Bovine Sex Club

We came here on a Friday in May and pretty much chose it for its interesting name. We almost missed the place because other than the unit number, there wasn’t any indication that it was the bar. It was definitely a bar with character.
We went to the tiki room upstairs which was decorated accordingly with tiki props. It just recently opened up and they so far only have beers and some classic cocktails. They had about 5 beers on tap and about 3 different beer bottles/​cans. We ordered a couple of beers and a Mai Thai. It was a pretty chill and laid back environment. Later on in the night, they brought out heat lamps so that it didn’t get too cold. The tiki bar only has bar service. Downstairs, there was a live band that was playing. Overall, I’ll definitely consider returning once it gets warmer and check out the bands downstairs. This place met my expectations.

Great atmosphere and place. Service was fast and the drinks were good. The bands that played were also great and the crowd was into it. It is a divey place, but I really liked it. Would definitely head back.

Extremely rude bartender who does not even to make a simple margarita. (She has some purple hair with glasses)
Her colleague seems nice.
A pass!

I’m a little torn about this place. It’s kind of hidden away and has the dive bar meets nice rooftop sort of feel. I like the vibe when you’re sitting up on this patio. I’ve been here a couple times now, but it’s not gotten better with time.
On my last visit, it seems the cocktails have all gotten more expensive. They were mostly out of the beers on the menu. Seems they’ve recently undergone a revision. Not so impressed with the bartending talent here… I tried to order a capirinha. That seems like the kind of beach-​y, tropical drink a tiki bar would no how to make, nope, she’d never heard of capirinha’s or cachaca or anything like it.
Food was also kind of so-​so. Cassava fries were a bit of a misadventure.
One server was lovely and the other one was not so happy to be there or to help us.
All in all, kind of a hit-​or-​miss sort of place, and the last visit was pushing miss.
Full disclosure, there are no bovines here; there is no sex; and I wouldn’t really call this a club. It’s a nice patio though.

Love Bovine! But I had the worst experience with the staff at the upstairs Tiki Bar Lounge.
It was my roommate’s birthday and a group of twenty of us were really unimpressed by the staff there. This is especially applicable for the blonde working there last night.
She was so inebriated from taking shots all night that she would forget to give back change to all my friends. What threw me off the most was that I gave her $ 6 for a $ 5.75 drink, she kept waiting for more and I just handed it to her. She yells out «OK. SO A 25 CENT TIP.» I actually had my hand in my wallet to give her a tip after I received my change. I was so appalled by her rudeness.
Then as our group was leaving, I took the glass from my friend’s hand since I didn’t want her leaving with it. I was trying to reach for a bar space to drop off the glass and the DJ yells to me «DON’T PUT YOUR GLASS ON MY VINYLS». I had to reply «Calm down. I’m not!»
I was also told by my friends that they never received their change back and that they kept being interrupted in the women’s washroom by a yell of «MANAGEMENT» and constant banging from the blonde bartender who wanted to use the restroom.
It would’ve been a great night had it not been for the two staff members there.

Contrary to the name, there was NO bovine sex at the Bovine Sex Club. There was however a great outdoor patio, tasty cocktails and an awesome DJ. What more can you ask for? Apparently the Bovine is a popular spot for live music as well, but we were there on Sunday night and since our neighbors to the north don’t celebrate Memorial Day and had to work on Monday, it was pretty empty. Still a great place to grab a seat and people watch.

Another Queen Street Rock and Roll Institution, the Bovine is a bar that often hosts some bigger bands that push the capacity of this narrow and long space. There is a spot at the very back of the main level to escape the noise if you need a break. They have a glass door and you can duck back there after perusing the merch section just before it. A neat little spot to chill and chat with the bartender. The tiki bar added to the rooftop is a nice addition and smokers can rejoice at being able to sit at the communal table and relax. The single bathrooms at the back of the top level can get overwhelmed when the place is busy. The crowd likes to drink and thoroughly enjoy themselves. The owner hangs out at the bar too and gets kudos from me for attracting quality acts from all points in the rock n roll world.

