There’s a cute new bar (and McDonald’s breakfast rival) at Bathurst and Dundas

Bathurst Local is a new bar and café on Bathurst Street, just south of the big drive-through McDonald’s on Dundas. It opened earlier this winter, back when the intersection was closed for streetcar track repairs. Now that traffic’s flowing again, owner Glenn Wesley is happy to see locals appreciating the bar’s dialed-down charm. “It’s really cozy,” he says. “A few people have said it looks like the set of a Wes Anderson movie.” At night, Wesley serves bottles and tallboys from local breweries like Kensington and Hogtown, as well as three-ounce cocktails priced at a very reasonable $8. (The most popular one, called the Bathurst Blackout, blends vermouth, spiced rum and Amaro.) He’s also started serving coffee and breakfast out of the space, including a gourmet breakfast bun stuffed with Sanagan’s bacon, eggs, cheese, onions and mayo. (It’s just called “The Sandwich.”) It’s a bold move for a business whose next-door neighbour corners the fast-food breakfast market, but Wesley took that into consideration when setting his food prices—they top out at an astoundingly low $3.50. “Is that a good business model?" he muses. “Well, I guess we’ll see.”

322 Bathurst St., bathurstlocal322.com