Visited this place last summer so maybe (hopefully) things have changed. Long story short: A group of friends and I came here for some drinks around 11 PM. We started off by ordering a couple of drinks and chatting with the bartender for a while, which was all fine and well. She had some '80s music playing, so a couple of us got up to dance--also completely fine, no issues there. I went outside for a bit to chat with another patron and when I came back in to order another drink with one of my friends, the bartender snapped, said that this place "isn't a watering hole", and screamed at us to get the **** out. To this day, I have absolutely no idea what caused that sudden shift in attitude, but based on some other reviews, this doesn't seem to be the first time, nor was it the last. Overall, just a really weird place and the drinks weren't even worth the price, so I doubt I'll be giving it a second chance. read more

Had a pint and half and the bartender tried charging $27. Told her that seemed high so she lowered the price to $21 (for a pint and a half?!). Expensive. Shabby, not sheik. Won't be back. read more

I attended Churchill to enjoy their patio. First time there and I will definitely be back soon. The drinks and service were excellent. The staff were friendly and inviting. The patio is a great place to have a drink and people watch. Highly recommend! read more

A cozy, hip bar and fried chicken place on Dundas and Ossington, just a block west of Ossington. The fried chicken was only OK, the skin was crispy but lacked flavour or spices. (Honestly, I think Bar Fancy's fried chicken is far superior!) As a snack, I recommend getting 2 pieces of chicken, $4 for white meat and $3 for dark. The venue is nice, and it's good for groups of up to maybe 6-8 max, but it's more for groups of 2. The bar is long and the place is darker than a cave. The drinks were icy cold and service was slow with maybe a hint of pretentiousness. I agree with the other reviews about it being quiet at times. We were here on a Friday night at around 8 pm and it was not crazy busy, but not graveyard dead. This could be a nice place for a pre-drink before pub crawling along Dundas West. Pro tip: Don't come hungry as the fried chicken takes at least 20 minutes to make. Pro tip 2: No debit. Cash or credit. read more

Churchill - a menu for a restaurant on a wooden table - Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Went here on a Friday night for a few drinks with friends over some conversation. The venue has a nice cozy atmosphere. No menu was available which was a bit confusing at first - but they were able to make anything you could think of. All reasonably priced as well. read more

A little update is in order: The food is no longer provided by Luther's Fried Chicken, it's now a cute little bao counter. I did not taste it, as I was only there for a cheeky caesar with my fam. I was delicious, and I continue to really enjoy their patio. read more

Churchill - a bloody drink with olives and a lemon wedge - Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

A beautiful little bar which I believe is an extension of The Beaconsfield -- a few of the bartenders from the Beacs seem to have located to this popular Dundas location. And so far the overall vibe is similar between the two establishments. The two things I like about Churchill is the location (Dundas is very accessible to me with a few great bars in the area) and the layout/atmosphere. The bar is large but away from the door with plenty of space around it to prevent the ever-annoying bottlenecking. The chalkboards surrounding the place are carefully scripted and look fantastic. The lighting makes the place seem golden and exposed brick never looks bad. I've not ate here but might in the spring/summer months. The venue does have a patio so I think Churchill might explode in popularity once they crack it open. Stay tuned... read more

Churchill - Courtesy of BlogTO.com - Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

***This review is for Luther's Fried Chicken*** From the comfort of your seat at this hip cocktail bar, you can point and laugh at those poor souls across the street at KFC. Little do they know (or perhaps they do, and just prefer not to spend the extra couple bucks?) that Luther's is one of the best fried birds in the city, bar none. I've had Stockyards, I've had Harlem...and Bar Isabel. I've had what are considered to be some of Toronto's best fried chicken. And I have to say: for me at least, Luther's bird is best. I'm a white-meat kinda gal, and the meat here was so tender, so juicy, so delicious...covered by a super crunchy, perfectly seasoned layer of crispy skin. TO DIE FOR. For sides, I got fries and coleslaw. Next time I'd skip the slaw and try the bacon collard greens or macaroni salad. So in conclusion, why did the chicken cross the road? To get its ass the hell out of KFC and over to Luther's where it belongs! (PS This being a proper cocktail bar, I also tried the Cosmo Kramer cocktail--bourbon, Campari, egg white, lemon. Very good, but a bit overpriced at $14. Should've stuck with a $4 Grolsch.) read more

