Rovers Pub

I showed up here on a Thursday night at 9pm and it was closed!

I’m sure I’m not alone in Toronto Unilocal when I say that I came in here waiting for our Snakes and Lattes table to open up. It’s the closest pub to the boardgames café and for that itself I’m grateful for it’s existence.
I’m a sucker for designated TV screens per table/​booth and it is that fact that pushes Rovers from a 2 star to a 3 star location for me. It offers what a pub should provide, a decent drink list and beer on tap and food (a very typical bar menu). While we only sampled the basket of fries and the Greek salad, I can say that the food is not bad, but nothing in it that gives it an edge over other pubs which Bloor Street is surfeited with. Unfortunately most of these pubs fall in to the forgettable category and Rovers is hovering between the decent and forgettable at the moment for me.
It’s a very bare boned seeming location with an empty space running along the middle enclosed by booths to the side each with the aforementioned TV screen with cable and dedicated sports channels (e.g. could watch any NHL game being played). Just be careful when aiming your remote at the cable box in the ceiling. Sway just a little and you will end up changing the channels of the adjacent booth’s TV.
Staff were friendly and prices won’t kill you so overall a decent stop for a drink but don’t expect too much I say.

I came here for a UFC event. This place has plenty of screens including an individual screen in every booth. I chose this place as they supposedly had a decent beer selection.
I decided to sit at the bar and guess what most of the beers were not available. It just went downhill from there. I ordered the classic burger with a sweet potato fries add on and pint Stella. I didn’t like the vibe at the bar as the service was poor at best and they only showed UFC in SD even though they had HDTV.
There was no sound at the bar as well and I had to ask twice to have the channel tuned in for the main event. Food was below average so with almost everything going wrong I was apprehensive in staying there longer.
Needless to say I finished my meal and left mid way through the fight and watched it another spot.
1.5 Stars.

Definitely a good place to go, and I can see this being a kickass sports bar. Didn’t get a chance to see the menu unfortunately, but the individual screens at every booth were a nice touch, and the waitstaff were excellent — the place was crowded, but we never felt ignored and our servers were really personable. We went on a Saturday night when they had a bitchin’ salsa band — one of those few places which can actually pull off dancing and sports watching at the same time. The beer selection is very good also; not my speed, personally, but a good number, mostly blondes and lagers. Two varieties of Leffe, too!

I have been meaning to go to this pub since it opened. I was told varying reviews and I thought I’d give it a shot. My experience in the last 2 days I’d gone was not very good.
First visit happened after hours of drinking — we were starved and craving for greasy cheese & nachos Rovers was close by and my friend recommended it. We was greeted promptly by the waitress.
The place is dim — but it has lots of booths and a monitor in each booth so you don’t have to strain your neck to see the big screen. The booths are big — easily seat 8 people –and comfy. There is a stage for a live band — which I thought was great– but didn’t turn out to be so great. There was a pool table too– which was GREAT. I was excited.
Our waitress greeted us and took our order promptly and I thought, GREAT — this is going to be AWESOME. She brought us water. Then came the fall — I waited 45 minutes (we timed it and the manager even said it had taken 40 minutes) before the food was ready. During that time the waitress passed us several times checking on other people WITH food and alcohol — failed to let us know what’s happening to our food — but sat down with her friend to munch on food directly across from me. I felt as if she was ignoring us because we didn’t stat the order with an alcoholic beverage — so much so that my normally understanding friend said «never coming to a pub to order food without alcohol. She’s checked that table who were sat after us like 10 times and not once did she stop at our table»
When my friend asked finally about the food, her response was ‚” I don’t know what’s going on — I can’t tell you the time because it’s been slow all day.“
So we left to settle for a pizza — when the security guard came chasing after us to drag us bag because there was an «open tab and you need to pay.» I went back to explain the situation to the manager who was nice enough to compensate the food because in 40 minutes, the waitress only alerted the manager because we had left.
The food itself? Not all that great either.
First, it was cold — as if it’s been sitting there for a while. I worked in a restaurant for a fair number of years and I know, Grill Cheese Sandwich & nachos — don’t cool down that fast. Did I mention that until this point, our waitress had not even filled our drinks? or water?
Besides the cold ingredients — everything was piled at the top she didn’t bring us any kinda of sauce for them. Thank God it was compensated — I would have never paid $ 12 for such an unsatisfying nachos… I MEAN THERE WASN’T EVEN ANY GREASE!!! I’ve definitely had better food from Sneaky Dee’s.
The band was so loud that I couldn’t hear myself think — moreover, it was a local/​small band singing in a different language so at most I could only appreciate the beats and tune — which I couldn’t as it was drumming into my ears.
Second time I went — it was for their cheap breakfast — $ 4.99 for 2 eggs, toast, bacon and home-​fries/​hash browns. The server was super friendly and she was prompt in letting me know what’s happening with my order and filling my coffee. Except my eggs came sunny-​side up instead of scrambled — and after 10 minutes of waiting, I decided to let that go. I mean I was the only person in the restaurant — so I don’t know how that could be mistaken. The food was flavourless — the coffee was so burnt that even after 4 creamers it was still bitter.
No I probably will not go back — it’s more than I’m willing to pay for the quality of food offered, especially in a city like Toronto where we have street full of exceptional quality food spots.

