McGugan’s

We came for a girls night after work. Food was good and drinks were served cold and fast. Our only complaint was the server who had a really disinterested attitude and seemed almost pissed off she had to serve our table (very polite and easy going table at that).
She didn’t seem super busy so not sure why the attitude was present.

Well I thought we could give this place another shot and it was a mistake. We ordered sausage in a kilt, when we received them they were cold, server said if you would have told me I could have ordered another one for you? Ya when? You were serving 8 tables on the patio alone, if she would have checked with us earlier we would have had that opportunity to get cooked ones. We’re done, won’t be back, there are other restaurants and pubs open or coming to the neighbourhood, we’ll go there. In fact there’s a great pub at Queen and Leslie that just opened a few months back that we quite enjoy. That’s our new local going forward.

My boyfriend and I live close by and since we’re new to the neighbourhood, we thought we’d check this place out. It was Monday around 5pm, which meant that the place was fairly quiet. There were a few people at the bar, and a group of 5 came in after us for drinks and to play cards (which we both said would be fun to come back and do with friends). We ordered drinks (they have a nice selection) and the chicken wings as an appetizer, and they were standard wings, but not very hot temperature wise. As soon as the waitress cleared the plates, she came right back with the main dishes (Veggie Mac and Cheese and I got Fish and Chips), which we found odd because you usually have a bit of time in between. Well I could tell why it happened so quickly, and it was because all the food was cooked at the same time, and it had been sitting under a heat lamp. None of it was hot, and my fish was soggy. We saw the guy from the kitchen a lot, walking around the restaurant and talking to the other staff and people at the bar. Perhaps he should have done less socializing and focused on better cooking. Would come back for drinks, but would be apprehensive to order food again.

I’ve been back to this place several times with mixed results. Sometimes it’s great, and others it’s downright terrible. Their brunch is great in the summer because they’ve got a decent patio and upstairs. But on week nights, it’s pretty bad. Hard to get in, period. Tonight three of us were looked at as soon as we went through the doors and were told «no room at the inn.» That’s it. Rudely. No «sorry, but if you wait a bit» or «hey, there’s room at the bar» (and there was) just the equivalent of «we don’t want to serve you, fuck off and leave.»

We really enjoyed our first time here. Nice selection of beer and scotch/​whiskies. My wife and I had a pint each of Tennet’s. We had the Deep Fried Haggis Balls (6) for and appetizer and roast beef sammies for our entrees. Finished off with a cup of coffee.
The service was relatively prompt. Very efficient and friendly overall. We were pleased that it wasn’t really busy and noisy (especially on a Saturday night). The music playing was Classic Rock, which made the entire experience even more satisfying.
We will definitely be returning and bringing friends!

Love this little pub! You can get a decent pint for cheap and there’s a nice outdoor patio area where you can relax outside with your beer.

Straight up good Scottish style pub. Interesting selection of imported and local craft beers on tap. Food prices are not outrageous. You can get a half pound burger with bacon and cheese, plus fries, for $ 14. Service is friendly, attentive. This place is a keeper. Right next to a Starbucks too. A place you can get a coffee if you’re a bit early for your pub night.

In what used to be a florist in my high school days, now stands currently the area’s only respectable pub within a few blocks radius (unless you count the Queen Street Leslieville strip). I heard apparently the guy that owns this place also owns the adjacent Great Burger Kitchen and Aprile Bambina Cucina restaurants. Maybe they’re trying to establish a gentrified empire on this block, but that’s another topic in itself.
Open early and closes late, McGugan’s got a crazy selection of drinks, including a requisite collection of beers on tap and whisky, as well as a spacious classic warm pub atmosphere, a nice rear patio, and an upstairs private room for whatever event that could use a rockin’ charming decent pub. The staff are okay and accommodating, I suppose, though don’t expect attentive service when there’s hardly anyone hanging out and/​or manning the front-​of-​house.
The food could be much more nicer. A selection of the usual brunch and pub grub, along with some Scottish comforts like haggis to go along with the generally kitschy Scot theme they are focusing on. Yeah, I had the Eggs Haggis, and it was decent, with the crispy deep fried home fries that hits the spot, but for $ 13 I was rather hoping for a big brunch serving.
On another visit with a friend, I had the Breakfast Poutine ($ 10.95), which I guess is a ‘poutine’ in the literal sense that it is a smattering mess of fries and other stuff, but poutine purists will be offended by the complete absence of gravy and cheese curds. Instead, you get onions, tomatoes and chopped sausages, topped by a poached egg and hollandaise sauce. It was okay and filling, but it felt like I was just eating an ordinary plate of fries.
Like so many other pubs like it though, McGugan’s does well being a neighbourhood joint where one can pound a few pints over a sports broadcast any time of the day, but that’s really where it excels at.
{TTC: the 83 or 506 to Gerrard and Jones. McGugan’s is an unmissable presence at the northwest quadrant.}

