Duke of Westminster

Good place to hangout, have beer and enjoy a game. The finger foods are good. It gets crowded and noisy and it’s difficult to get the server’s attention. Overall, a reasonable okay place if you want to grab a drink and catch a game.

I really don’t like this place. Every year I tell myself that nothing will convince me to go back, but sure enough I go after my friends tell me «it’s not that bad.» Oh but it is.
The Duke is dark, loud and no matter where you sit or stand, you’ll be in the way. Ever had $ 20 nachos? Sit up at the bar and you will be ignored. While you wait, listen to big, loud brokers scream about covered bonds and «that new chick with the big t*ts.»
There is two redeeming things about the Duke.
1) The prime rib is good
2) All bottles of wine are half price before 4.
I don’t like writing this review because I like some of the staff a lot, but this has to be said.

Location, location, location. This bar has location and then some.
Dreadful beer selection and passable food but the crowds keep on coming for the convenience, especially during the winter when you have direct Path access and/​or easy access to Union.
When suggested by a work group I drag my feet there and plead for another option. If the ugly cow giveth loads of cash why pretty it up.

Your inexpensive-​looking local pub at the heart of downtown, for all your quick beer needs, Monday afternoons, and/​or «let’s go for a quick patio lunch.»
They have your typical bar food… The $ 5 appetizer bites, 5 for $ 20. The fish and chips… Same Duke menu. The food is edible.
My gal and I shared The Woo Woo (Smirnoff Vodka, peach schnapps, and cranberry juice garnished with a lime wedge). It’s a pretty and pink cocktail, we liked it.
It was a Friday lunch, the service was extremely slow… The girl serving us was also serving the OTHER side of the patio! How is that efficient? She hardly came by, so yep this is just 2 star place.

2.5 stars.
Recently renovated. It’s located in First Canadian in the Financial District (not to be confused with the Duke of Devon in TD Tower. Stopped by for lunch after the renovations were complete. Service is very good. They were fast, made recommendations and answered questions about food items (someone had allergies in my party). I had the club sandwich which was good but pretty standard. They had a few beer options but limited craft beer selection. A few U.K. beers on tap. A had the Bass ale which was good.
I would say this is a good place for a quick beer or a business meeting /​discussion /​lunch given it’s convenient location in the office towers. Food is good pub food but not spectacular.

Going to go with Eric on this one. It’s a place where First Canadian denizens can water themselves with a quick one. Friday night this place is dead by the time the Go trains start getting scarce. Food and beer selections are mediocre. Many times I found myself looking for the waitress for a beer. When she did come around she would fail to notice my empty glass and offer me another one. Really basic stuff. I think they’ve recently reno’d the place and got rid of their main pro: lots of table space. The place has a couple floors but it’s mostly all just uncomfy bar type seating.

Post reno. Still retains some pubbish charms, and looks good inside. Service was quick with a full house, beer selection good with some imported and local craft.
Beers a little pricey at $ 7.30−8.30 each, due to downtown location I suppose.
Their menu seems aligned with the nearby Duke of Devon’s. The a la carte finger foods are good.
Basement area appears smaller after the reno?

One word: NACHOS.
Best nachos in the city for sure. Evenly distributed cheese and very few bare chips. Very important key factors for a nacho connoisseur like my work friends and me! $ 4 glasses of wine most nights.

This is our go to work lunch date for my department. We’ve held department lunches, good-​bye lunches, hello lunches, as well as congratulation drinks and good-​bye drinks
The place is huge. Even when we’ve made no reservations, we always get a table for the group (at least 8). I’ve sat in the banquet hall below, the dining room below, the separate room upstairs, and on the main dining room upstairs.
The service is reliable, quick and efficient. The food is not bad. I find their strength to be very accommodating with large groups.

Dropped into the Duke to meet up with a friend over lunch. The place is pretty large. It’s got 2 levels, a banquet hall and multiple rooms. We were sat at the bar because the place was packed due to it being close to Xmas. There was no room for us but the bartender made sure she found us a seat and had someone bring us 2 high chairs to sit at the bar.
Scanning through the menu it’s mostly typical pub fare. I ordered a turkey club and it was ok, nothing special. The portion was large and we were in and out of there in no time. It wouldn’t be my first choice and I probably won’t be returning unless asked to come by. There’s just to many places in this town.

