A gastropub and brewery has opened at a downtown address plagued by turnover

Taking over the storied Comstock Building, home to successive generations of breweries since the late 1980s—Denison’s, the Strand, Duggan’s, Beer Academy, Batch—House of McGrath is aiming for more permanence in a spot plagued by turnover.

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The two-storey restaurant, brewery and social house leans into the neighbourhood’s formative beer history (the Victoria Brewery, founded just down the street in the 1840s, went on to form part of the Molson Coors brewing empire).

The project is a true family affair for the McGraths. Husband-and-wife co-owners Matthew and Michele McGrath worked with their four children—the eldest of whom contributed to menu development, operations and business strategy—to bring their vision to life.

“House of McGrath grew out of the impulse to preserve a building with real Toronto history and return it to public life in a way that felt meaningful,” says Matthew, who grew up selling homemade tie-dye shirts near Yonge and Dundas and flipping burgers at Penny Lane (a Beatles-themed burger joint near Yonge and Wellesley) before becoming a serial entrepreneur in finance and real estate, restoring heritage buildings across the city.

“Old Toronto used to have a culture of long lunches, hidden cellar bars and evenings that unfolded naturally with strangers who became friends,” says Matthew. “But we’re slowly losing these independent places with character, memory and a social life built into them. So many people—including us—work and live nearby, but after office hours there are fewer places to stay, gather and make an evening out of it. We wanted House of McGrath to add to the neighbourhood’s energy, not just serve it.”

Drawing on her background in fashion and image consulting, Michele led an extensive transformation of the space, referencing materials sourced from the city’s archives to create a time capsule of the Financial District as it might have looked and felt in the 1920s.

On the main floor, a buzzier social space features live entertainment, pool tables, and an area available for private parties and events. On the second floor is the dining room, where chef Scott Cooney serves a menu that feels distinctly Toronto.

“Matthew’s family is Irish Catholic; mine is Brazilian,” says Michele. “Our house is one where feijoada is served with Irish potatoes and João Gilberto plays alongside Gordon Lightfoot. This is mirrored in the guest experience here. It’s generational European cooking that takes notes from the different flavour combinations of Toronto’s diasporas.”

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Beers crafted by award-winning brewer Jeff Kurkowski include a Viennese lager, a German pilsner and a creamy-smooth Irish nitro stout. A rotating selection will also include helles and Franconian lagers, blonde ales, and Munich dunkels.

Not a beer drinker? There’s also a cocktail program driven by Canadian-made spirits that includes a maplewood-smoked old fashioned and a McGrath martini with house-made olives. And the wine list includes small-scale producers across Spain, Italy, France and Argentina.

“We’re deeply inspired by the idea of the third space—neither home nor work, but somewhere you relax, encounter familiar faces and build the kinds of relationships that only happen when you’re not in a hurry. That culture is disappearing in modern cities,” says Matthew. “The Financial District has incredible energy during the day, and we wanted to create a place that carries that energy into the evening. People are ready for somewhere with atmosphere, craft and a reason to linger. The goal was to open something that felt considered, generous and built to last.”