Bar Neon

Love this bar. Kelly and Barry make it the best place to have a drink and unwind after a long week. Amazing old fashioneds and dark & stormy cocktails. Also the feta fries kill!

I went to this bar with my significant other and we were not even noticed right away. I asked the bar tender (female) for her favorite drink. I expected to get a normal portion but when I received my bill of 24 $ for two drinks I was told her recommendation was a double pour. That is one of the most scum bag tactics I have ever seen a bar tender do. Do not go here unless you want to be ripped off on reccomended drinks that aren’t even good…

Asked the bartender for two of her favourite drink, they decided to make a mixed drink that was apparently $ 12 dollars so the bill racked up to $ 24 without telling me. Obvious cash grab.
$ 24 For two drinks. Wasn’t worth a confrontation so I left, I will never recommend this bar to anyone nor will I ever return.

We’ve been coming here for a couple of years now, and it’s only getting better with age. Although Sam’s no longer around, Barry, Laurel and Kelly are the sweetest people in the neighbourhood. Barry’s no BS– attitude and killer margarita skills also help.
There is still the $ 5 pint and buck-​a-​shuck oyster happy hours, but ½ price bottles of wine after 7 on Mondays and ½ price wings on Tuesday keep it interesting. The menu continues to evolve with mostly successful results. In addition to the solid wings, cheese board and calamari, there are some real treats. The grilled radicchio was a pleasant surprise, and this is the only place where I’ve willingly eaten Okra more than once.

Blanche Chambly $ 6.20 /​bottle and buck a shuck. This is what heaven feels like.

This place is cute and the hidden back patio is a gem. The kitchen is super tiny and honestly just plain filthy looking. Regardless of how awesome the menu may look, I would only recommend having drinks here.

I am going to update my review for Bar Neon, because it was written in the depths of January. Find me a Canadian who isn’t a little bit bitchier in the winter, and I’ll question their humanity.
Though I maintain I have bad luck with their wines by the glass, these are the things I love about Bar Neon:
+Their massive back patio with ample seating
+Their fun wall signage
+Their obliging and funny servers
+Decent beer list
+Excellent sangria (bad wine is A OK in sangria)
+Their above average snack selection (people go nuts for the wings)

So I went here on a Friday night with a friend while we were in the area. What attracted us first was the dollar oysters. Pretty good price but they were small but were fairly tasty (but not «omg these are really good oysters» tasty). Great with a beer! Not much beer selection but fair — had mill street organic and friend had the tea. We also ordered the grilled calamari which had fresh capers and ingredients but again no wow factor. Calamari could have more of a grill taste to it. We also had their wings which was pretty good and juicy. Unfortunately not enough of the actual wings… just one wing and the others drums. Overall a fair restaurant but lost a star for lacklustre flavour and another for the price of what you get. Although a dollar oysters are a steal that’s probably why I would return again if in the area.

Who knows how to make excellent fried calamari? This place does.
Who has a proper happy hour in this up-​tight town? Yes, this place.
Nice bathroom in a basement cave? Uh-​huh.

Came here with a friend for dinner. Ordered some beers, the grilled calamari, 1 lb wings and a dozen oysters (buck a shuck). The food was decent and while the ingredients were fresh, the taste was nothing special. It was a little pricey for what they were, particularly the grilled calamari. The wings were good and the house made sauce was unique but out of the pound of wings, there was only one wing and the rest were drumsticks. It was a good place though to sit and have a drink, good atmosphere. Unfortunately service was a little less than attentive. Overall, I’d still come back if I were in the area but only for the drinks, dollar oysters and if the wings were half priced.

My coworkers and I come here almost every Friday. Kelly and Barry are super friendly and they make strong drinks here. I love the Caesar, Long Island Ice Tea, and Boston Ice Tea here. A buck a shuck oyster before 7pm is my favourite, what a deal! Feta fries are delicious too. The bar is cozy, decoration was nice, back patio is great for chilling in the summer and fall. Sometimes when it’s cold outside, they would give us marshmallow to roast over the outdoor fireplace, because they are awesome like that. They have a DJ later at night, he usually plays good dance music. We always feel welcome and have fun here.

Bar Neon is an amazing happy hour joint. Oysters for $ 1 and $ 5 pints of Beaus. Even though the menu is limited, everything is great. Great clientele, and a beautiful back patio (where smoking is allowed A+++).

Really poor and almost non existent customer service. The bar tender basically ignored our group, did not out our order in and did not come by for an inordinately long time to clear our dishes and take a new drink order. When we expressed the disservice to each other, one of the servers overheard and immediately got defensive and made patronizing remarks. I really enjoyed the food but don’t understand why it took 10 mins to get the zucchini fritters and then over 30 mins later, still waiting for the second order after we finished eating and drinking.

Ordered their chicken wings they were good but nothing special. The burger was $ 15… A lot pricier than most other places. I didn’t like the oysters as I was eating them but I’m craving them now. Even though the food gets 3 stars for taste, our waitress gets 5 stars for friendliness and good looks.

I came here after a daylong meeting with food enthusiasts at FoodShare, just down the road (check out their greenhouse and garden!) and two of the people from rural areas fell in love with the Bloor West scene. So that has to say something.
The service is super; our server, Kelly, was our good buddy by the end of the night (and we did spend most of the night).
Lots of local craft beer, which is nice to see in a restaurant — a sign they support the local economy and young independent food artisans.
The dips were Mediterranean, and were delicious. They must be trying this new thing– called cooking from scratch with real ingredients.
Around 9:00, the place got jam-​packed, and I think I was the only person there without black pants and a black shirt.
As I say, my friends from countryside Ontario were thrilled by the ambience and friendliness. As I argue in my e-​book Food for City Building, restaurants double as ambassadors for healthier fresher more local foods and for the city that nourishes them. This is a case study of that trend.

Great patio out back, nice tunes, friendly crowd.
My only discontent is the limited selection of
Draft beers but hey, you don’t always get what you want in life. They make up it with a very decent variety of bottles.

I am a pretty big fan of Bar Neon for a couple of reasons. As many of others have mentioned already, Buck a Shuck from 5−7pm is pretty fantastic. The back patio is one of my faves in the city, chill vibes, and lots of tables. Beer selection is decent, staff are friendly, the snacks are tasty (had the dip trio last time: tapenade/​humus/​beet), and I’m also a huge fan the penny floor in the bathroomsl!

The staff here are AWESOME. They were totally fine with us bringing the dogs onto the back patio and even brought a water bowl. +100 000 points.
The food, unfortunately, left much to be desired. Small, simple and cheap, but not flavorful, I could have made better stuff at home for the same cost.
I will probably give them another try due to the level of service and proximity.

This place is okay. Although they have a neat little back patio (with firepit things) that may lure me back here in the warmer months, I wouldn’t rush back otherwise.
We came for the happy hour buck-​a-​shuck oysters on a Sunday. The place was pretty dead but it still took a super long time for chef to shuck our dozen bivalves. They were big, meaty suckers… and not too shabby.
The menu is Greek themed so we tried:
Spanakopita — spinach and cheese in a deep-​fried phyllo; just okay.
Saganaki — fried cheese… not great
Beet salad with yogurt dressing and crushed pistachios (not really a Greek dish, but still)…ho hum.
So basically, the food was meh. Cocktails were much better. Music was great. I’d come here to drink, if anything.

Great staff – attentive, casual, engaging.
Awesome cocktails. I love blending the bourbon and amaretto sours, which come topped with the traditional egg white.
Their daily buck a shuck is great, but orders can take a while to make it from pad to plate.
ps. Love the collaged walls and their neon blinking last call sign.