!

Opera Bob’s is running a Halloween “Scary-oke” party on Saturday night with karaoke and prizes for best costume. Also on Saturday night, The Garrison has a Funhouse Halloween party scheduled and The Ossington is hosting a Halloween disco party. On Halloween night, The Garrison has Fucked Up and The Sadies.

 Some other events that are not Halloween parties, but are linked to the theme, include MothUP Toronto’s “Fright” themed event Wednesday night at The Ossington, and The Dakota Tavern‘s weekly Bluegrass Brunch is Sunday, so expect lots of families and maybe kids in costume. Plus, the International Festival of Performance Art is likely to have costumes and special effects.

Happy Halloween! We suggest you dress up as your favourite Ossington character. Send us photos!