Fat City Blues

While this place might be fun for after dinner drinks with a VERY small group of people who are not really interested in conversing with each other, unfortunately, after attending a close friend’s birthday at this venue (dinner and drinks) I’m going to go ahead and give this place one star for the following reasons:
1. Booze: underwhelming. Cocktails were pretty standard and they only had one red and one white wine available. I ordered an aperol spritze that was served in a champagne glass, with no ice, soda or orange…
2. Food: NEVER AGAIN. Between the $ 14 ribs that arrived after the other 15 people in our group had finished eating, and the $ 18 crab legs that I could not for the life of me crack open or find any meat within, the food was horrendous. Sides included a «corn salad» which a few of my vegetarian friends ordered, only to find it had cold pieces of bacon in it and was held together in a mush with congealed bacon fat. The collard greens weres fine but anyone can steam collards and sautee them in a bit of butter.
3. Music: Ok, so the band that was playing at 8:00 pm was good but good LORD they were loud. After the band started, not one person at our table could have a conversation… even with their neighbour.
So, once again, I would say that this place would be fine for a drunken post-​dinner visit on College West but do not plan a big group event there and I’d highly recommend eating first… or grabbing a slice of pizza on the way home like a few of us did.

Great place, staff and music. Perfect atmosphere for some blues. Will definitely return next time I’m in Toronto.

Drift into Fat City Blues and you won’t be blue, but you’ll be ecstatic that you decided to do so. It’s a unique experience and you don’t even have to leave the city. Sexy live music (everyday) right in the centre of it all. The menu is eclectic yet concise, with dishes known to the south. My friend and I went there for drinks so we only ordered the «Rustic Russets», in other words fresh cut potato chips. They were crunchy and yummy. They also had interesting cocktails which we decided to try–
K who cares about me, just GO!
(or don’t and leave it a gem for the rest of us to enjoy: D)

Tried this place out on a lovely June saturday early evening, sitting at a long table on the
wife and I aren’t much for drinking, so did not sample the $ 12 to $ 15+ cocktails. We have lived in the south and spent time in New Orleans as well, and looked forward to this experience. Dinner was mostly an exercise in mediocrity. I ordered the ribs with rice and beans. I think it was $ 18 + $ 4 for the little side bowl. There were 3 ribs, which calculated to $ 6 each or something close to that.8-) They were 6″ long with a tasty dry rub, but very little meat on the bone, and it was smoked to whatever the opposite is to falling-​off-​the bone. The beans and rice were bland and a non event. My wife had the shrimp po’boy.sandwich and enjoyed it. We split an order of beignets, which arrived as tiny air-​filled timbits that collapsed in your mouth and became almost as chewy as the ribs. a fail.
I love live music and may be back for a later evening. As far as N.O. dishes go, we missed jumbalaya, shrimp creole and other dishes that one would associate with Louisiana, and which do not meet a deep fat fryer.
In my opinion only, as a restaurant this establishment joins others such as Barque on Roncey that approach southern cooking– which is after all based on «poor people’s food — as more upscale haute cuisine and price it accordingly. The dishes we had were near double the price and a small portion of the serving one would receive in a typical NoLa area restaurant, and did not succeed in what it was trying to present as authentic food OR as fine dining. A curious somewhat upscale hybrid that isn’t bad, but is not yet excellent. I may have read their intentions wrong, and this may be more of a nightclub with snacks than a restaurant. Balance this review with the others and you can decide if it is for you.

Start off saying that I am a BIG FAN of their Louisiana Alligator Po’Boy.
My friend and I arrived at Fat City Blues around 5PM on a Wednesday which is the hour when it opens and it was dead empty. So if you wanna avoid the crowds, arrive when there is light outside because I’m assuming it gets very busy at night when they have bands playing.
The interior looks very vintage and I appreciate restaurants that put a lot of effort and thought to have their place looks unique and have a certain tone and vibe. Also, their patio which we sat at was very joyous in the way it looks with cushion booths and overall sense of it.
I ordered the Louisiana Alligator Po’Boy and it was my first time trying alligator. My first taste was definitely a great one because the alligator was chewy at all, wasn’t too crispy, nor did it have a funny taste. It tasted amazing to be served as a Po’Boy. I do not regret ordering. The remoulade and bun of the Po’Boy sandwich were great as a whole, nothing to complain about. Also, the Po’Boy sandwiches come with the restaurants own potato chips and a sliced dill on the side. Potato chips were very seasoned but nonetheless, I still enjoyed them. My friend got the Catfish Po’Boy and it looked just as good.
Certain may look at their prices as a bit too pricey but I thought it was worth it. It also might be much more worth it if you do endure the crowd and enjoy the sounds of the band playing at night.

