The Roxton

Sub-​par but not awful enough to give it less than three stars. This place seemed a bit confused to me – it was swanky and calm, but they also have board games (which is amazing but just seemed out of place). The food is yummy but not outstanding and I found it overpriced. The staff was nice enough but the vibe in itself was extremely off. You had an middle-​aged couple having a quiet, romantic dinner, a group of rowdy 20-​something guys drinking, and a mom with two kids playing board games all within a small vicinity of each other. It’s an alright spot. If you go, definitely get the fresh donut!

Popped in on a Thursday late night. We loved the warm and non intrusive ambiance, we really appreciated the music. We only had the late night food menu but the off menu cheese and charcuterie platter was great!
We had a great time playing words with friends.

Me and my wife popped in here for drinks the other night. It was a great little spot with excellent service and a non intrusive attitude lingered amongst the room. We overheard a table talking about how incredible their food was every time and inquired as to when the kitchen was closed.
We were informed that it was closed already and mentioned we would love to try it another time. Moments later, the owner introduced himself and brought some freshly made donuts and cream to our table on the house and suggested dinner another time. What an incredible night out in a safe, service oriented, professional environment.

Love the Roxton. Solid service, lovely owners, great vibe. The burger with spicy aioli is awesome, they bring you water with a slice of lemon as soon as you sit down, and they’re cool with you hanging out and playing scrabble indefinitely.

I don’t know what’s happened to the food at the Roxton! It used to be SO good. We went for a much-​anticipated dinner on Saturday night, and it was extremely disappointing. The risotto was undercooked, rice was a bit too «al dente», and it seemed like rice and other ingredients were cooked separately then put together. And the gnocchi, usually incredibly good, was a disaster. It was like little lumps of solid dough (Normally the gnocchi at the Roxton melts in your mouth). When I mentioned this to our server, instead of apologizing, she told me that’s what gnocchi are meant to be like, etc. I have eaten gnocchi many times before, and this was actually inedible. The roasted vegetable salad was okay. The salmon was a bit overcooked but okay. The dessert homemade doughnut, usually very good, was bitter with too much cinnamon, and tasted like it had been fried in old oil.
I’m upset because the food there used to be really great! Can anyone explain this? It looked like there was a different cook behind the counter, so maybe that’s what has happened.

This is the kind of place you want to call your local. Yummy food that tastes homemade and fresh, delicious mixed drinks, and board games! What else could you ask for?

Went there for dinner a couple of weeks ago. They claimed the modem wasn’t working for the card machine and took a carbon copy of my father’s credit card. The following week, there were several fraudulent purchases on his card. Either the Roxton is up to something, or doesn’t know how to properly dispose of sensitive data.
Food was OK, but nothing special.

Nice patio, friendly staff, food just OK. The burger in particular was rather disappointing. I asked for it medium-​rare and it came out well done. In addition, the meat did not have an ounce of flavour to it — it may as well have been a veggie burger with fancy toppings. If a place can’t cook meat to order, you can bet it’s not fresh.
Toronto needs better burgers! I hope the Roxton considers improving theirs.

Came to the Roxton on a Sunday night with a party of 6. They had Sunday drink specials which were your choice of a bar rail well, Roxton Red on draft or their house red or white wine for $ 5. We ordered the draft and red wine — both were great.
Everyone at the table ordered the burger — delicious. Maybe one of the best in the city. It was cooked medium and you can choose your toppings. Might I suggest you dress it with grilled onions and blue cheese like I did — yum. Tastes very similar to the famous burger at the Spotted Pig in NYC. Their relish is also fantastic. More cool cucumber than vinegary — really great. The burger is served with home made chips and your choice of salad or soup — the soup that day was french onion and it was NOT good.

The Roxton is the perfect cozy little neighbourhood pub. It gives you good food, friendly service, live music, and a charming atmosphere. What more could you want? I’ve eaten here a few times and have always been satisfied with my meal. Their daily specials are far more creative than your usual pub fare and are highly encouraged. Last time I went, they were also sampling three different desserts for between $ 5 – 7 (my apologies — can’t quite recall!). Whatever it was, it was well worth the cost! The portions were large and the flavour robust. Definitely deeeelicious. I’m also a big fan of the service at this place. The bartender is a very charming, good-​natured guy who is happy to make recommendations.
Added bonus: they have a few board games in house for you to play. Come in and stay a while. I’m sure you’ll be back if you do :)

