Rails & Ales Pub

We have been going to this bar for about 15 years (since it was The Hargrave). The menu isn’t that big but the food is decent and the service is usually good.
Unfortunately that ended on Saturday night. A waitress he haven’t seen before took over and we never had service again. Our drinks were empty, menus placed to the side to show we were ready and nothing.
The bar then got pretty busy and she didn’t seem up to the task. I tried to get her attention but got nowhere. I finally got the bill for the one beer from the guy in the kitchen who came out to the bar. Needless to say the tip was zero.
Not sure we’ll be back.

Imagine a Firkin pub. Imagine it less tacky. Imagine it grimier. Imagine it smaller. You are imagining Rails & Ales.

This place is awesome. The guy who runs the place is great and so are the staff. The food and drink are fantastic as are the prices. To top it all off the regulars who frequent «Rails» are just as friendly as the people who run the place. If you’re ever on the danforth you should definitely stop in to say hello.

So we’re renoing our kitchen right now so we (my husband and I) went out for dinner last Saturday with our contractor (my husband’s cousin) and my brother-​in-​law. We walked in expecting a complete dive bar, based only on our impressions from when we’ve walked past. We were all pleasantly surprised. The décor is actually quite nice inside, everything looks clean and well maintained. The server was amazing, I think her name was Sidney and she seems to know everyone. I ordered the banquet burger with spicy fries and all three guys ordered wings. The burger was AMAZING, it was MUCH better than I was expecting. The guys all enjoyed their wings, I think they tried hot, chili thai and cajin, and they all got suicide on the side. The Cajin were my favourite. I should also mention the guys said the beer was really fresh, the Guinness had the rings when drinking and Sidney also makes sure it’s a good pour, I watched her tip a little out etc to make sure there wasn’t too much head.
We went back this Saturday and Sidney remembered us, which was really nice. I asked her what her favourites on the menu were and she said the Philly Cheese and the Roast Beef sandwich, I got the Roast Beef and she was right, it was delicious; the meat was super tender. My husband and his cousin both ordered the cajin wings with suicide on the side but when they came out they were hot with suicide on the side. Sidney was really apologetic, she had input them as the wrong type. Within seconds she told us to just enjoy the wings and she would bring out two more sets of cajin with suicide and again apologized. This place is great, we will definitely be back.

This was stop #5 out of 6 on a recent Danforth pub crawl I led. Compared to our other stops (Helen’s, Sportsters, Eastenders, Tommy’s), this place was a paradise of good lighting, nice beer selection and patrons with all of their teeth remaining.
Rails and Ales is one of those totally fine, regular, normal pub-​ish bars in Toronto similar to a Firkin. They have a fine beer selection but nothing that would truly impress a beer snob. Lots of TVs for all of your sports watching needs and what I assume is standard pub fare. Service at the bar was great.
It is in an interesting spot on the Danforth and I have always wondered if this hurts or helps it. About a block or two east of Donlands, there is not much else around. You almost have to know about it which adds to its charm.
It has a nice patio. If you live around here and need a place to drink, and watch the game, this place totally works.

I’ve heard a lot of locals talk the place up so we figured we would check it out. It seems to be kind of a dark hole. No lights, no music, no laughter. It was about 1 am on a Friday and as soon as we walked through the door the bartender informed us she was closing. She gave us a beer and I asked when was a better time to check the place out. She didn’t really have an answer. I asked if they have bands or karaōke or dancing or any kind of entertainment. They don’t. I’m sure some people would dig this place but it’s not my scene.

Love those sliders!

Rails and Ales has a good atmosphere and pretty great service. I went here with a big group for game six of the Stanley Cup and I can report that the beers are frosty and the food is dirt cheap. Sadly, the grub is only average, but it’s still worth it for the cost!