Eton House Tavern

i started going to the eton house back in 1987 and continued going till well into the late 90, s. i always felt quite welcome by the owners, and the fun and the crowds were a blast. haven’t been down there in a few yrs. but would like to see the owners tommy and nick again soon, if they are still the owners…

I have passed by this place many times and went in for the first time last weekend. We went to go see a friends band play and we had a blast! It is something out of the 1980’s but that just adds to it’s charm, it’s also remarkably spotless. I just recently heard that they have comedy nights there as well. I will definitely be back, great place. One of the last remaining bars that has zero snobbiness.

Went there today to watch the World Cup game. They had the «wings special» for the World Cup at $ 6.00. That was the worst wing I ever had in Toronto. Too dry, to oily. It tasted like it was yesterday’s wings fried again today. No dipping sauce, no carrots or celery. I would willingly paid regular price for a better quality food — I went there to watch the game anyway. Actually, we initially ordered nachos — theiir cheese machine was not on so they couldn’t fill our order. Thats the third time we went there and there was nothing decent to eat. The waitresses seemed more interested in entertaining the regulars — so much that they spent a lot of time talking with the regulars, even sitting with them, while we newbies were practically ignored. We like to be local and go the local places as much as we can and we consider the Eton a neighbourhood heritage but it seems they don’t care much about being that. Unless you just want to get drunk, don’t go to the Eton. I would upgrade the food quality and the services. Why they don’t offer a more Newfoundland experience, as they sort of brag about their Newfoundland connections?

I had friends visiting from out of town and on advice of their family member we came here for the comedy show. This place is really big but it looks a little run down. The show was ok, especially compared to other amateur shows in Toronto. Half of the comedians were funny and the other half relied on just saying random words followed by the «f-​word» or the «c-​word». That kind of sloppy comedy annoys me. Anyway, the reason for the one star rating is that the beer was rotten. My friend’s aunt bought us a pitcher of Keiths Red. It was flat and tasted like gym socks. I’m from Nova Scotia, I’m intimately familiar with the Keiths product line. This beer was not right. I decided I’d switch to a different beer. I bought a pint of 50. It tasted fine and had bubbles. Then I noticed it smelled like farts. WTF? Anyway, later in the evening the waitress mentioned that they were just changing the Keiths Red keg. My other friend decided to try another pitcher of it. Still like gym socks. I wouldn’t drink from the taps here again. Stick to the bottles, kids.

I always wondered about this place – it is one of what seems like five dozen «old man» bars along the Danforth, once you get east of Pape.
To settle my curiosity, a friend and I popped in for a beer before dinner. The place was actually really nice inside! It was Monday, and before the holidays, so there were only a few locals plus the regular billiards club. Walter greeted us, filled us in on what happens there (bands, the NYE party, etc.) and brought us our beers. You can also order the pub staples if you are hungry. I assume this would be a great place to watch a game.
I will certainly come back as it is one of the reasons I love living in this part of town: it is REAL. This bar isn’t trying to be anything that it isn’t – it is just a watering hole for locals. There is no hipster attitude here, no super fancy beers (a good selection if you are not a beer snob) no computer based DJ trying to blow the place up. Highly recommended for those of us east enders that can’t be bothered to cross the Don.

They have turned us away as the last dive bar on our pubcrawl, don’t know why when they are barely occupying more than 10 people. We bring in at least 20 people times how many drinks! I guess profits are not an issue for them.
But tonight they let us in and I liked it the most this time. Live band was playing and they were pretty awesome. We’ve been there with the DJ and the music was great as well. Good dance floor space. The bathrooms are the best on the route but they could use a fresh paint job.

The place doesn’t look too bad. There are a couple of pool tables, darts, and I think I saw a pinball machine.
A glass of Sprite was $ 4, which seemed like a bit much. I didn’t order any food.
The crowd wasn’t huge but it wasn’t tiny either. Not too many young people.
I went on a Tuesday to see their comedy show. Since it’s free, don’t expect anything mind-​blowing. Some comics will bomb. Even though there are better places to catch some comedy in the city, the show wasn’t all that bad. I think I might come back sometime.
Edit: The show no longer takes place every week. It is now once a month until further notice (last Tuesday of every month). We wish Joanna gets well soon!

My review is for the show on Tuesday nights here… Jo-​Anna Downey hosts «Standing on the Danforth» — a stand up comedy show and not only is it free, you might be lucky enough to see the likes of Nicky Payne, Mike Wilmot, Sean Cullen, or Debra DiGiovanni testing out new material. There is a good mix of seasoned veterans and young wannabees.
The bar is very old school, cash only, and it has a few Newfies who live upstairs who frequent the place… hence the only Newfie bar on the Danforth.
It has it’s own quirky charm but like it or not, the comedy on Tuesday nights at 9 is what makes this place special.

Time to update guys! Eton house is not dirty anymore, it has a great stage, beer glasses are not stained at all, choice of beers is good, and even «finger» food is OK! I had a great night, heard a very cool blues band and the staff is really nice.
Last point: average audience age seems regularly to be above 35 years.

Dude, where’s the f#*%*#n washroom???
One of few remaining watering holes for the east end red neck…
Beer glasses are stained, tables smudged («sadly to the detriment of their minds and morals»), and the ladies are looking hot tonight!
My friend asked me to go a while back to watch his girl play in a band. Hey, I’m a good friend, but man I’m never going back.
God bless the Eton Tavern, I for one would not like to see it be taken away, come on folks!
I love the old dudes sparking up by the side of the building… 60yrs and still going strong!
What can I say, not a big fan, but respect to the old timers from the neighborhood.

This was the first stop on The Dirty Danforth Pub crawl. The intention of the crawl was to hit some of the suspect places along the Danforth east of Pape and hopefully live to tell about it.
Like Todd V wrote before me, the Eton House is far from classy, but it’s one of those places that grows on you, like a healthy mould on some fancy cheese. Sure, you don’t want to eat that mould, but there’s perfectly good cheese under there, so maybe you have a little lick and then — BAM — you’re hooked.
Immediately, I knew that this place was a winner:
— It was full of regulars that hadn’t seen a razor in years.
— There was a n-​a-​s-​t-​y jar of picked eggs on the bar.
— They had Cool on tap.
— There was a dusty old Ms Pac Man arcade game in the corner
Sure we didn’t stay for long but, as it turns out, when we scratched a little further, we found that the staff were happy to host us, the price was right and maybe, just maybe, the taste of mould wasn’t that bad.

This is another one of my «4 with a Warning» reviews. The Eton House is a nice old divey bar that has been around for ages and has become known for being a Newfie bar for the Danforth area. It’s far from classy, it’s pretty rough, it has colourful regulars, and I completely adore this place.
One of the telling signs that this place has been around for ages, is the separate tavern-​entrance for ladies, and the floor-​length urinals that grace the Gents. The tap list is fairly simple with the pint of the place being Cool on tap for something like four bucks in all. The kitchen and menu provide basic fare. I’ve no idea what the actual kitchen itself is like, but they’ve got a green sticker displayed so it must be doing something right. Pool tables are found in a separate room that supported the tavern’s smoking area but is now without windows so you are able to see and here all that happens in the bar. Tuesday’s are the comedy nights that often have more people shouting at the stage than from it. It can be crazy, but it is never boring for sure.
Not first-​date friendly. That is of course unless you are looking to impress your date who’s from The Rock… and I’m not referring to a Sean Connery film here.