Salvador Darling

Fun times. Went here this past Friday for a friends b-​day. The bar has really cool and interesting décor and artwork with a number of oddities to be discovered like the hanging pod seat and bouncing horse. Even though the place was super busy the service was prompt and attentive. The music was really good too. Danced most of the night. Met a bunch of cool people. Will go back for sure.

I went to Salvador Darling for a friends birthday/​dance night. The place has your typical hipster bar vibe. That being pseudo cool ambiance and furniture and aloof bartenders. All in all kind of meh, and very indicative of the neighbourhood, being almost too cool for West Queen West. Drinks are on par price wise with the neighbourhood.
I wouldn’t go back any time soon unless it was for a friends birthday or if I knew the DJ. There are other bars who have similar vibes much closer to home, so why travel right?

Friday night, out for a Birthday celebration! I will start off with the statement, I really love Queen West!
What a delightful place, interesting mix of people. Yes it was rather hipster-​y but I really liked this place. The age group was just perfect, not too young.
Size wise: small, long, it was packed and difficult to move in. The make shift dance floor (I use this term loosely as it was just people dancing at the back by the DJ) was very small, yet my friends and I were still able to bust some moves.
Music: It was pretty hip hop themed, but that is my thing so I was H A P P Y. My friends and I could happily screech along to some good tunes!
Atmosphere/​Service: Super chilled, friendly (and very fast) staff, some of the bar stools (maybe just one) had a horse saddle on it… not a good idea to try and mount this when the bar is a. packed to the gunnels b. you are a little intoxicated. They also have a suspended egg chair, nice touch! Thankfully no one was trying to use it as some sort of sex swing! (I say this as I have been to bars whereby people are making out in a similar style of chair and well… yes everyone can see you, the egg enclosure is not a private room). The décor is quirky, I loved it!
Drinks: Reasonable priced, decent selection, mixed well.

After deciding that i didn’t want to drink at Motel, i went to Salvadore Darling. Really the name and the full curtain intrigued me.
My friend and I went in — there was no one, Just the owner setting up and grooving to her music. It was like entering someone else’s mind and it was great.
the interior is unique and interesting. Snake skin, stuffed peacock, bouncing horse, animals horns, great art work.
The owner is very nice, her personality shines through the place, the music is great, the prices are low. I can’t wait to come back here again for a pre-​drink.

I was here for a friend’s birthday party and I liked it!
VIBE
Tres hipster. Every kind of hipster: the bartender hipster that will always look immensely cooler than you could ever muster up; the regular Queen St. Hipster; the Gay hipster (with gay hipster date); the reformed hipster in prep attire; the hipster that pretends not to be a hipster (me).
There’s a lot of «hip» action going on.
The DJ was great and played all of my favourite songs from the early 2000s. Unfortunately, he did not have the «thong song» on request. That’s probably a good thing!
Oh, and make sure you go on the pony! Shenanigans will most likely ensue.
I DRANK
They have Corona and Heineken here. This makes me happy.
OBLIGATORY CATCHY REMARK
Definitely a «darling» in Parkdale. I’ll be back!

Salvador Darling is my new Parkdale darling… oh yeah I went there. yeesh.
Ok so my review writing skills are obvi not up to par today so I’m going the point format/​numbered list route… I secretly love numbered lists… and apparently ellipses.
Downsides?
1. It’s long and narrow… not a big place. But I happen to like that.
2. The bathroom is downstairs… stairs + me gibbled = inevitable disaster
3. Sometimes I don’t know if I’m cool enough to be there… but then I just order another beer.
4. I am really confused about what days they are open. I’ve been on a Thursday before but other Thursdays it’s been closed? Basically I just want them to be open all the time.
All in all not much negative to say.
Reasons I like it!
1. I always have fun when I go there
2. Not too shabby selection of beer
3. Reasonably priced bevvies
4. Nice little seating areas
5. Super friendly and fast staff
6. There’s a hanging 60’s mod-​style egg chair… that swings
7. there’s a saw horse pommel thingy… WITH A SADDLE ON IT.
8. It’s right by where I live and can stumble safely home
’nuff said.

My best girlfriend and I wanted to venture a bit further than the usual Queen east of Dufferin strip. I had heard this place mentioned by a couple of acquaintances which led me to want to check it out. It was early on a Saturday and next to empty, but it was the perfect setting to sit and catch up before heading out and exploring the rest of the area.
We grabbed a table right by the open window. The music was just the perfect volume for chit chat without throat-​scratching yelling. Unfortunately the outside heat was too overpowering and we weren’t quite willing to move deeper into the interior of the bar where the temperature was more comfortable — perhaps another time. And so we departed after one drink.