AVOID NANCY AT ALL COSTS!!! Felt sketchy with all the homeless drunk people hanging around the bar yelling. Food was ok, service was slow, we were seated next to garbage bins and the smell just kept wafting over. Quite unpleasant. The drinks were cold at least. The front man was very nice seeming thankfully so that made it a bit more enjoyable. The staff inside were very chatty amongst themselves when they could have been serving. One of the staff, middle age woman with her hair up seemed quite angry which was also something that guests shouldnt have to see. Looked like she might bite someones head off. Name was Nancy, just entirely off putting. Maybe her bun was too tight? Idk, she is NOT a friendly person whatsoever. It was nice seeing them do bbq right there but again the wind direction wasnt the best for it tbh. I know you cant control the wind but maybe take that into consideration. Maybe with some staffing changes this place could be better (nancy), but Id rather just grab a beer from the lcbo right beside it and fried chicken at the newly renod kfc across the street. Save 40$ and have a better night. read more

Came here on a early Friday night and was still pretty empty around 6.30pm. There was a TV but it didnt play any sound. The food was from Almight Bao. We got the dumplings which came quick, hot and crispy fried. Also got a bao which was a good serving size. They have a great cocktail lists with great names like 'texts from your ex' which had drake tears as an ingredient. It was sweet, fruity and packed a strong punch. Service was friendly and prompt but overall it felt a bit expensive and I didnt leave full from the 2 items. read more

Churchill - a plate with a sandwich on it - Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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This is also a review for the new popup restaurant currently residing in Churchill - "The Almighty Bao" Came across the almighty bao and it's review on another site one day (don't remember where exactly) and instantly I was curious. I love bao's and haven't had a great one in quite a while, and the fact that this was a popup located within a bar was great. The fact that they were also playing the Raptors playoff game (Game 6 - smh at that game), was even better! Got to the bar around 7pm and slightly hungry after walking around the Ossington strip for a bit and it was fairly empty at the time. I assume people were making their way to more spacious/bigger name bars with larger TV's at the time due to the game though. Churchill has a single TV which is at the bar but I wouldn't say Churchill is a sports event type of bar, if that makes sense? Servers were very attentive however and attended to my table fairly quickly. The almighty bao, once you walk inside Churchill, is literally a hole in the wall of the bar. Manned by at the time what seemed like two men, I was slightly worried that once the bar got more packed that service would slow down for the food, but I was happily surprised that food was still served quickly. We ordered a 5piece of the Mighty Dumplings, a California Club Bao, a Pork Belly bao and finally a Fried "Fried Rice" ball. Each dish was tasty and delicious, with the California club and the dumplings being the standouts! The baos are almost the size of a burger at a fast food joint, which is a great size imo, and paired with the dumplings, I definitely left satisfied with my choices that night. Will definitely be back to check the place out again, regardless if Almighty Bao becomes a permanent establishment or if a new business takes its place. read more

Churchill - Mighty dumplings and my lady's drink which was featured that night called "Texts from your ex" which had "Drake's tears" as an ingredient - Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Overpriced small drinks $19 for 2 whiskeys poured exactly to the shot glass measurements. Music blaring yet Nobody in here is dancing, not a person moving to the music at 1am on a Saturday. Terribly rude bar tenders makes this an overall terrible joint. read more

As others said, service was really bad. The staff seemed more interested in chatting with each other than serving us. Actually can't comment on the drinks because we left after about 10 mins. The staff clearly saw us but did not come over to offer a menu despite it not being very busy. read more

