Handlebar

Handlebar has become our new favourite bar in Kensington.
The drink list is awesome with lots of fun local beers, cider, and mixed drinks (try the fantastic dark-and-stormy!). It's a cool dive bar with super friendly staff and an awesome dark decor complete with couches and a pinball machine.

They have the best food menu we've seen at a bar: my fiancée loves the poutinette- a perfect cross-hatched stack of thickly cut potatoes, smoked gouda, and red-wine demi glas that'd be at home on a high end table, but served at a bar! Their dishes are an impressive selection of the better vendors in the market (Hooked, Sanagan's, Thomas Lavers).

If you want a low-key relaxed atmosphere with good drink and snacks you can't beat hitting up Handlebar early in the evening. Later it becomes one of the better venues in town (the NXNE show we caught last year was incredible). While I miss the Avro, I've maybe grown to love Handlebar more.

Very affordable and good old school alt music. The bar tender was awesome and great make up tips

Handlebar is a fantastic spot for a laid-back night out with friends. The ambiance is chic and casual, with a cool, dimly-lit vibe that's perfect for relaxing. The bartender was not only friendly but also shared some great makeup tips, adding a personal touch to the evening.

The place gets lively, especially with its great mix of old-school alt music that sets a fun tone. While the crowd can get a bit thick, the service remains consistently good, and the outdoor seating is reportedly a great spot to hang out when the weather's nice.

The prices are very affordable, making it a solid choice for anyone looking for a fun, unpretentious bar experience. If you enjoy a good mix of music and a friendly atmosphere, Handlebar is definitely worth a visit!

Really fun place to hang out with friends. The staff are very nice and service is great.

Place:
The place is very chic and hipster in my eyes. It gets pretty crowded and there is live music that sounds like it from the radio! Pretty GOOD! I never went to the outside seating but I heard it nice to hang out there.

Service:
The service is overall decent it is pretty busy so I can't blame them! IT IS PRETTY DARK TOO.

Food/price:
The pricing is not bad and it is more for the environment. The drinks are all around 10 so that is a bit pricey but then again it is a bar.

Audience:
The audience is young adults so that is nice and everyone is friendly! It is known for the younger adults and many want to check it out.

Recommend/tips?
I would recommend this place it is nearby all the places near Toronto so that is a nice walking distance.

You gotta love Handlebar! They got things right back in 2012 when they opened with a bang using Yelpers hosting an elite event that help launch them into instant classic Toronto bar status and adding a nice dose of class to a disheveled strip of Kensington Market.
There is good synergy between Round across the street and sometimes even the Boat, to provide some danceable nightlife to an otherwise tumbleweed infested strip where you might get mugged rather than have a good time.
I dropped by Handlebar recently to see a EDM live show where a friend of mine was producing, and it was good to see not much has changed from 2012.
Cozy tables along the wall facing the bar, a chill spot at the very front near the end of the long bar, and spontaneously good service from the bar keeps. This along with a perfectly sized dance floor add up to the right chemistry for longevity. Don't change a thing!
(And, if you want, run across the street and see what's happening at the neighbours :)

I came here on a random Monday night. Yes it's open on Monday late.
- Intimate, casual, dim candle-lit ambiance
- Booth seating
- Hip but not overly-hip, adorned with bicycles along the wall
- Cheap cocktails -love their dark and stormy (~$7)
- Chill with just a bit of people not overly crowded just the way I like it
- If you're looking for a place to dance, not Monday night

All I want in a bar at the moment. I can't comment on the busier nights though.

Like stepping through a time warp...good pricing on drinks...all things considered
Music is my only complaint...

Is divey another term for cringeworthy? Because that's the only way I could describe the music throughout the night.

I stopped by on Thursday evening because of the great reviews on Yelp. My music taste is a bit all over the place, but I try to keep an open mind when listening to other genres. Even if I don't particularly like something, I can appreciate good talent when I hear it. Tonight was not that kind of night. Upon entering the bar we were charged $5 cover each, which we thought was completely reasonable given that there would be live performances. I was fortunate enough to grab one of the last benches, so I had a good view of the stage while being close to the bar. Drinks were reasonably priced, with Jamo neat costing $6 CAD. The experience pretty much goes all down hill from there.

They only had one bartender for the evening, and even though the bar wasn't packed, the women behind the counter made we wait while she openly flirted with a group of men who weren't ordering. Once I was able to grab some drinks, I finally noticed that the music being played wasn't a soundcheck but instead someone free-styling? If that's what you could call it. Listen, I have a lot of respect for people that are willing to put themselves out there, but holy crap the music was hard to listen to. The acts that followed were an eclectic mix of techno and whiny beats over (what I think was supposed to be) sultry and soulful lyrics. The performers kept asking the techs to turn the music up, even though you could barely hear them singing over the beat and the speakers were definitely busted. No one likes the sound of a busted speaker... why on earth would you proceed to turn the bass up?

It was so disappointing because I loved the aesthetics of the place. It definitely had a hipster feel to it with the retro movie playing on a giant projection and tastefully placed trinkets around the space. Perhaps I went on an off-night, but i felt like I paid to watch a train wreck of a high school talent show... if all the high schoolers were completely inebriated and invited a group of their friends to cheer them on.

Stopped into Handlebar for my 2nd visit yesterday; sat at the bar and had a beer - Great Lakes' Brewery's Karma Citra - which was superb. The service was quite efficient and friendly and I really admire the décor and ambiance of your venue. Even got to see and hear the band setting up to perform and doing their sound check. A quite pleasant experience.

This is a great place to have a drink with friends, a mate or alone. Seems like a spot that you can always make new friends and get to know the regulars.

I came here from NYC to sit in and watch i am Robot and proud, a cool band you must check out if you haven't heard of them already - they are an awesome group and the music is great.

This bar was a perfect fit. Cozy, chill and somehow it felt special... I don't know, but maybe that's the beer talking =)

I'll comeback on my next trip.