*Strictly a review of the rooftop patio*
The Bovine’s rooftop patio is seriously a gem. The tiki bar theme, although such a contrast to the rest of the bar, seems to work perfectly with it. It’s easy to forget you’re right in downtown toronto and imagine you’re someplace tropical far, far away. I really don’t have any complaints. In fact I’m surprised it hasn’t made any top patio lists (at least that I’ve seen). Décor aside– the bartenders are wonderful, as is the ambient tropical music, so all in all it’s just such an ideal atmosphere. Now getting to the drinks, the bovine is great at making wonderful drinks for more than reasonable prices. My drink of choice is a bourbon sour, and at the bovine one will cost you only 6.25 $ and they use quality bourbon in it, not bar rail crap. As well they use real lemon juice rather than sour mix (ew). To sum it up, if you’re looking for a great rooftop patio to frequent this summer– look no further!

For my friends south of the border who may be reading this review, this is so not what you think. This is an amazing, live music venue where only the coolest bands and djs of the region (and occasionally further!) hold up residency. Anytime I’m up this way, I try to hit up this venue. I enjoy slugging back a great many Molson Canadians while I catch a band or a deejay groove or two. There are a great many bars in Toronto that go back decades that I just adore, but The Bovine is probably my favorite. Back when smoking was allowed in bars, they used to have matchbooks that read, «Pets or Meat?» on the booklet flipside of the bar’s infamous moniker. The staff also use to adorn themselves with these really cool black t-​shirts that read on the back, «Pet Me, Milk Me, Kill Me, Eat Me». BEST BAR IN ALL OF T.O.

I’ve never been to the indoor bar here but I LOVE the Tiki Bar upstairs! I was pleasantly surprised when a colleague suggested this place. It was that super hot week in July (super late review, oopsie!) and I loved the atmosphere! Open to the air, a cool breeze and an interesting bunch of people here.
The Tiki Bar only seats about 30 people, tops. We got lucky and got a teensy 2-​seater table and the menu was small but good. My colleague said the drinks were good. Most of what we ordered was delicious… although the chips and salsa was lacking. It was more «chopped tomato and chips».
Price-​wise it was about $ 40 with drinks and the service was quick and nice. I love the setup and I’ll come back again next summer!

I am at home at the Bovine. It is easily (and definitely) one of the coolest bars in Toronto with its junkyard décor, strings of Christmas lights, and copious amount of band stickers plastered everywhere. Now, with the addition of a rooftop tiki bar, this place is even more amazing!!! It’s like an ice cream sundae with all the fixings and no calories, like almost too good to be true, y’know what I’m saying?
I’ve had birthday parties here, I’ve gone on dates here, I’ve fallen in love here, I’ve met some of the coolest people here, and I’ve seen some of the best rock shows here. I’ve even taken my little sister here, upon which she informed me she understood me better. She has yet to return.
The Bovine is small, but loud. The bartenders are amazing and rock’n’roll. It’s just one of those places where the drinks seem to pour all night long and you wake up in the morning in your clothes with the lights on and the stamp smudged on your face. It definitely has a scene and a look.
In closing, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve been to the Bovine since I moved to Toronto, I could buy the entire bar a round of jäger shots.

I felt like I stepped into the movie FUBAR when I walked in which was awesome. There were a lot of metalheads in there and people were very nice. The tiki bar rooftop deck was a great place to relax and sip a MGD. It was so weird to see a Miller product say «Imported».

Ok, i will join the rest of the reviews and admit that the name of this play caught my attention. It is a small bar that has live music almost every night. Friendly atmosphere and the 3 times i have been, the band were great. Lot of other places in the area, so if this is not your thing, easy to just walk down Queen street to find something else.

Went on a Sunday night just because. I was only in Toronto for 2 nights, but I happened to hear about the place and decided to check it out.
Although there was only a small crowd (to be expected on a Sunday), I had a good time. I was dressed a bit differently from the rest of the crowd (punks/​metalheads), but I still felt comfortable. There was a girl in the corner acting as DJ, playing punk and metal through the bar’s sound system. I enjoyed her music choices, nothing that didn’t fit my tastes.
The bartender was quick to ask if I wanted refills on my beer, sometimes right before I reached the bottom of my glass. And since I’m from Ithaca, NY and it was my first time north of the border, I was unfamiliar with the beers they had available. She was very willing to help me out and make suggestions and just to converse a bit in general.
If that sounds like your sort of place, definitely give it a go.

I have to admit, I came to this venue solely because the name was too good not to go.
Although probably not what I wanted to find… what I found did not disappoint…
On a Tuesday night, Bovine Sex Club had an impressively good live band, an assemblage of hipsters jamming to them, a decent beer selection, cheap whiskey sodas, and tattooed bartenders that kept me entertained during my last night in Toronto!

