Fabulous Bar & Cafe

Went there for a weekend lunch. The grilled vegetable sandwich was superb, and it came with a great side salad. The interior is kind of modern and dark, whereas we sat on the patio. The co-​workers ordered a club sandwich and a grilled chicken sandwich, but I think I got the better entrée. 5 stars for the vegetable sandwich

We went here due to the location, just arrived off of the Megabus and needed nourishment. Not knowing the city we went in to get some lunch. The menu was creative, the service a bit slow, but the young man working was pleasant. The portions were average sized. The Chicken tenders were pretty good. The Mediterranean salad was a nice combination of grilled vegetables with a cold salad side. We found it a little pricey, but overall a good meal. 4 entrees were $ 60.

I’ve lived in this neighbourhood for 5 years, but I’ve never been inside this place. However, last night we needed a place for last-​call drinks — we had 15 minutes — and everything was closed (including, might I add, the Firkin on Elm Street, even though it says it’s open until 2 am. Not cool). So when we passed by this place and there were people inside, we rushed in.
Of course, they can’t be penalized for having all super-​drunk patrons at 1:45 a.m. But they were all older, super-​drunk men. Still, everyone was friendly and the vibe was actually okay. The bartenders were friendly and the owner was floating around (or the manager), and he was really nice and friendly too. We had some Porn Star shots (classssssy) and they were the best I’ve ever had — tart, not too sweet.
Overall, if you’re in the area (maybe getting off a bus at the terminal) and need a place to just spend 30 minutes or so — it’s not awful.

Fabulous … fabulously mediocre maybe.
As spring is now upon us in 2010 all humans have a primordial instinct to sit out on a patio with a beer in hand baking ourselves in the sun. In our recent travels in the area around Yonge and Dundas, my coworkers and I stumbled up on this establishment on the corner of Bay and Edward.
Entering the red-​bricked patio we took a seat in the sun on the benches backing onto the restaurant. We quickly realized that the patio itself is noticeably sloped toward the street so the bench was so high your knees were at the same height as the table! We switched to a seat where the bench backs onto the sidewalk. That was when we noticed that there were literally 5 people here, including us. Not exactly a promising start. Oh and do you like wicker furniture? I don’t.
The one waitress here was quite friendly in an interesting, casual talking way. She made a reference to about the crack-​head walking across the street (apparently there’s a crack-​walk) and how she couldn’t get her iPhone on the internet. Anyway, we ordered our lunches. A grilled chicken breast sandwich with a side salad for me and a shrimp linguini for my coworker.
Our meals took over 30 minutes to arrive … 30 minutes! The waitress said that the linguini took some time to cook. Indeed … too long in my opinion. Food wise the chicken was decently grilled on a bun of some sort. The salad was of a decent portion of mixed greens bag salad. It was just okay. My buddy seemed to enjoy his pasta and there did appear to be quite a bit of shrimp.
In summary this is a decent spot for a beer and catching some sun on the cheap. The food is only average. 2.5 stars if I could.

Now I know where David Lynch gets his movie ideas.
This bizarro bar located across from Toronto’s Greyhound bus terminal on Bay Street had next to no signage, no exterior lights and basically nothing to entice the average person walking by (which, let’s be honest, isn’t very many people given the neighbourhood) to come in. There was a sandwich board blocking the entrance that declared «Private party!», but I don’t really know how many stragglers would have attempted to bypass the board had it not been there. Luckily I was invited to said party so I had no trouble getting in. At 10pm I was one of ten people in the bar and I didn’t know a single person — mercifully my friends arrived about half an hour later to save me from ogling those ten fine «specimens».
MUSIC:
The music was a mix of Big Shiny Tunes 1 – 3 (literally) including really old songs by Soundgarden, Bush X, Green Day and Tea Party. The rest of the clientele, which consisted of 50 year old Filipino dudes, was totally into this music and there was a lot of generic grooving and head bopping.
SERVERS:
The epitome of «gussied up». There were about eight girls working and they were dressed like they were waiting tables at Ultra or Century Room.
DECOR:
Think «tryhard» hotel bar/​lounge. The last resort place to hang out when you’re on an offsite business trip and realize you don’t really want to venture too far from your bed — easier to just stumble back into bed at the end of the night. I kept looking for an elevator that would bring me upstairs to my room in the Econolodge.
Not terrible but definitely forgettable, with the exception of what I think was the owner, who spent a large part of the evening walking around with an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

The previous name was Fabulous Bakery and Café… and when you look at the signage it now says Fabulous Bar and Café.
And that is what it is. I believe it operates as a bar café during the day, and I have only really experienced it at night.
Nice and central being right next to Bay and Dundas, it also gets a very interesting mixed crowd being opposite the Bus Depot.
You can always expect Rex the owner there in his leather vest, the nice but crass workers, and reasonable drinks, and no one will look at you like you dont belong. It’s usually as place of don’t belongs.
Plus they are super flexible, allowing people to bring their own ‘desktop computer speakers’ + ipod to have a real throw down party with the music you like. of course you should probably pre arrange that…
Low key, no dress code, never without a drink, it’s all you need.
Relaxing and gets the job done.