Met my best friends here. Genuine perfection. Everything was perfect. Service, ambiance, everything. Thank you!

Looking for cheap drinks downtown? This is your spot!l Pitchers - sangria, mojitos and various other mixed drinks are perfectly cheap here and you can't really go wrong, especially if that's what you're looking for! Came in on a weekday evening and wasn't crowded. It is a tiny space so if you're planning on going with a big crowd be prepared to take most of the space up. read more

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I love this bar! It has nice chilling-in-your-basement feeling. It's also very affordable. The nachos were delicious. The sangria was also very nice because it wasn't too sweet! It was only about $13 and had enough to fill up at least 6 glasses! The shooters were also only $3 each! I would definitely recommend this place because of its affordability and amazing service! Most places that offer cheap drinks wash it down with water a lot but this place does not do that !! I would definitely come back here! read more

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Bistro 422 is one of my favourite spots in Toronto! The owner's name is Burger and he's super surly. But that's part of the hole-in-the-wall charm. It's located just East of Bathurst on the North side of College street, open 7-days a week and completely tucked away. To get in, you have to walk down a steep set of stairs in to a basic hole of a basement with high bar tables on one wall, lined with a bench, and low tables on the other. At the end is a slip of a low-slung bar with Christmas lights for decoration. This is usually where you'll find a non-smiling, all business, Burger. The attraction to this place is the cheap drinks. For roughly 10 bucks, you can get a mini-pitcher of whatever you want. Vodka soda, Jack and Coke, etc. Long island Iced Tea is my fav by the pitcher. They throw a straw in it and off you go. Past the bar is what looks liek a kitchen, but I have never eaten there, nor would I ever. This is a drinking hole and nothing else. The bathrooms are decent, if you hold your breath the whole time. They always have toilet paper and soap though, so that's something. To the left of the bathrooms is a door that seems to lead nowhere. If you peak around the corner at that door though you will find a narrow, broken staircase up to the very pleasant and inviting back patio, also strung with tons of white Christmas lights for ambiance. They have raffles sometimes with shots and other drinks with funny names like "Slippery Nipple" and "Blow Job" as prizes and they get the whole bar to partake. For all it's bruises and rough edges, Bistro 422 isn't trying to be anything else. It's a great community spot where the mixed bag of patrons (mostly young people from 20-25) co-exist happily. It's also a great spot to hide out if you're on a secret date. read more

Bistro 422 Bar & Grill - Indoor seating at Bistro 422 - Dive Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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It's a cheap place to have drinks. It's in a basement and has a few tables. The good isn't bad either. Personally I did not like the ambiance at all, but then if cheap drinks is what you are looking for, this is definitely a good option. read more

Come in with 0 expectations and you will have a great time. What is better than $11 beer pitchers and $15 sangria? Ignore the fact that the food isn't great, the bathroom is questionable at best, and the glasses all have weird finger prints on them because if you wanted bougie you should have gone to BarChef. Pro-tip: their weekday specials are super fuego - with cheap drinks/eats pretty much everyday of the week ($6.99 nachos on Thurs anyone?) read more

Okay, i understand why there are really good reviews and why there are really bad reviews... but for anyone who has never been to Bistro 422, there are some things you should know. - you have to go down some steep stairs to get in the bar... i'm surprised there hasn't been any accidents with drunk people on those stairs... - its a small bar, dimly lit, crowded and very loud. i've heard there is a patio in the back, but i've never been. - if you think the server will be nice to you, you're going to think he's an asshole. However, if you expect this man to be an asshole, then you'll be okay... Someone told me this the first time i went and i'm glad. often people get offended when he's short or impatient with them. - you'll get ID'd. This is probably for the best, seeing as one of my friends told me she celebrated her 16th birthday party here years and years ago ... - although the "house laager" is cheaper at 10$ a pitcher, you can get a pitcher of Steamwhistle for a dollar more, and it is much much better beer. - Whenever i go in, i'm hesitant to order food, because of the questionable cleanliness of the place, but i will say that once i did order a plate of perogies, and didn't get food poisoning. i'm not sure if i was just lucky...? They were actually pretty tasty, and i know food is often cheap here too. - the bathrooms are gross. mens or women's it doesn't matter which one you're in... be prepared to be grossed out, expect that, and maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised. Personally, i love this place, its usually a good time, usually because everyone's drunk. I hope these tips help you! read more

