Keating Channel Pub & Grill

best patio in toronto you’ve never heard of. Food is decent, service is decent, drinks are decent — but the setting is awesome! And as long as the food remains edible I will keep coming back. Picnic tables along the channel, surprisingly serene and hard to come across a similar setting in this city

My husband and I love this place. Food, service and patio is excellent.
We stumbled onto it when our car broke down on Cherry Street (in the pouring rain). We were welcomed by the staff and given some towels to dry-​off.
Fav dishes include the Cheddar & Broccoli soup in the bread bowl, Steak Sandwiches, Fish Tacos and their wings are excellent. Beer selection is good and love the live music on the patios Friday evening.

Love this pet friendly patio pub. The food has never disappointed, but it is pub food. Veggie burger is moist, natchos are loaded up with just the right amount of cheese, jalapenos, and chili, wings are pretty good, salads are great. We love dropping by this place either after a Leslie spit bike ride, or just to hang out with our dog and take in the atmosphere. Oh, and theres entertainment occasionally.

good food, kind of slow with the service, pet friendly for your dogs on the patio! nice patio right by the water

This place is very much a sports pub with some very non-​pub fare such as chicken curry, Asian stir-​fry on a bun, and Louisiana Chicken sandwich! The latter was great, but the pub-​ish broccoli cream soup was rancid, giving my wife stomach pains later after we got home!!!
The owner is an Indian guy sporting a navy sweat and baseball cap, his chef is Indian, and (presumably) his wife tends to managerial duties. Saturday night saw barely 3 tables, with 1 white waitress on duty who saw a neglected young couple nearly get up and leave!!! Overall a paradoxical blend of impressions, mixing like oil and water! For now we decided we’ll not be returning anytime soon.

Went there last Saturday and had the worst experience of my lifetime. Only one table was occupied (which made me think I will get a good service). Unfortunately, all the servers were busy in their own phones (come on guys is this what you get paid for?) they were so busy in their phones that nobody came to me (waited for almost 5 min so that somebody can direct me to table. One lady came when i started yelling excuse me (sorry to do that but nobody was willing to assist us before that) and when i asked to sit outside (i reached at 8 and there were still 2 hours to close) she told me they dont have enough servers and wont be able to serve outside. I saw 5 of staff members smoking outside in the patio.
This is what happens when manager leaves and servers have to make decisions. Never going there again. WORST EXPERIENCE EVER

Went here before going to Cirque du Soleil for a pre-​show snack. The place was relatively empty when I came, which was a suprise, because the place is so nice and ripe for pre-​show Cirque attendees. The view is fantastic, you get a view of the skycrapers in Toronto and a water channel. There is a patio with lights in the evening and there is a fireplace giving the inside a cozy feel.
Ordered the prime rib with juice. It could have had more meat. Added the mozarella and mushrooms for 95 cents each extra. Also had the spinach and artichoke dip which came piping hot with bread and nacho chips which were covered in spicy salt. The spinach dip was too little for the amount of nacho chips and pita bread given. In five scoops, it could be finished, so I had to be very thrifty with my scoops.
Friendly waitress. Good view, good food (but could offer bigger portions).

I checked Unilocal for a place to eat close to the Cirque du Soleil show. I didn’t want to walk far as I’d had surgery 4 days earlier. The Keating Channel Pub fit the bill. We met a friend there on the patio. I was able to find it easily, because I had checked it out on the map. My friend had a little more trouble finding it as it is set back a bit from the road. We arrived early and the patio had plenty of tables available. By the time we left, it was pretty full but it still felt spacious. It is on the channel, so no lake view, but a nice water view and a great view of the downtown skyline. Shortly after we arrived, Coby the magician showed up. He is amazing and fun. He went from table to table entertaining everyone. Later a fellow on a guitar came and did a couple sets. He was loud enough to hear well and sing along with when we wanted to, and quiet enough that we could still chat comfortably. He took some requests from the audience. We had chicken curry nacho chips which were delicious. The fish and chips were ok. Slightly better than average. The pinot grigio was fine. We had many glasses of it.
Long story short, I’m glad I found this hidden gem and I plan to come back again!

Great drink selection. Large indoor pub, large patio. Dog friendly. Nice live music. Not too busy. Good food and selection. Would definitely go again, especially on a summer night.

Popped in here for some drinks and food with a girlfriend and brought my dogs. Super dog friendly place! Beautiful view. Service was decent, food and drinks were great but nothing over the top.

Great location for lunch coming off the Cherry Beach fields. Friendly staff and delicious food, a bit pricy though.

Great location right on the Keating Canal, I think the only pub of its kind in the city. To get there you can take the TTC Bus, bike, or boat in! Spacious inside with with a great choice of local or UK draughts. Friendly wait staff.

Unique location. Friendly staff. Tasty food. You can kayak in, drive, or even walk from Distillery District. Patio by the water is nice.

The location is pretty awesome, since it’s close to downtown with a view of the canal. The inside is huge, as is the patio.
The drinks are fairly expensive, as is the food. However, I have always been pretty happy with my food there.
There service is definitely lacking; especially during the summer events. They need to staff more bartenders/​waitresses during these times because it’s so busy!