This a great little bar if you're looking for an easy spot on a weekend, or a quiet, intimate place to bring a date on a weekday for drinks. I've never tried the food. They've got a good selection of cocktails. The bar is dimly lit and the decor is very warm, notably the hanging lights over the bar. Everyone that I've brought here thinks it's a very chill spot. They also set up a small patio outside in the summer. I'd say it's a great first stop of the night as it's usually never busy before midnight. If you want to jam on a weekend, across the street on Dundas and you'll find a couple of bars catered more to getting your dance on. If you stay late enough at Churchill, the crowd gets going there too. Attracts a bit of a hipster crowd, but you really can't beat a no-hassle entrance and $5 labatt 50s. They also just got that new steigl grapefruit beer on tap, which is a big hit with the ladies. read more

This is establishment that doesn't understand customer service. No one greeted us or took our order until we flagged down the grumpy looking server behind the bar. One of our friends arrived to join our table but the doorman refused to let her in because they were "at capacity". 5 minutes later, his buddies arrived and they waltzed right in to watch the jays game - my friend was left standing out in the cold. By herself. No line. How did this guy get his job?! I will not come back here and I will never reccommend it to anyone. That said, it's a cute little spot on a corner lot and they serve my favourite local beer, Woodhouse amber ale, but what a waste of prime time real estate. The fried chicken was MEH. KFC is accross the street, though. read more

Came here with a friend while we were waiting for a table at a nearby restaurant...we had about an hour or so to spare, and the hostess from the restaurant recommended Churchill. We got there just after 6:30pm on a Friday night, so it was pretty quiet when we arrived. We grabbed a table and both ordered a Raging Bull (since we are both tequila fans) and ordered the spiced olives and a veg salad they had on special that day. Food was great, and the service was friendly. Seemed like a really chill place to hang out, I would def come back for a drink with friends. read more

I've been here a few times and have enjoyed every occasion except the time when my girlfriend got too drunk and ruined my night. She puked like 50 times - i don't think it had anything to do with Churchill, we actually ate somewhere before arriving.. Come to think of it I think it was food poisoning.. but from Jack Astors, not Churchill. I can't really get mad at her for that though, not really her fault. It just kind of sucked because I was working and studying so it was my only chance to go out in months. Anyway, I really like the atmosphere at Churchill - both for dinner or for drinks. Dinner is really chill and they have great fried chicken & sides. The place is small, but I enjoy cozy places with great music where you can hang with friends. I threw my birthday here in November and I had a great time for the parts that I remember. I forgot my sweater and Churchill staff kept it for me. I was glad because it was a new sweater.. they could have easily sold it on Kijiji or something but they kept it. Thanks guys. Quality joint. read more

I stumbled upon the Churchill a few weeks ago and really enjoyed their burger. So much that I've tried to have it again but every time I've returned, they haven't been serving food. They don't serve food on Monday or Tuesday which is fine but when I returned on a Friday the chef wasn't in since he was hosting a BBQ at his house. I tried again this weekend and they were closed. It's a funky little place but it seems to be more of a hobby than a business. read more

This is sort of a two and a half star bar in my opinion. It's not that there was anything really wrong with it. It just wasn't my type of place, which is why I went with the 3 instead of 2. My girlfriend and I stopped in on a Saturday night because we couldn't find the bar we were looking for. Being first time visitors to Toronto we thought it wouldn't hurt to try it out. It was not busy at all and we were able to get seats at the bar with no problem. The bartender was nice. We ordered some hummus along with our drinks, which was just so-so and only came with like 6 little triangles of pita. We got some extra pita but I think it cost us a small amount. The beer selection was pretty bad also. It definitely has the feel of a cocktail lounge rather than a bar. The decor is sort of modern. Just had a kind of cold feeling to it. So while I didn't hate the place, I doubt I'd go back for my next visit to the Great White North. read more