I went to this place last night after a visit to the Comedy Bar on Bloor. I liked the décor and the atmosphere, although the music was a touch too loud if you’re looking for a place to converse with friends. They had a small bookshelf with board games, which is cool.
It wasn’t too busy at the time, there were a few groups of people both inside and out. The waitress was a bit odd, I asked to see a menu and she sort of looked at me funny before she gave it to me. I looked it over and it was a bit fancy for pub food but it looked like there were a few options.
I ordered the chicken sandwich with roasted red peppers and brie, hold the onions and mayo, and upgraded to jerk chicken. My friend ordered the beef taco special, no sour cream. The meals came in a reasonable amount of time. My sandwich was missing the brie, but the jerk chicken had a nice flavour. The beef tacos came with mayo on them. That wasn’t described at all in the special. Who puts mayo on tacos? My friend cancelled the order and the waitress sort of got in our face about it.
In the end we shared my sandwich and the nice part was they didn’t charge us for the tacos, I’ve been to other places that have when that sort of thing has happened.
I won’t go back there to eat.

There was live music playing which was a bonus to the fabulous service we received,
from patiently assisting us on wine selection to the friendly manner with which we were treated all evening. The menu is small with but with great specials. We had the chef’s gnocchi with avocado which is counter-​intuitively spectacular!
A great casual place to sit out and enjoy a night!

So I came here with a number of friends and what started fine ended poorly.
We came here before a concert to get some dinner and drinks. We ordered the pork carpaccio to start and followed it up some gnocchi, a veggie burger and fish & chips.
The pork carpaccio was minimal and covered by bits of not so fresh arugula. The gnocchi was average and the fish & chips were satisfying. To accompany the meal we had ordered the house beer, the Roxton Red. The Roxton Red is an amber beer that seems watered down and was not subsequently ordered after that.
Finally at the end of the meal is when everything went south. My friends and I split the bill, with some paying by card and me with cash (incl. a calculated tip of just under 20%). The first of my friends went to pay and the server asked her if we had a friend at the table that was good at math. She replied yes and paid her portion. I find it quite odd to ask the first person that question, as it assumes that we were going to stiff them. A better question to ask would be ‘was everything alright tonight?’, and perhaps to ask that question after the last person had paid. He ended up stopping a couple of my friends on the way out to ensure we had paid enough.
I would’ve considered going back but not after that experience with the bill. It is really poor form on behalf of our server.

Great food, great vibe. Certainly recommend it. They also have a great selection of board games if you feel like a substantial food and stuff drinks with your Snakes and Lattes.

I have driven by this place numerous times. Finally figured out that it was called The Roxton. Here are my points:
1. I never expected this to be Scaramouche, so I came here for drinks and not for dinner. Read other reviews to learn about the food.
2. The bartender (and subsequent service) was super gracious and kind. I never had to ask for water or water refills.
3. For the money, the cocktails were amazing. The beer was cold as well.
4. The vibe here is relaxed. It is not a hipster mob scene or a snobby place. It is quite enjoyable.
5. This is a great place to have a drink and a conversation. I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out here.

I love this little place and am so happy that it’s just around the corner from my house :) Their house beer is really great and I love the make-​your-​own risotto!!! The service is always really great and I love the atmosphere in the back booth area.

I absolutely loved this place! It’s one of those places where a deep down and very centered love of food itself seems to be the guiding principle. We stepped in on a blustery night recently and it was a very cosy oasis. We started with the red rocket flat bread, which was exceptional. I’m not usually wowed by something as simple as a dressed up bread, but the flavours really went together in a way that made the whole so much greater than the sum of its parts — my first sign that this place had genuine food lovers at the helm. The next sign was the canning jars. These folks seem to do everything from scratch — including making their own preserves.
I tried the ribs which came with beans and parsnip crisps. The ribs were pretty good, but the beans were spectacular. I also got a taste of their veggie burger — which I strongly recommend. It was the best I ever had by quite a margin.
I also really liked the room itself. We were there for several hours and I didn’t get restless or tired of the music, etc. It was extremely comfortable.
If I lived nearby I would certainly be a regular.

Perhaps it’s the tiny space that justifies only having one server on staff. However, the length of time it took to get our food wasn’t acceptable — maybe said server was also in the back, cooking the food.
The white sangria was delish. However, the lack of description of the menu made me unaware I’d be ordering gnocchi with a mint sauce (interesting choice and not the good kind of interesting)
I’d consider returning for a drink on the tiny patio but food will be consumed elsewhere.

I give it 5 stars to boost this underrated bar… at my own peril…
The wait staff really helps push this place to another level. The beet salad was not the kind of beet salad I was after. Although it was a rough introduction, we soon became good friends.

A fun small place along harbord close to ossington. We both had the DIY risotto which was really good. The staff, ambiance and service were all good. The place is very inexpensive too.
The only weird things was the lights seemed to be dimmed and raised every 10 minutes.
I would recommend trying it out especially if you live in the area