Media Bar

Came here for an event. Music was good but the place was downright sloppy. This is winter and we were feeling very sweaty as the place has bad ventilation and it felt like I was dancing in a steam room.
The place is run down and kind of dirty. It’s almost impossible to get a drink yet when you can they are hella overpriced! 9 $ for shots? $ 11 for jäger bombs. Not only that, the bartenders give themselves hefty tips (paid for a $ 8 drink with a 20 and the bartender gave back $ 8 before running away. If you’re going to give yourself a 50% tip at least say thank you). Would not come back.

My experience was great, like other positive reviewers in early 2014. Its district is generally a waste of time trying to gain entry after 11pm, so for last minute spontaneity, this lounge fit the bill pleasantly for me. Competitive advantages include not making you wait out in the cold of a disoriented line, polite bouncers, a classy ambiance, and finally a classy crowd. I felt like I was smarter than the people waiting in line at other snooty joints.
You ask, there must be drawbacks if this is the only place without a line in the area? Well sure, I’d say some are it being bar-​sized, less people, no specific dance area (a pro), high drink prices, and not much else than indicated to write home about. So for a last minute bind, this place is a little gem.

Rating is 4.5
After a quick dinner at Joey for a birthday (Feb. 16, ’14), my friends and I somehow ended up at Media Bar. Before we even got out of the parking lot across the street, a promoter from a neighbouring club started hounding us about where we were off to for the night (not unusual — it is in club district and promoters are trying to fill up the clubs they’re working at). We told him we were heading across the street to Media and he proceeded to tell us that it was, «unbearably small and has no dance floor.» I told him we’d check out Media first and if we weren’t feeling it, we’d head to the club he was promoting.
At this point we were a bit weary. None of us have been to Media and we’ve never actually seen pictures of it so we didn’t know what to expect. We crossed the street and walked towards the bouncers for Media. The club next door had a line circling around the corner whereas Media’s line was nonexistent (note it was about 11:30 — 11:40PM). I started to question what we were getting ourselves into.
The bouncers were really sweet as were the coat check staff and co. mingling around the main entrance. So far so good. As we made our way inside we truly realized how small the club/​lounge actually was. Bar on one side, DJ booth on the other, a projector showing black and white clips from movies, a tiny dance floor with little tables situated around it and 4 booths in total (1 in front of the DJ booth, the other on the opposite side of the bar).
The atmosphere was amazing. The crowd seemed a little older (21+) and the entire venue was beautifully decorated. The restroom are tiny and the men/​women signs are easy to miss so be careful. The restroom was pretty dirty but I don’t expect maintained and cleaned washrooms at a club (although that would be nice).
Bar staff was attentive and all smiles — no complaints. Music was excellent. They switched DJs about 3 times and music was top 40s, old school dancehall, soca, etc. It was a nice mix of everything.
If you’re looking to mingle with strangers and actually make some sort of connection, this place is great. There were probably only 50 or so people there that night. It’s also an awesome place to go hang out with a group of friends. No obnoxious drunk people crashing into you or people spilling drinks on one another. The space may be small but the crowd is just about right.

I was here at a networking event and the place is quite small and if it gets crowned its hard to move around as the lay out of the place ism’t great.
They do have good couch areas to sit down and relax with a drink. The bar staff was low on a busy Friday night and that caused a deal at the bar. Although low on staff they were all friendly even people working on the floor.
They did have a coat check area as well.

I came here for a private TIFF party. And by private, I mean, an alumni event that was tangentially related to TIFF! Actually, one of the Board Members of TIFF was hosting the event.
At any rate, this lounge is fairly small and intimate. Crowds of 20 create an emergency exit hazard! In front of the bar and to the far end, there are small seating areas lined up against the walls. I imagine these convert to bottle service at night. The bar was well stocked and our drink tickets covered any drink in the bar. The place has a terrible ventilation system and with the crowds, the lounge is a sweltering inferno.
Overall, I enjoyed myself and the crowd in the party was ok too.

My friend and I were heading out of a Jays game when we got stopped by a young woman at an intersection. She asked us where we were going and what we were doing, and then said that she was promoting a new club and wanted to take us there. Not gonna lie, we were kind of sketched out but decided to YOLO and see where she took us.
Right as you walk in, the entrance looks pretty posh — the hostess desk looks like it belongs to a receptionist at a law firm, complete with fresh flowers and everything, and not a club. The inside is really splendid — a lot of effort went into decorating the booths to fit in with the ‘media’ theme.
The thing that really got me was that the staff were all genuinely polite — the bartenders were really nice and the security didn’t try to bulldoze through anyone when they were walking around the club. The bathrooms were tiny and really cramped, especially when girls started lining up at the womens bathroom, but they were all functional and clean.
Gummy candy in cups at the bar for the taking! Gummy bears, gummy worms, etc etc. I was instantly won when I saw them. Drinks were very reasonably priced — we were there on a Friday night and were surprised to learned that vodka soda/​cranvodkas were only 3 $ and drinks with tequila were only 4 $.
The DJ was awesome awesome — music was great and well mixed. The bar doesn’t have much of a dance floor though, even though they were playing some pretty good dance music. The music is mostly top 40 with electro remixes.
Had a really good time, and will definitely be coming back!