We stopped in for a drink one recent Saturday night and grabbed bar stools. It was pretty busy inside, and very busy on the patio. The drinks were good and well priced. Love the fact that a jack and coke is a few bucks less than a beer!! Bring it! Only problem was we got there only a little while before they closed down the patio. All of a sudden the civilized bar with a good dj and nice bartenders turned into a swarm of loud drunks pushing for more beverages! If that's your scene, fill your boots. I'll check it out again because the drinks and music were both good. read more

I made it out to the Churchill recently and while I wasn't blown away it wasn't a bad spot either. Churchill is trying to cater to a more upscale crowd than most places on Dundas West. This of course means having just enough beers in bottles that the "cool" kids will like if they venture in and an expensive cocktail menu for folks looking to impress their dates. That's ok. Why fight it? The area is filling up with money so why shouldn't they try and grab a piece? What I don't like about Churchill is how busy it gets. I'm good at ignoring loud or obnoxious people in bars that I don't want to mingle with but it gets tough when they're almost sitting on your table because there's no space to stand. When I arrived there were about ten people littered about. When I left there were at least ten times that and as one other reviewer commented, the crowd gets a little too 905/Queen West for my liking. The aforementioned cocktail menu is very similar to many other places in town. They've hired some young bartender that is trying to out do other young bartenders by making "new" drinks with the same ingredients everyone else is using. I've seen far too much chartreuse and maraschino juice on cocktail menus lately. Sickeningly sweet old lady ingredients aside, some of the drinks were nice. The Paper Plane was quite good and even though the Pan Am Clipper almost made my teeth fall out, it was very tasty. I can't lie, I wouldn't recommend this place to my friends (because it's not their kind of place) but if I was going out for drinks with a client, this would be a good choice on a weeknight. read more

Industry spot with amazing cocktails, great vibe Nancy is the best!!! Chill/turn up spot paper plane is to die for if Nancy makes it... like no other! read more

I'll give Churchill credit right away for one very important amenity: It has a patio. The inherent downside to this patio is that its on the east side of the building, meaning by 5pm the patio is completely shaded from the sun. Despite that fact, it's a patio in an area of limited patio options, so we made it our destination of choice. Upon first arrival, service was friendly and on point. Within an hour of our arrival, we began sitting with empty glasses and plates, struggling to get table service for more drinks or food. The beers that did come out got poured worse and progressively foamier with larger amounts of head, and it ended up taking over 3 hours for a few drinks and couple orders of food. On the food tip (which is admittedly the reason that encouraged me to go here), the Almighty Bao has taken over the kitchen where Luthers used to sling fried chicken from. Almighty Bao is offering a multitude of fusion inspired bao sandwiches and other bastardized asian foods. The pork belly bao was perhaps the most traditional of the bao sandwich items, and was the best thing I tasted during the night. The chicken club bao was well liked (save for the seaweed chip placed in the middle), but the hamburger bao is admittedly the least impressive of the food items. Beyond the bao, the chicken dumplings were pretty good, and the hot sauce they came with complimented them well. All in all, the place was decent. If things weren't such a struggle on the service front and taking as long as they did to wrap things up I'd even be leaning towards a 4th star. Unfortunately the time spent vs money spent vs enjoyment had ratio just doesn't balance out. read more

On a cold, rainy, snowy Saturday night I met up here with a friend. Neither one of us had been before but I had read about one of the bartenders in a list of the best cocktails in the city. My friend and I agreed that they had a healthy list of beverages and if I had the chance to order that cocktail I had read about, I would have gone for it. The bar was packed, it was really dark, and it was extremely noisy, so I decided to just grab a beer and retreat to my table (sans chairs) and begin my evening. Nothing about this place blew me away. It's part of the spillover of bars from Ossington and I welcome the addition to the neighbourhood. The people at the bar seemed OK, but I couldn't see them that well and I couldn't really talk to them either, as I had strained my voice over the really, really loud soundtrack of pop and rap. Perhaps this is a much better destination in the summer. read more