Last weekend (long weekend) went to McGugan’s pub for Sunday brunch with some friends. I knew our regular brunch spots (bonjour Brioche, Lady Marmalade, etc.) would be jammed packed so McGugan’s was a bit of a gamble. A friend of mine had recommended it for drinks and I noticed it had a brunch menu.
The patio is suburb! Tucked away in the back with patio heaters and quite a few tables.
The food was great. I had the breakfast poutine which was out of this world! Just what someone would need after a hard night of wobbly pops.
$ 5 dollar brunch drinks!
Great little spot will be back again.

I lived around the corner from here about two years ago. Imagine how disappointed we were when a pub opened two months after we moved. Denial. Shock. Anger. I went through all 14 stages of not being able to enjoy the fruits of my own gentrification of this neighbourhood.
Well, we finally made it here. I order the ‘breakfast poutine’. The sausage was way overcooked, and the poached egg still had runny whites… although the waitress kindly replaced the egg for me, but you really need to cook a poached egg right the first time, because the egg runs over the rest of the dish. Anyway, really lacklustre food, but it gets three stars, because it compares favourably to such neighbourhood joints as the ‘Maple Leaf Tavern’ and ‘My Bar’.

Petit pub écossais sympathique.

Great service. Canada is so nice. We ate here after watching the Marlies game. The Marlies won 6 – 1, but we were still not satisfied. It was the night before St. Patrick’s day so the menu was all Irish, at the Scottish bar. I’m down. I had the lamb stew. It was hearty. We also had a sample platter, with haggis! It was all good. A little pricey, but I was satisfied.

Went here for a birthday and it was pretty cool. Small place but crazy variety of scotch. I need to come back to try the food sometime.

Actual rating 4.5.
Last night I attended McGugen’s first Robbie Burns celebration. The evening consisted of a four course meal with beer and scotch pairings. I must say, I was a fan. I am by no means an aficionado, but I have had enough haggis to have sampled offerings that were too dry and tasted like sawdust and on the opposite spectrum, too mushy so that it had the consistency of baby food. McGugan’s haggis was good! It had the right consistency and enough pepper to make it punchy without overpowering. I enjoyed the whisky sauce that accompanied it and the nippes and tatties were good too.
Since this was their virgin Burns night and they had a full house, the kitchen was maxed out. Our first course was slow to arrive, but the staff were very apologetic. After that, everything went smoothly. SO if they can cook for that crowd and have everything tasty and delivered efficiently, then I say a resounding aye to McGugen’s! I will be back!

Haggis is greater-​than Peameal.
I never thought peameal would ever be on that side of the relation. Still, as I write this, weeks after my brunch visit, I’m shocked and a little slobbery at the thought of some greasy and salty haggis.
I stopped in for brunch and stopped reading the menu at Eggs Haggis, their Benny with, well, haggis in place of peameal (RIP). Delicious across the board and the pint of Innis and Gunn helped as well.
The service was genuinely friendly and on top of everything and brunch doesn’t get much better than a pint and a massive projection of the morning’s EPL matches.
Looking forward to running the taps in a non-​brunch setting with a side of haggis.

Cannot believe I was dragged back to this place…
Firstly, the bartender/​Manager Ivan… in a cheap kilt… omg…I am so offended by this place. This was a Saturday Night… very very quiet so maybe my dreams can come true and this place will close… never eve again!

McGugan’s is one of those neighbourhood gems. We stopped by for some regular pub food and microbrewery beer — loved hopptical illusion by Flying Monkey (from Barrie). McGugan’s had nachos that came in an edible bowl and wings that really were the kind you don’t forget having. What was surprising is that this wasn’t just your average pub fare, as a traditional Scottish pub, they had haggis on the menu as well as butter chicken. I did try the green salad with beets and walnuts — a pub that’s for the sophisticated diner as well.