We stumble by on our way to computer geek night (2^nd and 3^rd Mondays) at the Rhino Pub nearby and marvel at the furniture and décor seen through the window. Frustration sets in because it is always closed on Monday nights and opening hours are not posted anywhere. Now we’ve found the hours on this page we will mosey on down some weekend night. We support any place that has a real piano, especially if it is in tune.

The staff are sweet and music tends to be good. As far as atmosphere the place is fine if you’re with a bunch of friends to help fill it out, however, I have a serious problem drinking cocktails beside a bear’s head or making conversation over snake skin. I can’t believe animals were killed just to end up at some bourgeoisie boozecan. It’s enough to stop me from going back.

When I want to relax among friends and escape from the turbodouchery that seems to take over the city on Friday and Saturday nights, I head straight to Salvador Darling to enjoy the ornate décor, privacy and the friendly bartenders.
Last night was another such night and after a delightful dinner at Mercatto, our large group traversed the city and stormed Salvador Darling, where we had the place almost entirely to ourselves. We lounged on the velvet sofas, listened to the iPod mix of the night (MGMT and Underworld) and admired our surroundings.
The owner has put a lot of work (see pics) into creating a charming and eclectic lounge space that includes taxidermy galore (a splendid male peacock perched atop small pedestal), a functioning piano, lots of ergonomic and architecturally-​minded seating, raw art coffee tables and original artwork. There’s a beautiful optical illusion photograph at the cozy bar of a skull that is actually made up of human bodies that you’ll find yourself mesmerized by and the sexy mood lighting will make it easy for you to lose track of time. Love coming here and over and over when I want to chat among friends and not have to yell because overbearing music is drowning out my own voice.

«Are you guys open?» is not generally a good thing to have to yell out while hesitantly stepping into a completely (yes, completely) empty bar at 1am on a Saturday night. It was also not the way I had expected a fantastic part two of a great night to start out.
Back story: I have been ranting and raving about Darling’s live band sing-​along Gospel Sundays for ages. It’s an intimate and electrical weekly event that gathers an eclectic crowd around the ol’ piano with passionate local musicians cranking out popular rock and other karaōke-​like (but in a good way) faves with an assortment of lively instruments ranging from the quintessential acoustic guitar to a one-​of-​a-​kind broom with jangling bottle cap attachments (which is used for its actual sweeping functions between songs too!). Highly, highly recommended, even (or especially) if you’re normally stage shy and think you can’t sing.
Back to my story: So when two of my girlfriends and I had enough of the electro jam at WrongBar last night and wanted to find a quieter bar to rest our aching feet and chat over more drinks, I was super excited to take them to Darling… until we got there and I thought it was closed.
«Yeaaah», was the reply we got from a tiny voice behind the bar. «We’re not very busy sometimes… when there’s no promoter», she added sheepishly, as if assuming we’d be heading right out the door. However, to her surprise, we merely shrugged our shoulders and lined up in front of her on the bar stools. She then handed me her iPod which I excitedly switched to Junior Boys and cranked up all the way. We stayed the rest of the night and had a grand old time shooting back Jagger (on the house, but don’t tell anyone) and tossing back bar rails ($ 5.50). For a few songs, the more musically gifted of my company even ran over to the piano and added creative accompaniment to the tunes. What a night!
For Darling’s sake, I hope that there are not too many more of these competely dead nights, but if things don’t change, there’s always Gospel Sundays!

Didn’t venture too far into Salvador, just hung at the bar and had a few drinks. The bartender (PJ) is so dreamy! Good music playing and decent prices on drinks. No patio out back unfortunately

One of my neighborhood favourites. Great coffee and yummy snacks — in the evening a great spot to chill for a few with friends. Extremely casual and intimate.

Salvador Darling is one of those small bars that doesn’t look like a bar, one that’s so dark inside that people generally don’t even know what’s going on in there.
But once you’re inside, you’ll see that it’s a pretty awesome place to be. They’ve got a big long table inside, with what appears to be a python skin laid out across it. It’s kinda creepy, it’s definitely real, but it adds some character. Besides that, there are a couple chairs, as well as bar stools at the tiny bar.
Bartenders are generally really nice, but when the place is busy, some of them seem to find it difficult to keep on top of things.
That said, the bar is mostly busy on weekends, but there are some nights when everyone seems to forget about Salvador Darling, and that’s when it’s at its best — it’s a great neighbourhood bar that is not sketchy at all and almost always fun.