This is probably the best ‘off the beaten path’ patio in the Toronto. It is right on the canal which means that you can watch weird things float by in the water.
The beer selection is good & the bar inside is pretty big. The we had some finger foods that turned out to be greasy. I was disappointed, I thought that I had found a real treasure.
The hours are wonky so phone them before you go.
**Go in the summer, stick to the beer, sit on the patio & enjoy**

My 5 star reviews are few and far between, but this place is one of my favourite spots to spend an afternoon in the summer time, enjoying a cold pint along the water and eating some decent food without breaking the bank.
The patio is long and sits alongside the Villiers Channel. There is something about being able to sit outside in the sun alongside a body of water as various birds and ducks swim in the area around you. Looking west, you also get a great skyline view of Toronto. Love it.
There is an enjoyable mix of draught beers available including some personal favourites like Kronenbourg and Shocktop which is the perfect beer for a sunny day. Their food menu is quite extensive as well (literally like 4 or 5 good sized pages) and everything I’ve tried over the many times of visiting has been rather good tasting and at a fair price (seriously, the most expensive thing on the menu is $ 25). This weekend I tried the Thai Chilli and Teriyaki Beef Sandwich and have to say that it was quite delicious. The fries are admittedly generic but an adequate side dish.
side notes worth mentioning: Free parking, nice servers, and in the summer they do special events including the summer long weekend Sundays having house djs which is pretty awesome (although does have a cover charge).

Was looking for some place near the Sound Academy to get some food and drink before the Cars show and this was the place. Suggested by a fellow Unilocaler and the superstar reviews provided for it on Unilocal I went out and checked the place out. From the outside It definately looks like an old skool by the water type of pub. Inside its a mix match of tables like a old school tavern and a nice seating area. The clientele was a mix of suits and regulars. Not seeing the people I was meeting up with I headed outside to the Patio. Thankfully I did. What a great space right next to the water (channel). Looks like they have a dock that boaters during the summer can pull up to and dock. I don’t think they pub was ready for a crowd of people as they scrambled to open their patio with the influx of middle age concert goers.
The service was good even though our server mentioned a couple of times that she was new. I kidded her that it really didn’t matter about the service as the end of the world was scheduled for tomorrow (may 21). She didn’t flinch or smile at that comment so I’m thinking she had no clue on what I was talking about. The food was alittle pricey and good. Nothing super spectacular, but tasty. I had the pasta with chicken. Keiths was the beer of choice.
Definately a great location and definately worth hitting up pre-​sound academy and during the nice summer months for their patio.

I read Josh N’s Review, and I think his star rating doesn’t match his stellar experience!!! I read his review in the parking lot before we went in! My husband and I were going to a concert at the Sound Academy, but we weren’t really into seeing the first band so we thought we would find a place to have some snack food and a beer. We saw Keating Channel totally by accident, but we are SO happy we stopped in!
Keating Channel Pub is a big, spacious place with lots of space between the tables which I love. Being small town girl turned downtowner, space is precious to me… Keating Channel feels simple and pub like, and the service staff are friendly, down to earth, prompt, the whistle while you work type. They have a monstrous selection of on tap beers including Kronenbourg 1664 and the Blanc (This is the first pub in all of Toronto that I know that carry these selections) I ordered the Blanc first, then the Regular. BOTH freezing cold, Amazing and served to me in a Kronenbourg glass, which I like. Even the Blanc was in a Blanc Glass. This Pub also had a gorgeous Pool Table & the tables are not plastic, and there weren’t coasters under any of the table legs! It smelled good in there, and there was lots of natural and artificial light.
Taite and I are picky about pub food and this was good food. Taite had the fish and chips and it came out wrapped in newspaper on a plate, coned and everything… Very Classic Presentation. He said the fish was hot, cooked awesome & very authentic. The pieces were kind of little, but he said he had enough to eat in the end! The fries were hot the whole meal, and he like them a whole bunch too. I had the Garden Burger (Vegan) and it was AMAZING!!! Cooked Great, Hot Fries & all the fixing’s a girl could ask for.
The Bartender was this totally down-​to-​earth Blond Bombshell who was funny and efficient. I went up to the bar for a shot and she was smiling ear to ear… Nice Girl.
I think Taite and I will make an active attempt to make this a frequent place to go out of downtown.
Apparently they have a patio, when the weather isn’t rainy we will hit that up!
Love this place!

Only recently noticed this pub on the water, after driving along Cherry St. many times in the past few years. Finally gave it a try, after noticing how they had a pretty large outdoor area right on the water (channel).
It was very busy outside, being a hot summer night. Lots of seats and people (seemed like a few recreational sports teams) drinking and eating.
Quickly grabbed a seat, scanned the quite large menu and the 3 of us ordered drinks + food. Service was prompt, and the food was actually a lot better than expected. All 3 of us ordered the same dish and commented that it actually tasted home-​cooked (in a good way).
Excellent spot on the ‘water’ in the city. Since usable Toronto waterfront is such a rarity, it was nice to actually be able to feel like we were putting it to use.
I’d definitely return for drinks and food. I suspect we may have gotten lucky with the food we ordered, but I’ll keep an open mind next time.