Rockpile-West

Great bar to see live music. not many left in the west end. usually an older crowd. great staff who are always friendly

I’ve been here so many times I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed it yet.
Reason being is because my boyfriend is in a band and they play shows here regularly (not really my scene for an ordinary night out).
It’s a big space with a huge patio and lots of tables for people to sit back, order food and enjoy the music.
The food is alright, typical bar food. Don’t think I’ve really ordered anything here except fries although on Canada day I got poutine because I was feeling Canadian and it was WAYYYYY too melty and cheesy for anyone’s liking– fail!
I haven’t really drank anything here either except beer and bottled caesars ALTHOUGH, at his most recent show last week I was feeling frisky and decided to order a glass of white wine. Now I know this isn’t a common order in bars but the bartender clearly did not know how to pour a glass of wine. I used to work at a wine store so I’m pretty much an expert on this ;) 1 glass= 5 oz people! Well she poured my glass to the brim so in this case I am definitely not complaining because she basically gave me double what she was supposed to hahaha so I made sure to go back and get another!
They host some slightly bigger bands here too which my boyfriend has opened for such as Misfits, One Eyed Doll and Teenage Head.
Cool place if it’s your scene! The staff are really really nice and I think they know me by now!
I’ll be back (because he’ll definitely have more shows here: P)
Also, who rated this place $$$$ (ultra high end) it’s not! Unless you paid something crazy for your tickets but that has nothing to do with the venue! I’d give it a $$

Fairly spacious. Lots of room to sit or stand.
Two bars with food available.
Stage is raised so sightlines are good. Open floor in the middle. Sound is good.
You can get your mugshot taken as a souvenir.
The place is a little dated but rock bars benefit from that type of look in my opinion.

Bathrooms were clean, staff was friendly and let me charge my phone. Mini-​pitchers of Canadian, Coors Light or Rickard’s Red for $ 10.75 was decent. Shots are $ 6 and up. Had the hockey game. on but honestly, they could use one more flat screen facing the bar. Stage and sound quality are great!

+ Nice size, Everyone behaves themselves
— It’s old and bathrooms are brutal
Went to see Puddle of Mudd here last weekend and I was surprised of the size of the place – not too big. We were able to see the band from about 8 rows back, even with arriving late. Men’s room is small and disgusting inside, needs to be gutted. All the folks around me were pretty decent and I love the location of the stage, however the band had no place to rest other than on the stage (no backstage area for them. I would definitely see a band here again.

This is the better of the two rockpile… drinks are still a bit pricey however the menu is almost our times the size of the other rockpile… great sound… excellent location with great transit options. Andddddd free parking

I went with a friend last weekend (April 19,2014) to see Lee Aaron play. I’ve missed her the last 3 shows in the Toronto area but finally got an opportunity to go this time. Lee was great and definitely didn’t disappoint, but the sound unfortunately was absolutely awful.
The venue itself is smaller than I expected and tired looking. Beers cost us $ 9 each for tall boys but you can also buy pitchers of beer for around $ 20 with tip. For this review though I am going to focus on sound for those who really care about it and because I’m hoping that the owners will take heed and make things better.
I used to work in show business myself many years ago and as a result have come to really appreciate how much a good sound system compliments a great artist.
So what about the Rockpile? Four bands in total played with the sound getting slightly better as we got closer to the main act. For all intents and purposes though you can consider everything I say here as being applicable to the entire evening.
The sound was very muddy (distorted) and very much over-​driven. I would have preferred more clarity at less volume than the other way around. At times everything (bass, guitar, vocals) seemed to blend together into one indistinguishable mass of loudness assaulting my ears. Don’t get me wrong. I love loud music but it needs to be clean and well balanced. The highs were missing somewhat but at least weren’t shrill like some other venues. I was happy to see the stage lined along the bottom with woofer bins, a site you don’t see much any more but it appeared that they didn’t have enough power to drive them adequately in order to get a nice tight and punchy bottom end. Again very muddy and very disappointing.
I’ll be thinking twice before going back to the Rockpile to see another of my favourite bands.

Owned by the same people who had the Big Bop downtown, this place looks like it’s here to stay. I only say this because every other business that opened up at that location never lasted.
Very spacious, there used to be pool tables off in a seperate room. No idea why they disappeared.
Rock Pile features various local bands I have noticed. Nothing compared to Big Bop back in the day though.
Cool to catch a show once in awhile, and it is conveniently located close to home.

Came out to Etobistan to see a friend’s comedy/​improv troupe play the Rock Pile, so I didn’t exactly get the rock club experience. It was alright. Not a great selection in the booze department, but the offerings are pretty wallet-​friendly. The ladies’ washrooms, however, are frightening — even when the club was fairly empty and I’m pretty sure they were as clean as they could get. So, yeah. Maybe try to limit your liquid intake, if possible. But other than that, rock on! :)

Rock venues are quickly disappearing in Toronto (see: Rock n’ Roll Heaven) and I am thankful that this place even exists.
I know it’s in bumfart nowhere, but it’s very close to my house so I can’t complain. Free parking? What’s not to like about that?
Décor: I see what they’re trying to do in there, and I dig it. At least they’re TRYING. I like the mug shot wall for all your ‘kodak moments’, the electric chair is pretty cool, and I also dig the celebrity mugshots on the wall. Their patio is large, too. I’ll have to come back in the summer.
I didn’t eat anything this round, but I did eat here back in the early 90’s when it was a restaurant called Texas City. :D
I went to see AC/​DC and Metallica tribute acts, and they were great. Yeah, I paid a cover, but sometimes it’s a necessary evil. The sound was decent, the sightlines were good, lots of room to sit/​stand/​headbang.
The bathrooms had toilet paper at least.
Rock bars, you take what you can get :)

Last night I went to Etobicoke’s version of the G20 holding cell/​correctional facility, and had my rights read by the bouncer…
–You have the right to remain drunk… at $ 3.50 for Coronas and $ 6 for pitchers.
–Anything you wear or bring will be frisked upon entry in the club and possibly used against you.
–You have the right to free entry as a woman ($ 5 for men).
–You will have to listen to our huge, scary looking security guards as well as generally bad top 40’s (think Kingston Penn meets C Lounge)
–If you can afford a car, feel free to park it in their massive parking lot, if you are broke apparently free lunch can be provided to you!
Once I understood my rights and was taken into «custody» I started to acquaint myself with my surroundings…
My cell mates will range from juvenile delinquents to full grown Lakeshore hoodrats.
Don’t expect anything fancy from the washrooms, this is after all supposed to be prison (so I guess I should congratulate them on the «décor»
If all fails (and it does) most inmates spent their time where else? Outside on Rockpile’s self proclaimed «best patio in Etobicoke» (which is sort of like telling my hubby he’s my favourite husband!). All joking aside the patio is the only reason this place got more than 2 stars.
As an interesting twist they also have an outdoor beach volleyball court next to the patio (very intriguing)!
I will probably come back to try the food. In the summer time I can see why this place is popular since beer is cheap and the patio is gorgeous but once winter rolls around this bar is going to be a bust!