The live entertainment makes this place but too bad the staff are «too cool» to be friendly. The service is terrible. Food ok. It’s another clicky socially akward Toronto bar run by some wannabe hispsters. Attracts the instgram crowd. Avoid this place if you’re flying solo, and do go if you have a good group which can break the bad vibes.

Went here the other night with some friends. Great patio. Cocktails are fantastic. To eat, I ordered the shrimp po’boy — it was delicious, my friend ordered the cat fish po’boy which was even better. We then grabbed our bill and moved inside to listen to the band play who were really good that night. I really dig the vibe at Fat City Blues. Looking forward to going again.

Five star establishment without a doubt. Such a fun atmosphere, great live jazz most nights except Monday I believe. Came on a thurs night and it was packed! The jazz band was very talented and it’s a very small space so it is a little difficult to find a seat but also means theres no bad seat. Also they have an amazing patio pretty big for this area. The food was delicious and extra points for having 5 dollar Blanche de chambly pints. They have double shot drink lists which do look delicious but they come with a price tAg of about 13 – 15 $. So it is a $$$ place. That said, for a fun evening or night out it was lovely and I’ll go back for sure! It was a very fun, welcoming, atmosphere, and made for a great night out on the town!

I’ve been wanting to visit Fat City Blues since it opened and last night I finally had the opportunity. This place is a New Orleans style bar with cajun food, quality cocktails, traditionally served absinthe and blues/​jazz music 6 nights a week (every night except Monday).
When my friend and I arrived around 10:30pm the hostess advised us that they were at capacity. However she took my number and said she would call when the place emptied a little. Fortunately this was about half an hour later. We walked back over, grabbed a drink from one of the friendly bartenders and took a seat at the bar.
About twenty minutes later the evening’s band returned for their next set: Big Rude Jake and the Jump Devils. What can I say? These guys went off and had everyone in the place tapping their feet. My friend and I just sat there and soaked up the atmosphere. I felt like I had been transported away from Toronto to a bar in 1940’s New Orleans (except that everyone still had Instagram).
I did not try the food but I scoped out the menu. They serve oysters, po’ boys, hushpuppies, fried okra and beignets — there are even a few vegetarian options for me. My friend and I had a great time here and definitely want to come back ASAP to for dinner, absinthe and more tunes. Well done!

Fantastic live jazz is hard to find in the city. Even harder in a venue where it is just part of the background. You can wander in and out of conversation following or not following the music to your mood.
I only had the oysters as the other options are limited to po’boys which I’ve never been a big fan of. I would like a broader menu but it is a minor quibble. Inside the brick lined wall and narrow corridor was intimate and conducive to conversation. The space works very well.
When I am in New Orleans I love to go to venues like this. I often wished we had options that mirrored it and while Fat City isn’t quite there, it is a great option in Toronto.

Live music at dinner ! AMAZING!
This place is cool, and we thoroughly enjoyed our first visit: great music, good vibe, good cocktail list, friendly staff and good service.
I’m giving it four stars: the atmosphere and the setting is 5 stars, but the food was 3 stars. We had okra and oysters to start: hard to get oysters wrong if they’re fresh and good quality, which these were. The okra trio has pickled, fried and blackened okra, which is beautifully presented but nothing special. For mains, the snow crab was a win: snow crab is usually delicious and also hard to get wrong, but never very plentiful or filling. The catfish po’ boy was good but not excellent, and the side of mustard greens was way too heavy on the garlic.
Our food did take a long time to come out. To compensate, the staff comp’ed us our drinks and the beignet dessert (excellent!), so I have to complement them on acknowledging our wait and making a big effort to make up for it.
We will go back — definitely for drinks and music, but I’d be prepared to give the food another shot too. I’m most excited about the blues, jazz, and honky tonk that this place has.