If I was 19 years old and writing this review, I would have given this place five stars. But I'm not. I'm 27. And I'm afraid of germs to a certain point, meaning that I like my drinks to be served in at least a clean(ish) glass. Not too much to ask at any age. Sure, this place has hole in the wall charm and of course CHEAP beer, but good god. Good. God. It is a f'in dive. It's washrooms need a wash. There is a smell to them that I cannot and don't want to define. The back "patio" makes you feel like you're in the outdoor rec area of a prison. Plus everyone there is either really drunk or really big assholes. Sorry. Maybe I'm not getting something with this place.....but I think it's a piece of crap. read more

Pull up a chair pilgrim: It's a Dirty Dive. In. Drink. Out. I wouldn't trust the food - I played it safe and got the bruschetta which was just diced tomatoes on bread, which isn't much to complain about... I've had worse bruschetta! Barman was friendly - if he had a cape on I'd give an extra star. Not the best watering hole in Toronto but there are some that are WAY worse that fall short - this hits the bar... on its toes. 2/5 for Yelp 5/5 for Going to a place to get cheap drunk and hide away from the outside world. SEEE YOUUU THERE *creepy grin* read more

I don't know why this is getting such low ratings. People, it's a dive! There should be no expectations whatsoever when one goes to Bistro 422. You don't go there to eat; you go there for their cheap pitchers (minimal selection of beer and some cocktails). The crowd is quite a mix; I've seen students, 25+, and even some older middle age people. It doesn't matter who you are when you hit up Bistro 422 and no one there cares who you are/how you look anyway. "Bistro" is probably the most inappropriate name to have for a place like this so I can understand if you get fooled by it thinking that you're going to a legit restaurant with waiter service. Despite that, service there is still pretty good if you ask me. Prompt and checks with patrons throughout the night. The place is small and dingy; somehow that makes me feel quite comfortable and at ease. Maybe that's my way of subconsciously telling myself that the crappy condition of this place makes up for the cheap price? Either way, two big thumbs up from me. Oh do expect it to get very loud as the night progresses. Shouting is required. read more

"Maybe I'll get a burger" said a young man who hadn't been to The Beast before. The five Torontonians who accompanied him all shook their head laughing "NOO. No food." Anyone who came of age in Toronto spent many University nights getting drunk in this basement hole. They have personal pitchers of all mixed drinks for cheap and on Thursdays they do draws and you can win things. Great things, like peach schnapps. Be prepared to pay as you go throughout the night. The men in crew neck sweaters don't trust you. Among the worst bathrooms in the city. There are no words. PEPPER POINTS For their hidden back patio. read more

i knew i would have a like-hate relationship with this place as soon as i walked in. As you go down into the stairwell you know that this is definitely a locals and nonlocals dive bar, and you KNOW it will be a dinge and dirt like no other. aaaaaaaannnnd confirmed. check. you then know it will be filled with underaged or just-got-out-of-high-school kids and the atitutde which often compliments this type of crowd is a broody bartender and waitstaff. check. that being said, beer is ridiculously cheap, and if you're poor or an underaged kid, i get why you would go here. i highly reccommend not getting any food..this place looks like the health inspector forgot to check this one. I would reccommend the beer if you and your crowd are strapped for cash (as a pre-drinking place only), but other than that I would try to avoid spending too many nights in this hole. Do yourself a favour and order a pitcher of beer and opt out of any other likely-watered-down booze in this place. read more

the pitchers are 11 bucks for the house beer. Don't come for anything else. The snarkness of the old dudes who work here is also a plus