I came here 3 times during my week visit, because it was really close to the subway, it had TVs at each booth, the beer was good, the bartenders and servers were cool, and the patrons were fun.
WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?
I tried the poutine here. I’ve never had poutine before, and I enjoyed it. I’d reckon it has more upside than the version I had here, but the one I got was quite nice :)
I really should commend the bartenders and servers. They are just really nice. One of them actually even helped me plan an itinerary for my next day in the city. She sat down and looked at a map with me. I know that makes me a noob tourist, but her taking the time to help me out was very much appreciated. And they’re cute to boot.

I’m not much of a sporting events gal (the only sport I really engage in is Channel Surfing), but after hanging at Rovers to watch a UFC match, there isn’t any other place I’d like to see one man beat the living crap out of another. First, individual televisions at each table = awesome. You can watch the action up close without being jostled by strangers. Next: cheap drinks. My flavored vodka+soda drinks were only $ 5 each! On nights like these, they drastically reduce the number of items on the food menu and keep it to the basics: burgers, fries, wings. I would have appreciated more shareable items like nachos, though. I had the poutine, which certainly is not the best I’ve ever had, but to be honest — I wasn’t expecting my socks to be knocked off. Finally, the service was surprisingly expedient, considering how packed the place got on the night of this championship match.
If I find myself in the mood to watch another cage fighting match, I’ll definitely keep Rovers at the top of my list.

Very kick ass place to watch a sporting event. Booths and tables and individual 20 inch flat screens. In the middle of the bar there is a fireplace with big leather couches around it and a 50 inch flat screen. If you aren’t lucky enough to get one of those seats, dont’ sweat it, theres a 15 food projection screen in the back.
My waitress was very nice and prices arent too expensive.
I’ll definitely go back to see the Brock «The Vanilla Gorilla» Lesnar kick some ass.

Wow, I’m surprised Rovers has yet to be reviewed here (or even added as a business!!!)
Rovers opened up sometime last fall. It’s a new English pub just on the northwest corner of Bloor and Bathurst, located in the old Swiss Chalet space across the street from Honest Eds.
They have LOTS of tvs, 3 – 4 large projector screens, 8 – 9 tvs mounted in the corners and above the bar, plus each booth has it’s own tv. They play all major North American sporting events, UFC, plus a lot of footie/​soccer matches.
The décor is quite nice, modern English pub feel. Large selection of beer on tap and big menu. Great pub food (if that’s your thing) with a pretty large menu. They also do breakfast and lunch specials, but I’ve never ventured in at that time.
I typically watch the UFC here with friends. It’s getting popular and gets packed full any evening there is a sporting event going on. The service has been good every time I’ve been in.
Off the menu, I’ve tried the chicken curry (very good) and shared some nachos (average). My friends have enjoyed the burgers.
Overall, it’s great to see a new sports bar up in the area, I was getting sick of both Paupers and The Pump!