The only reason this place gets business is because it has a prime location in First Canada Place.
The food is mediocre bar food, the waitresses are slow, unresponsive to empty beer glasses, and kind of bitchy.
The beer selection is unoriginal and not very large, and very expensive.
I was only there because we worked a few late nights and it was the closest/​easiest place. I was there a total for 3 times over 2 weeks.

In my experience if you go any where called the «Duke» of anything (or anything and the Firkin for that matter) you know what you’re going to get; unoriginal food which is inoffensive but uninspiring and a decent selection of pints, all of which is overpriced. Well that’s exactly what you can expect to get at the Duke of Westminster.
Also, in the summer their patio is pretty lame. It’s right at the entrance to First Canadian Place (I mean your table could be less than 15 ft from the revolving door close). You will get the same quality of food and drink at the Duke of Devon on Wellington with a way better patio (although there is almost always a lineup).

Came to the Duke of Westminster for lunch midweek. It was full of Bay St. business types — not surprising. Food was ok — but for a burger with the word ‘guacamole’ in the title, I was expecting more than the smidgen of avocado that sat atop my Guacamole Bacon Burger. Also, the Steam Whistle Fish and Chips was more chips than fish. Overall a pleasant experience, quick lunch, good service — but there are way better places to grab lunch in this neighbourhood.

I had a pretty enjoyable experience at the restaurant. I have never been to a pub before, so it was a welcoming experience. The atmosphere was alright but it would’ve nice to be seated at a better location.
They had seated us right in-​front of the big screen. So, only 1 side of our table to was able to watch tv.
The food was pretty good. However, I don’t think it was worth the prices listed. On a positive note, you try the deep fried Mars Bars dessert. It was really tasty.
So, if you want some beer & a good dessert, I would recommend the restaurant. Otherwise, save your money. =)

When meeting friends for after work drinks on a cold night, where all of us work in the finance district, I have a few simple criteria — decent drinks, some moderately-​priced tasty snacks, a free table and the key thing — close by that I can get to without walking outside.
While Duke of Westminster doesn’t excel in any of these categories (even walking there underground is a bit hard to find, but it does exist), it does satisfy all of them. It’s quite big, and a bit of a maze, but that does lend to a higher probability of finding a table, much easier than its sister pub, Duke of Devon. The menu is a bit shorter than the Duke of Devon as well, but there are a few snacks to choose from. My favourite are the nachos. They’re big and easily sharable between 5 – 6 people. Actually I got quite full on them when sharing with 3 others. The drinks are moderately priced, and a lot cheaper when compared to the other Bay street haunts, like Bymark, Canoe, Ki, and Vertical. The lunch isn’t bad there either — I quite like the Crispy Duck salad.
So next time it’s cold outside (which we are in for a few months of cold weather) and you want to go somewhere accessible from indoors for some drinks and food, check out the Duke of Westminster. It’s nothing to rave about, but it’s consistent and doesn’t disappoint.

You can do worse than hook up with friends over a business lunch at the Duke of Westminster. Like it’s in-​the-​business-​core-​of-​Toronto sister pub the Duke of Devon (
), it is a member of the Duke franchise, so you know what the menu will hold and what pints are available. So, no surprises there. It’s decent, not to worry.
What will surprise you is the sheer size of the place. The first chore can be something as simple as trying to find the folks you’re supposed to be dining with. There are multi-​levels and many places to hide at the Duke. You’ll do well to pick a meeting place outside of the Duke, and then march everyone into the place while they hold on to the rope. Also like the Devon, it will be choked with office workers either on lunch or sneaking in for a cheeky pint before they head home, depending upon the time of day. As such, the high ceilings downstairs and the close proximity of everyone upstairs gives the place a uniform din that you have to combat when conversing. It’s pretty daunting.