Great fries and super cheap/great pitcher drinks. I tried the 32oz killer kool-aid for under $13! read more

Bistro 422 Bar & Grill - Dive Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Perhaps I'm a little biased in my opinion on this place because I feel as though I've never been here during a 'drama-free' night. But then I reminisce about the few times I've been to this overly crowded, elitist-induced, dirty, yet somewhat... comforting or familiar bar, and I realize that, no, that is not the case. I have been to this bar during careless stress-free nights, without any foreboding in regards to antics that might ensue or specific people I may have to avoid. Maybe, I've just convinced myself that it is these antics that have soiled the bar's image in my mind for me. But then again, no, this bar has soiled itself. Yeah, so you can get pitchers of mixed drinks like whiskey sours, or screw drivers. But it is clear that they only provide you with a few ounces of booze, combined with a bucket-full of ice cubes, all in your little pitcher! And the washrooms? What happened there?? But, it is not all bad. There is a heated patio in the back which is pretty cool, especially when it is chilly out but you'd still like to enjoy the benefits of being outside whilst consuming alcohol. Plus, if you go during the week at night, it is not half as disgustingly crowded as it is on the weekend. I just wish that the employees here were a little more kind, or pleasant, or even neutral. I do recall receiving service from one or two nice employees. I also wish that I was not bombarded by eerie, rude, leering, strange, etc., looks (which can lead to awkward, forced conversations during which the whole time I'm thinking, "Get me outta here!!"), when walking into or through this bar. It's a little unsettling, especially when you're a taaaad intoxicated, as I usually am, upon entering this vicinity. And yet, I'll probably still go back here again in the future. And I really enjoy that heated patio, especially when I am tempted to go outside by friends, etc., and it is freezing out. So there you go heated patio, two stars. There you go. read more

A good place to come if you're in the mood for cheap drinks. They sell pitchers of beer for something like $10, and it's this fact that draws the occasional crowd. When you first walk in, you have one of those "what is this place" kind of moments. It's a basement bar that is small and old and you really wonder how long this place has been around and how it's survived for so long. The survival question is easy: the place is practically a bunker. It'd survive a bomb. The age question is another matter. I'd probably go with "no one knows." The thing I like best about this place is that more than once when I've come in with friends, I've seen a group of 4 or 5 older folks (I'm talking grandpa age) sitting around with their mugs of beer playing cards. Instantly you think to yourself: regulars. Any bar that has grandparents playing cards is instantly cool in my books. read more

Three girls walking around The Annex looking to drink and eat junk food and they ended up walking down to College. They were already inebriated to begin with. They stumbled upon this place randomly. This dingy, grimey, dark-looking basement bar, filled with glowing neon lights and tropical ficus. These girls were very chill and had a don't-give-a-fuck attitude. They walked in had some nachos ordered a couple, three or four pitchers of Steam Whistle and Amsterdam Blonde, and they were happy. They said that the secret patio out back is bangin'. The price of their bill also was amazing. I mean, 11 dollars or so for a pitcher? Basic bitches will be repulsed by this place........... LOL! So do go here if you are down for cheap drinks and a basicbitch-free environment. read more

Cheap booze. That's it. That's all you can expect from Bistro, or "The Beast" as it's more affectionately known. Don't expect it to be clean -- especially not the washrooms, which make me want to jump in a pool of Purel upon exiting. Don't expect good service, because the two guys who work here are probably the rudest people I've ever encountered in my life. I get it, you deal with shitty people on a daily basis, they are usually drunk, but come on. I'm a nice girl, I'm not going to get rowdy, and I'm going to pay my bill, so maybe you should treat me as if I'm a human? But my friends insist on coming here because of the cheapness, so this is where we end up sometimes. The back patio is fun in the summer, so give me a couple mixed drink pitchers and a straw and I'll try and forget about the jerks who sold it to me or the disgusting bathrooms. read more