Rude staff. My girlfriend (here on vacation) inquired about wifi and the barback sarcastically made fun of her. It was completely unnecessary and uncalled for. Won't be returning - there are plenty of other places on Dundas to overpay for cocktails with lame atmosphere. read more

Great spot for drinks, hanging out with friends, and awesome bar! I stopped in to meet some friends for drinks here for the first time this weekend and it was really quite nice. The place was packed but it still was comfortable in there. They bartenders were nice, the prices were appropriate, and the drinks were made very well. I liked the layout of the spot and the location is really great! I also really like the writing on the wall that they had. Made for some great photo backgrounds and I enjoyed reading the quotes. I would recommend checking out this fine establishment for some drinks if you are in the area! ps- Check out the really awesome old school Underwood type writer on the bar! read more

VIBE Noisy/packed on the weekends; quite chill during the week from my experience. The bartenders know their stuff here and have saved me many times from a denied entry into Enoteca Sociale (rant: two hour wait to eat at the bar?! Please. GVG is good but he is not God). This place is run from the same owners as The Beaconsfield so it's a similar crowd. Usually, the chefs and resto industry are coming here on a Sunday or Monday. I DRINK/DRANK They have a number of fabulous cocktails here and they make a pretty stiff gin and tonic. I highly recommend their menu. It's all good. Vague, yes, but honestly I can't remember! OBLIGATORY CATCHY REMARK Missed church? Their libations will bring you a heavenly state. And just a note: there may be a few sins happening downstairs. No-one's perfect! read more

The service can be excruciatingly slow, but I've never minded too much, as most times I've been there I've been catching up with old pals. That being said, if the the food wasn't so mind-blowing, I probably wouldn't tolerate it. Prices are worth the fare. And they have tofu bites if you're not into meat. Nomnom. read more

I've been waiting for a long time to try this place. After hearing great reviews from a Co worker who loves his fried chicken I needed to check this place out. Located inside Churchills bar luthers chicken is tucked in the back. I ordered the two piece combo with a side of Mac salad and buttered corn and a biscuit. The chicken : crispy, juicy, tender and enough flavoring to make me happy. The biscuit was crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. At 13 dollars it's a bit pricey but you are paying for quality fried chicken executed properly. I can't wait to go back. read more

In the matter of 45 minutes, this place turned from a low-key bar serving woodford bourbon cocktails, to a packed frenzy where you could barely hear yourself. Thank God we came here early enough to grab a table, but even then, they stop servicing the tables after a certain time!! I guess that's to be expected on a Saturday night. Service wasn't slow, bartender seems to be very concentrated and on the ball. The vibe is what you would expect of a bar on Dundas. The DJ was throwing back some old school hip hop, which was cool. Now, the cocktails: for $14/pop (somehow we only got charged $12.38, maybe the menu was wrong,) I would have expected them to be better...more complete. Actually, I really liked the Pan Am and the Full Metal Jacket, but the others lacked a balance. They were quite strong so ultimately--I didn't mind that. read more

This place is ridiculous.... There's barely anyone in the bar, yet there's a huge line outside. Like hello... NOBODY IS IN HERE!!!!!!!! Let people in!! read more

I give 1 star. For reasons because I was there on March 24 on my birthday Thursday night just before easter weekend. Got to the place and good food and good music. But when my friends came late and there was no line the security told my friends to wait on top of that people came after them and the security let's them in with a hug and hi but my friends they had to wait - what kind of customer service is that?! I asked him how come they have to wait and the other people just walk right in? He replied very rude and hostile..saying I don't give a EFF about them. That is not the way you treat people and customers by being biased and hostile. Then I told him I wanna speak to your manager and he replied I don't give a EFF about what you have to say to the owner or manager. I spoke to the owner and told him the situation about his staff by the door he said he's having a bad night. Regardless that's not how you talk to your customers..the owner seemed to side with his staff when all of my friends that were inside saw and heard what happened because they were right beside me. That security should be fired for talkin to your customers like that. No respect. read more

the patio is nice, drinks are decently priced but the bartender was SO horribly rude and disrespectful. It's a total shame.

