These three pubs are worth it at three different price points
It’s the Craft Beer Club’s inaugural Ultra Vires column…and we’re here to answer the age-old question: is it worth it? We did the hard work drinking from three different pubs at three different price points to give you our “Worth It Winners.”
The Toonie Option
Jeremy Jingwei (2L)
W Burger Bar, 10 College Street
Of TikTok fame, W Burger Bar sits at Yonge Street and College Street and is certainly the most cost-effective option. Where else can you get $2 glasses (albeit not full pints) or $10 pitchers of PBR? The beer is cold and cheap, making it an excellent post-study group hangout spot! With domestic tuition rising to $33,040 for the 2022–23 academic year, saving a few dollars here and there certainly doesn’t hurt. However, if you’re dead set on drinking only craft beer, I might skip this option given the complete lack of craft beer representation on the pub’s menu. That couldn’t be me though, considering I’m a self-proclaimed endorser of the motto “quantity over quality.”
P.S. Be prepared to wait if you don’t have a reservation (thanks, TikTok).
The Mid-Range Option
Andrew Parker (2L)
Prenup Pub, 191 College Street
Prenup is, without a doubt, the single most incredible mid-range bar within walking distance of the Faculty of Law. Like a jukebox in a small-town bar, they’ve got all the classics, boasting a pages-long beer list that includes offerings from Ontario, Germany, Belgium, Italy, France, the Czech Republic, and more. If you enjoy a sweeter beer (i.e., a beer that isn’t really a beer at all), try the Fruli Strawberry. Made from “one-year-old oak-aged lambic & pure cherry juice,” it’s essentially an alcoholic fruit punch. Prenup also has an excellent schnitzel—a must for any ostensibly German bar. Whether you’re flush with student loan cash or surviving on a diet of chickpeas and hardtack, Prenup offers an inviting atmosphere and a beer to fit any budget.
The “I Have Money to Burn” Option
Alex Foulger-Fort (2L)
Bar Volo, 17 St. Nicholas Street
At the upper end of the price scale, Bar Volo has—in my objective opinion—the best craft beer bar in Toronto. The menu features a beer for every letter of the alphabet (you order by the letter), all from within Ontario. Bar Volo also carries a rotating selection of cask ales, a rarity in North America. A number of the beers across the menu come from Bar Volo’s brewery, which operates in conjunction with the bar itself and can be bought in cans to take home. The bar has a European-style atmosphere with dim lighting and tightly-packed seating. Ordering occurs at the bar, often becoming crowded later in the evening. This socially-conducive atmosphere is a welcome change from the table-service model of bars that many of us are accustomed to. Bar Volo also has a sister location called Birreria Volo, located on College Street in Little Italy.
