Bar Alo

They share an elevator, a third-storey perch over Queen and Spadina, and culinary DNA, but the city’s number one restaurant and its exceptional bar exist as two unique experiences—and this one doesn’t require jockeying for a reso. The bar at Alo is in many ways a contemporary love letter to the classic hotel bar, minus the five-star lodging. The drink list straddles epochs, featuring old-school recipes mined from out-of-print cocktail guides beside twists on classics, like the Armagnac Old-Fashioned made with Marie Duffau, absinthe and plenty of bitters. The term “bar menu” doesn’t do justice to items like a 60-day dry-aged rib-eye or hamachi crudo adorned with sea urchin. It’s not the tasting menu, but given the shared kitchen and swank surroundings, you’d never know it.

163 Spadina Ave., 3rd Flr., 416-260-2222, alorestaurant.com/bar