All Hail Fat City! This place combines 2 of my favorite things — live authentic jazz music and BOMB ASS seafood eats. Also, Absinthe, served traditionally! You can now fulfill your fantasies of feeling/​living like Toulouse Lautrec!
Seriously, their absinthe shtick is awesome, your liquor is a double shot (Or possibly more, lets just say I got right messed up from my one glass) topped with a gleaming slotted spoon, your sugar cube sitting on the spoon, also gleaming, and a large Absinthe Fountain, once again, gleaming. Within the fountain, ice water, so cold that condensation droplets drip sensually down the basin. A figurine of what looks like a nude woman holds said fountain and it’s generally a very sexy experience to be drinking absinthe here (i.e. I felt very sexy). The whole ritual gets stares from other patrons in the restaurant who are unfamiliar with this legendary drink SO DRINK UP THE ATTENTION EXTROVERTS. They were out of the Pernod so I went for their most priciest at 19 dollars a glass (Mostly worth it). It was smooth, anisey and strong as all hell, you will need a proper set of cojones to drink this one AND enjoy it. I have a robust set of ovaries, so it went well for me as far as cajones go.
Earlier in the night I had their French 75 cocktail — Gin, lemon and champagne and it was like NECTAR — I could see myself drinking litres of the French 75, went down 5 times easier than the absinthe.
The FOOD — We started off with BC Oysters, I love me a good oyster and these fit the bill — sweet with a touch of that salty seawater swishing about in the shell. Served on ice with some weird lemon sauce (meh no) and cocktail sauce (mmhmm yes) on the side. They were a touch gritty, so their shucker needs to watch himself cause gritty oysters give me sad times.
Then I got a shrimp po’boy and O BOY WAS THAT A GREAT PO’BOY. A fresh pillowoey bun, with a fantastic slaw on the bottom with just the right amount of crunchy tartness to complement the shrimp. And THE SHRIMP, GOOD GOD THE SHRIMP — they’re fried in this hefty cornmeal batter so the crunch is out of this world, and despite the deep fried cornmeal, it didn’t feel greasy or gross heavy.
The VIBE — Truly one of the best energies I’ve felt in a bar in a long time. Of course, Fat City is riding on the first few months of opening and great reviews and write ups pouring out about it, so there’s excitement in the air, and flocks of beautiful patrons packed to the back. And let me just underline how BEAUTIFUL everyone was at Fat City; our server, A statuesque brunette beauty, the hostess, a glowing petite blonde and patrons looking like they walked off a damn runway. I’ve been told I’m cute so OBVIOUSLY I felt at home amongst all the aesthetic A-​Games. But the energy is pretty vibrant and warm.
The Music — BIG UPS to the Patrick Tevlins New Orleans Rhythm. The lead singer was belting out some real bayou shit and I was LIVING FOR IT. Lots of foot tapping and head bobbing from me. And the ‘stage’ isn’t really a stage at all, the space is completely level and open to the bar so the music experience is immersive and intimate. Which is something I haven’t really found in Toronto at the level that it is here.
Honestly my favorite place in Toronto now to grab a drink and some noshes. KEEP IT GOING FAT CITY.

Our party of seven had a great meal of pints and po’boys, complete with an array of sides (carrot salad, rice and beans, salad) and the okra 3-​ways appetizer. For the $ 12ish each that we spent on the po’boys, we thought the portion was acceptable given the cool atmosphere. Our party tried all the po’boys except oyster, including crocodile, and there wasn’t a disappointed face in the bunch. I sampled both the beef and shrimp and would opt for the shrimp.
We had no problems getting a walk-​in table for seven around 7:00pm on a Saturday but your luck on that will surely vary. The draft beer selection of 7 – 8 taps included Blanche de Chambly and Okanagan, but felt a bit ho-​hum. Mixed drinks seem to be their specialty (specifically absinthe). We didn’t stay for Blues, but would come back to do so. I’ve eaten several times at Southern Accent (
) and would love to see this place expand their menu to add some other Cajun mains, but it just opened.