The Bovine is pretty small and cramped. If you like elbow room you may have issues with this place.
They have live bands at least a few times a week, often for free. And even when it’s not free it’s usually pretty cheap. If I’m in the area late at night I like popping in for 10 mins to see what’s going on.
The stage is right near the front as you walk in. Also, the stage isn’t that high off the ground and the floor isn’t graded so if you’re short you might have problems seeing the front.
The acoustics are pretty good which is always a plus.
It’s not the best laid-​out bar for music but that doesn’t stop me from coming back to see the bands.

Goths, gypsies, misfits, and a really hot bartender.
Décor: like a tornado went through a junk yard. Comfy, dirty and just the right amount of creepy.
They have live music fairly frequently. Rock, alternative, metal, and grunge. The bands are friendly and talented.
When coming here, I try to wear something that displays the maximum number of my tattoos. Crowd is fun and relaxed. Talk to someone, anyone. No need for stilettos. Required: black eye liner, military boots, tattoo sleeve.

The Bovine is the closest Toronto has to New York’s infamous (nefarious?) CBGB. Small, dark and rough around the edges the Bovine has no artificial pretensions. Be sure more than a few patrons have lost their hearing in front of the Bovine’s stage, their virginity in one of the bathrooms and their minds to one too many Jägerbombs served up by some tattooed beaut at the bar. It’s history is written by many a legendary rock band that’s played their stage and/​or sat on their bar stools. This is the place to catch those indie bands before they become big. Say you saw them at the Bovine first. The bar has stood the test of time, has maintained a loyal crowd and held it’s own against newcomers like the Tattoo Rock Parlor.
You walk in, a small stage takes up the front of the establishment, then there’s the bar against the wall to your left where you’ll find tattooed maidens serving up common beers and whiskies. Above the bar is four old color TVs that loop through various animé, classic horror, vintage porno and just about any B-​Movie or cult hit you could think of. Walk past the bar there are the washrooms and past that you enter a rear room that allows patrons to hang out and chat audibly, far removed from the stage and whatever band is peeling the wallpaper off the walls.
For the longest time the Bovine was also known for being THE place to get your Jäger drunk on. One of the few (and perhaps the first in Toronto) that served Jäger on tap. Now, last I went to the Bovine I found that Jack Daniels had replaced Jäger as the bar’s promoted liquor of choice which seems rather odd to me. Jäger is to the Bovine as graffiti is to public washrooms. Perhaps just a temporary thing during NXNE? I’ll have to go back soon to find out.
Not unlike the Horseshoe Tavern the Bovine is a part of Rock n Roll Toronto history. Even if your not a rocker it’s worth going there at least once for sheer kicks. You might just catch a great up and coming band or see one of your rock idols sitting next to you. Whatever you do, bring earplugs.

Bovine hasn’t really been a local for me until just recently when they started their weekly ‘School for Band Aids’ on Sunday nights.
It’s not the regular playlist (or clientele) with DJ Candy-​O spinning Indie, Brit Rock, New Wave, and Retro. Oh, and there is a light-​up dance floor. (Yes, the Bovine HAS a a light-​up dance floor)
It’s a great way to finish off your weekend or kick-​off your work week. I have hit up the last two weeks and really enjoyed myself. Great music, great people and cheap drinks.
I think it starts at 10pm.

I don’t feel totally qualified to review the Bovine Sex Club because it’s simply not my vibe. Through appearance alone I am assuming this venue caters more to the hard rock, punk and metal sort of vibe — and so for that scene this place could very well be amazing?
But for me I am not really into places looking like they’re some sort of post-​apocolyptic bomb shelter. They have tons of chain-​link fencing around the venue and other random creepy things hanging from the wall. I do like the busted televisions they have along the bar playing obscure b-​movies though. And the men’s washroom is surprisingly spacious and doesn’t smell, from what I can recall.
They have a back room area as well with an additional bar. This used to be the «smoking room» when Toronto was going into its smoking ban transition, and this room used to be terrible with dozens of smokers going at it in a closed-​off location. Not a good atmosphere. They used to also have very high benches, but all of this has changed and now it’s a good place to re-​locate if you want to escape the live band.
Again, if you’re into hard rock, metal and punk then this seems like an awesome venue for you. I have seen bands there before and it gets very very loud seeing as the space is quite small. I can imagine things might get a little rowdy here… But if a band you like has a gig here I am certain you will have a pleasant experience!