James Joyce Irish Pub

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A bird shat on me as I waited like a dunce to get into a bar that was pretty empty anyways. Other experiences were not any more pleasant and at least the bird’s massive load sent me straight home and gave me a good excuse to miss out on meetin some friends at Joyce.
Moral of the story: yes, they can still crap on you past sunset.
Everything that’s wrong with this establishment has already been mentioned.

This was the first bar I went to with friends once I was 19. I now realise that I’m glad I didn’t think all bars are like this.
There’s nothing significantly wrong with the James Joyce, but compared with a lot of the other bars I’ve been too it falls short. It’s a good enough bar with your typical drink selection and passable food, but there’s nothing special about it.
I have not attended it for over a year now and I’ve only visited it a very few times.
I’ve not have any problems with the staff here, they’ve been friendly enough.
The interior does not say «come in and have a seat», instead it’s «come in if you must, but try standing up around the pool tables so you don’t an easier time to look around while sitting at how non-​amazing I am».
I recommend another pub if you’re around this area.

No craic here whatsoever, this place is such a craphole. I’ve visited numerous times but I was reminded of it’s lameness again, being recently dragged here to watch a footie match.
I live nearby and I’ve seen the place shut down at least 3 times for abusing their liquor license (I’m assuming serving to minors).
— The décor is horrific — cheap looking and dirty. Washrooms equally ghetto.
— Really crappy food, even for pub fare.
— Absolutely horrible open mic nights with music so bad you’re tempted to leave and go somewhere else.
— Annoying clientele — drunk students and stinky hippies.
— would say service is average/​ok, I’ve never experienced any major problems.
There is a pool table at the back and lots of tvs. The place is ok-​ish during afternoon hours if you fancy a game of pool or watching a match.

I stopped in here last night during a Bloor Street pub crawl, and the place was packed. I have absolutely no idea why. This was definitely by far the worst bar we went to … and the standard wasn’t set very high.
Though the place was busy, a lot of that was due to people standing aimlessly around. There is no bar service, and you can only be served if seated. Even though there was room for additional tables, there were none, so about half of our group gave up and moved elsewhere.
They were the lucky ones.
A guy who works at the bar got up on stage, WASTED, and started playing the guitar and singing. Not only was it accompanied by some of the worst feed back I’ve ever heard, he mostly just shrieked horrible covers into a microphone. Not to mention, for some reason they had the PA cranked, so we could barely here eachother over the horrible karaōke-​like entertainment.
Needless to say … I wont be returning.

While I didn’t have an awful experience like some of the other reviewers of James Joyce’s Pub, I also wouldn’t return.
The worst thing about this place from my experience is the décor. Everything is just so cheap. The tables are basically card tables with uncomfortable-​looking metal chairs around them. They looked so unappealing, we headed straight for the bar.
The bartender was very nice, decent beers on tap including Guinness and Kilkenny and Mill Street brews. I wouldn’t even consider eating here so didn’t bother looking at a menu. Just a generally dingy and unappealing place, the opposite of a cozy pub.

Not a bad place. I’ve always enjoyed it when I attend. Price on food and beer is pretty good. Nothing fancy, it is what it is.
Update 02÷21÷10 — James Joyce is under new ownership. Food prices have gone up and many of the waitstaff have been replaced. Still generally the same, but I much prefer the old wait staff.
Further Update — 04÷07÷10 — This place has really gone down hill since the new management. Food portions are smaller. The friendly waitstaff that used to be here are entirely gone. Burgers and Fries have gone up in price by 200% (from $ 2 to $ 4 but still…), the Burgers don’t taste as good, the portions are smaller and toppings are of lesser quality. This place is dead to me now. Took forever for our bill to come so we had to line up at the bar to pay (the place was empty so what gives?) and the order was taken incorrectly.

This place was hyped up a lot by my friend and his roommate who live around the corner. When we got there though I was kinda disappointed. We walked in and found a seat near the back. The table was soaked with beer and the areas that were clear were sticky. The seats were sticky. The floor was sticky. What can I say it was a sticky bar!
It was also hot in there so we opened the window and were rudely asked to close it. The service was slow. Waited about a half hour before getting served and when the waitress finally brought our beer she slammed them down on the table and spilled it everywhere. (Now I know why everything was soaked with beer and sticky.)
My advice: keep walking west and hit up another bar. Most of the other bars in that area are really decent!

Just another pub in the annex. But irish. so you’re guaranteed nice people and some randoms in the crowd that will either make or break your night.
go just for the gamble.
i think thye even have 1 – 2 real irish servers.

It’s not even worthy of a single star.
They will rip you off time and time again. Once, they triple-​charged my credit card, another time, a couple of friends paid their tab and left and the server claimed that they were $ 40 under and made me pay for it… even though I specifically requested that we all be on separate tabs. Another time, my idiot ex-​boyfriend walked in with a bottle of wine, and instead of putting it behind the bar, the bartender smashed it in the kitchen… Overall, rude/​drunk staff, crappy food and crappy environment because they cram you in there like sardines. I’ve never had such contempt for an establishment and would probably celebrate if it went under.