A low-key dive bar and veggie café opens on the Queen West strip

Situated smack in the middle of one of Toronto’s most self-consciously cool bar zones, Lipstick and Dynamite—the name is an homage to a 2004 documentary about female professional wrestlers—is an anomaly. It feels like the kind of rec-roomy dive that might have stood in its place ten years ago, before exposed brick and barn board became compulsory bar decor. The floors are plain white tile, the walls plastered with 80s album covers and garage-sale art, and the bookshelves stuffed with paperback novels and second-hand board games. Owners Celeste Toledo and Steve Cann, who met and worked together at Kensington’s Exile, wanted to open a place that felt comfortable and lived-in: an unpretentious spot where locals could grab a low-key drink (beer, standard spirits and simple cocktails), or fill up on comforting vegetarian food, like chipotle-yam burgers and Reuben sandwiches made with mushrooms instead of meat. A recent post on the bar’s Facebook page sums up the bar’s ethos well (and suggests rowdy revelers may want to take a pass): “No assholes allowed, please.”

Lipstick and Dynamite, 992 Queen St. W., 416-535-4554, facebook.com