Great location, amazing food and awesome ambiance. But the waitress was ridiculous. Wouldn't serve us. Like at all. Had to go to three different spots along the bar. Finally the other waitress working took pity and took our order. The 'meanie' waitress, no kidding here: hip checked me repeatedly. I mean... it's the raptors game time, it's busy sure, and I'm waiting for a stool to open up. So I'm pressing myself against the table my buds are at, so as to be as unobtrusive as possible. And she has 4 feet behind me and to my side to move. But nope... a good 3 times she whacks me physically with her side. Not awesome. :'( it kinda just hurt. Will go back.. but maybe with goalie shorts on or something. Bc it's a super cute place otherwise read more

Came here last night around 7 to try Luther's Chicken and was pretty disappointed. First off, they were out of collard greens. Understandable if it were later in the evening but at 7pm, unacceptable. Chicken looked beautiful but little taste, gristly, and biggest problem was the breading. It was too thick, separated from the skin, essentially steaming the chicken inside. Nobody likes steamed flabby chicken skin. One extra star for the fries which were dece. $13 for a 2 piece with 2 sides, combined with indifferent service, I unfortunately won't be returning. read more

If you want to experience the laughably worst service in Toronto, then Churchill is the place to go! This place is the worst of everything that Dundas & Ossington has to offer; namely surly bartenders who seem to have been hired for looks rather than customer service skills. If you want to beg to place (and receive) an order, then you'll love Churchill. A month ago, I visited Churchill to get takeout from Luther's Chicken (and a drink while I waited at the bar). The servers ignored us for a good 10 to 15 minutes and we had to corner them to place an order. Then, it took over an hour for the food to come out, because the bartender forgot to punch in the order. (I was sitting behind the bar watching her and watching her failure to punch the order in.) Every table that walked in after us got their food first. Either way, I understand that they were busy...but I don't understand the lack of apology. I decided to give it a second shot this past week. I walked into a near-empty bar and sat down at the bar for about 10 minutes and was ignored until I asked to place an order. I was told that they were "busy" and would take my order "in just a second." Then, I watched as the bartender chit-chatted with someone who walked in (clearly a friend, not a customer) and came out from behind the bar to receive a back massage. (Yup. "Busy." Super busy.) Another 10 minutes passed and finally I flagged down the other server on duty to place my order. When our food finally did come up, both servers (who again, were just chatting with friends) ignored that it was waiting in the window. When we finally did get the food, we had to remind them to give us napkins/cutlery, etc. It's a shame the service here is so awful, because the food is great. read more

Went here on a Saturday night. Very unimpressed. 1) the service sucks. Took too long to get drinks and a menu, and we didn't get any refills. 2) the food is mediocre. Chicken is average, I'm pretty sure they got the corn out of a can, and the fries were nothing special. Next time, I'm going to KFC across the road. The colonel would never do this to me. read more

I went here on a Saturday night and it was pretty quiet, which was great. It's a cute little place. Not a ton of seating, but the atmosphere was good and I loved the dj. The dj was spinning some new age remixes of old school hip hop and r&b with a mix of hipster hip hop, as I like to call it. My drink was bigger than your average drink size and a bit stronger as well. Great place to sit and chat and just catch up with people. I'll definitely be back. read more

Drinks are decently priced and the place has an intimate feel; place is a tad small so it can get crowded and LOUD. Bartenders are pretty friendly. read more

Luther's Chicken is great! The batter is crispy and not super oily; while the skin remains super moist. On Thursdays they have a $2 special: one piece of chicken and fries - each person can order two servings of the special. read more