I had been driving the 506 Carlton streetcar for a few weeks (oh, the headache…), and every time I passed by this charming Scottish pub I felt summoned to peek within. Although it was a bit of a trek for me from my west end pad, eventually I succumbed to the urge.
Several large groups of diners told me two things: that the food must be decent, and that I was lucky to get a seat at the bar. After driving the 506 (did I mention the headache?), I was definitely in a comfort-​food sort of mood, so I asked my server which I wanted: their mac and cheese, or their bangers and mash.
Asking a server to pick on my behalf between two choices is a game I play. I’m rarely disappointed, and their response often tells me a lot about a place. His suggestion was the bangers and mash.
Whoah. Yum. Ok, I have to admit that Scottish food doesn’t exactly come to my mind when I think of haute cuisine. French, certainly. Italian, Japanese, fine. But sausages with mashed potatoes?
«Decent?» No, much better than «decent.» McGugan’s somehow manages to find a zone where meat-​n-​potatoes Scots fare meets tres elegance. Think ruffled kerchiefs with a claymore.
It was obvious that the mashed was made fresh, with wonderfully pulverized skin-​on taters in a glazed onion sauce. But those sausages were completely unique, with a peppery undertone that made it obvious that no one picked these oinkers up from the local No Frills. No, my server told me, they came from a specific Queen Street butcher with a reputation for supreme quality.
I also chose to ignore my diet and explore the bread pudding. Holy God. I almost ordered seconds.
Ok, the servings could have been larger for my spoiled American palate, but this was clearly a case of quality superceding quantity. Definitely worth a repeat trip or an enjoyable meal that’s both stick-​to-​the-​ribs and elegant.
And who can argue with those decadent shelves of single malt goodness?

I love this pub!
First: the wait staff are incredible. They are friendly, quick and always remember us when we go back. They even have fun activities going on the in the pub — for the Euro and now for the Olympics. The HUGE screen was amazing.
They have a few other theme nights as well. Dinner and a movie — linked up with the Projector Room down the street. They also have a board games night. All and all a pub on a stretch of the city that needs some TLC & a place for locals to go have a pint at night.
Food: Yum! Breakfast was great! Breakfast poutine (*like their other resto, Hanks is amazing) I am gluten free and they were happy to provide a salad instead of the toast and to ensure my food as safe as possible in a mixed kitchen. Other eats, we tried the haggis balls — they were yummy. I cheated and tried them. The nachos are delicious.
Coffee — awesome!
Drinks — they have Waupoos Cider which is my new favourite summer drink.
I just love this pub. We call it our peach pit.
Definitely worth a visit!
OH — it is sooooo good for groups. They have a private room upstairs with a patio. It is amazing. They host private dinners up there. It is beautiful, cozy and lovely.

3.5 stars. I like McGugans, the place was a little kitchy british pub but that’s what it is a pub. The brunch menu served from 9 – 3 on wknds it is classic breakfast fare just more upscale on plating & quality. Our server was very green and young. but soo nice she did have to consult kitchen on a few things but that’s ok, she’s learning. The beer unfortunately is not as cold as you would want it on a hot day. The bartender did put our pint glasses in fridge to cool down or ice up for us so the subsequent one (s) were cold. The eggs bene was perfect just what you would expect the hollandaise was light and lemony (one of the orders had a bit overdone hollandaise so the lemon was lost). They offer $ 5 brunch cocktails (ceasars, bloody marys and mamosas) during brunch. I didn’t find the prices over the top.
The order:
lrge ceasar salad $ 8.95
full fry up with black pudding $ 8.95 (black pudding very moist)
2x eggs bene $ 12.95
one mamosa $ 5
5 pints $ 6.75 each
Busy enough for 2pm. will be back to try regular menus.

Just open for three months, McGugan’s a small pub that focuses on classic Scottish food.
For a Monday night, the bar was busy with patrons. In the back, there’s tables with comfy chairs and banquet seating. This is where my friends and I parked for a few hours to catch up on our news.
Being a fan of Scottish comfort food, I tried the haggis balls ($ 5.95) from their appetizers menu. They tasted good but were sticky in the texture. My friends tried their fries, which were OK, and the Grilled Cheese received rave reviews for its old cheddar cheese and pear slices.
The beer menu seemed good and included Beau’s, Mill Street, Amsterdam, Hop City, Flying Monkey and Innis & Gunn. I had a pint of the latter ($ 6.95) which was a task aged with a slight vanilla flavour. I found it quite delicious.
It’s nice to see that Leslieville is opening up charming places like McGugan’s.
3.5 stars