Back in the day this use to be the go to place for pre-drinking. Though, as of late their prices have increased a bit - especially with the shots. I swear they used to be a $1.50. But, they still do have some good prices. a cocktail pitcher (4 ounces of alcohol) sits at the low cost of $11.51 before tax...so really I should not be complaining. Expect to hear "chug, chug, chug" in the background by large groups of drunk guys and to be served by a very surly man. It is not the kind of place you would bring a first date or your mother - but, a group a friends whose sole purpose is to get wasted - sure why not. read more

The Beast, the Beast, I love this bar. I've been going to it since it was so smoky that you couldn't see the front from the back. It is in no way a hipster-cool dive; it is a real, honest-to-God dive. It was a dive before dives were cool, and I suspect it will be a dive long after. All of the reviews are accurate; the staff is both surly and friendly at the same time; the bathrooms are gross, but not the worst I've ever used (I guess I'm more adventurous when it comes to checking out dive bars than some of the other reviewers); and you only come here for one reason: to get drunk cheaply. Go somewhere else for the niceties. read more

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand all the one star ratings for The Beast, but with this place, you really have to know what you're getting into. I wouldn't venture in to Bistro 422 to spend a whole night drinking with friends in a nice atmosphere....because it's really not a nice atmosphere. But if the mission of the night is to get drunk, then give it a chance and you won't be disappointed. I just can't get enough of the mini pitchers of Long Island Iced Tea, but you can pretty much get anything in a pitcher with a straw here. The service is awful....but I wouldn't expect anything more. The patio can actually be okay on a nice night. This is a straight up, no frills, you get what you pay for kind of a bar (hole). I've always avoided the bathrooms at all costs, but I'm sure everyone's right in saying that they are unpleasant. Sometimes, I feel like drinking at a dive-y bar, and you can't stoop much lower than The Beast, it'll always have a special place in my liver ;) read more

If I ever walked into the Bistro sober (not terribly likely), I certainly didn't walk out that way. This tiny College street basement bar really shows the youngun's what a dive bar actually is. The best thing for my money (and everything's cheap here) is the mixed drink 'pitchers'. Ten bucks and you get what amounts to like 2.5 cocktails in a big pitcher glass with a straw. Set me up with a couple of these filled with Long Islands and I'm good for the evening. The beer pitchers are equally popular and for the money what's there to lose (other than possibly the contents of your stomach). The back patio is nice although insanely popular and just as cramped as the inside. If you don't like the steamy and loud qualities inside then waiting for an outside seat is a winning proposition. In the winter you are left with little option, but it lends a sense of camaraderie when you're all shoved in there like sardines. One caveat - the ladies' washroom is pretty terrifying, all told. Try to go before and hold it until you leave. read more

Walked in and it smelled like piss... the bathroom smelled better. Hadn't there been an outdoor patio, we would've left. But the drinks are great prices and the foods good so I guess it balances out. read more

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If you serve pitchers of gin & tonic, you're A-OK. If my foot sticks to your floor, you're A-OK. If you're subterranean, you're A-OK. Everything about this drunken, fluorescent-flickering-lights place is A-OK in my book of sticky floor dungeon dives. read more

ok, ok, ok.... i know alot of toronto pubs have become popular, and busy for their no-frill style, relaxed atmosphere, and anti-corporate vibe, but I have to put my foot down right f'''''ckin now!!! This Pub..i'm sorry, it is terrible. Don't get me wrong, I like alot of bars in downtown toronto that go for the take it or leave it service, cheap beer, bad food, loud music, dirty-ish surroundings.... Sometimes these places really can create a great little atmosphere..... e.g. The Wide Open, Sweaty Betty's, Crooked Star, 751 Queen west, etc, BUT.... NO, I WILL SAY IT RIGHT NOW!!!! bistro 422 just takes the absolute piss... It should not be allowed to open its doors. God knows how they pass the health inspection. I know this may sound quite posh of me, but im sick of these places getting rave reviews for being shit! give me a F``ckin break! The bartenders are wankers, the drinks (pitchers of question mark beer) are for the dogs, and the place smells worse than a firkin carpet. All in all, i really don`t understand when people tell me they like bistro 422. To be honest, I really think they are just kidding themselves in the hope of looking edgy, and off-beat in this uber-image conscious city that we live in today. need i write more, i could, but i won`t. thank you for reading ;) read more

That waiter is really something else, isn't he? Completely unreasonable and condescending. We left 1/4th of the way through our planned visit because he was just waaaay too much. read more

Lets get one thing clear. This place sucks. The servers are absolutely rude, last time i was there i got fully confronted about not leaving eneough tip, even when the pitcher was rounded up in price. The washroom has a thing layer of piss or water on it at all times. the place smells terrible, and its right beside sneeky d's, my all time favorite bar in toronto. So why go? Ill tell you why, theres something to be said for that type of ultimate dive. The beer is actually palatable at an incredibly low price, you can become part of a problem at a place so greasy. You can bring all your friends there and leave without dinting your wallet. Well, i guess even with those few postivies it still is terrible, but i still find myself going back purely for the suds. I dont know if i will ever get over the tip comment, but hey, im a kid. read more

quiet little place, nice back area to drink if you don't mind flowers falling all over ya! drinks are on the cheaper side also! read more

Bistro 422 Bar & Grill - Dive Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I love this place. It's my Cheers when I go back home. The bartenders are always happy to see me and it's where I go when I need a chilled atmosphere, good tunes, and pitchers of g'n't. You don't get more bang for your buck anywhere else. I miss the beast. read more

This is "the beast..ro". It was one of the first places around the area to have cheap 'mini-pitchers' of rum and cokes, long island iced teas and other highballs. "3 oz" of liquor in each, and I say that loosely as it's probably eyeballed (or was, once upon a time). Very tasty, very fun. Their food was actually surprisingly decent, we got breakfast-y type foods a few times and thought they were pretty decent. Nothing special, nothing awful. A great place to get loaded at. The atmosphere is pretty cozy too, especially when full. Even at capacity it's not obnoxiously loud, unlike a lot of other bars around. I regularly meet up with people here. :) read more

Was in the area recently wanted to check out the jays playoff game somewhere.. First went to Tobys.. saw some of the food on the tables looked nasty so I and turned around and left.. saw a couple places across the street so I checked them out. Crown and Tiger had a crowd out front but they all looked like degenerates.. then I saw Bistro 422, they were busy for the game but the waiter told us they had room on the patio and they had a TV out there. It was a amazing little backyard style patio and had a 50" TV showing the game. We ordered the nachos and the waiter asked if we wanted to try the beast nachos with beef and pulled pork, YES PLEASE! They were amazing and also came with guacamole. We washed them down with a couple mini pitchers of long island ice tea. The table next to us ordered the beast burger which also looked really good. The prices were really cheap.. $14 mini pitch of long island with 4ozs.. $5 pints.. $12 pitchers of beer.. food prices was reasonable for the sizes. Had a blast, definitely going to head back there soon.. read more

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I've partying with the beast for over 20 years, this is the best dive bar in toronto!! The food is amazing & the drinks are cheap. The staff is surly in the best way. The owner & his wife are sweetharts. They make you feel like family. read more

Made the mistake of leaving a glowing review a few weeks ago when I was actually treated like a person. Drinks are cheap - expect nothing more, unless you enjoy Jekyll/Hyde personal attacks from the unhinged bartender, regardless of how much you overtip. Oh, and if you dare to leave for a few minutes, he WILL throw out your pitcher. Just go to the Crown and Tiger next door - drinks are even cheaper, it's not in a dank basement, and the servers are efficient AND pleasant. read more

cheap cheap beer. the house stuff is better than youre expecting, certainly beats pbr. the bartenders are complete unreasonable assholes. no excuse to behave that way. the bathroom is a piss sauna, but props for the ad from the back of Now magazine left on the toilet lid for cute japanese models with 36E's. read more