Swirl

Really great choice of wines. Lovely reserved yet quirky décor. Lots of nice dishes. Charcuterie and cheese plate. Rhubarb ginger confit. Nice eclectic music playlist. Great staff. Had a great birthday in the party room. Been back ever since… A real shame it closed.

Very quaint and old charm atmosphere is the setting for this very nice wine bar in Leslieville. A small but nice wine selection very reasonably priced. Great spot!

Came to this place about a year ago on a whim. I was walking down Queen St. East grabbing groceries but I happened to pass a sign that was in front of a small door that led to stairs. If it were not for the sign I would’ve easily missed this place.
So what is Swirl?
Well!!! It is similar to Snakes and Lattes, but offers a completely different approach to games night. Swirl is the combination of board games and wine and tasting. They offer many wine and many other pairings. I had a great night playing games and it was very romantic. I thought it was very cute that in the drawers of the tables there are little post it notes inside with wishes or comments. Also, their desserts were amazing! Everything from the ambience and the food were great.
However, the biggest problem I had with the place is that it was difficult to find and the pricing were a lot more expensive then I thought they should have been. The cheese that we ordered came from the Leslieville Cheese Market and for our measly amount that were ordered I just did not agree. I am a regular shopper at the Leslieville Cheese Market and I am well aware of the costs of many of their products. So I just thought that I should’ve just stayed home with my own games and bought my own cheese and wine.
Overall, it is a great place, but for those who are money conscious avoid and have a fun night in!
— CL

This wine bar is adorable! I agree with some of the other reviews that have said the sewing tables are a bit uncomfortable/​impractical but with a group of 4 or 5 people, you can make it work. Prices are reasonable. Wine is yummy :)
We also had the cheese platter and some desserts. All good but small portions. Great selection of boardgames from the 80s (family feud!) even though Operation seemed to be missing most of the pieces.
The sewing tables are full of post-​its with random messages. A fun place to spend an evening.

I have never been to a bar quite like this before. It felt like being in a girly-girl’s house with damask print on the walls (even the front door of the place… which was good because it’s otherwise hard to find) and antique Singer sewing machines for tables.
Super eclectic musical selections also made for a good night. Young MC’s Funky Cold Medina was playing when I got there, which made for a rather interesting juxtaposition with the crystal chandeliers and pink accents. Later on I recall hearing Ben Folds Five and The Beatles. Then there are all the board games! It’s almost like the bar doesn’t know quite what it wants to be… but somehow that all equals a very charming place.
We had already eaten dinner, so the desserts were of interest and they all sounded delicious. I shared the sticky toffee pudding with ice cream from Ed’s Real Scoop. It was excellent. Others had the cranberry cheesecake which apparently was also lovely but one wasn’t a fan of the walnuts in the cookie base.
Swirl is a really fun spot for a night playing board games and drinking from their extensive wine list. If you’re in the east end, give it a try!

Cutest Wine Bar Ever! This little door that is painted with a damask pattern leads up a stairway into this warm and cozy area full of eclectic artwork and interior design. Large murals on canvas and funky artwork with detailed framing surround the room. For tables, old sewing machines that have been stained and brushed with colour.
We didn’t order any food, but there is a good variety of snacks to munch on. including assorted nuts (caught my eye) — includes everything EXCEPT peanuts. I wonder why?
Menus are screwd into a wood plank (very creative and rustic) and there is a good selection of wine. Wines come in Jars, Jugs or bottles. My friend and I ordered a Jar or Chilean Syrah, which equals to about ½ a litre for $ 22. The wine was fruitful and full bodied. The smell of berries was very prominent. I was quite pleased! We each got two glasses out of the jug which I thought was a great deal!
Little would you know that you would find boardgames in this place — the table beside us was playing battleship… would be something I do on my next visit! Another surprise was inside the sewing machine drawers contains colourful post-​it notes… of people’s wishes and secrets to be shared with others. It reminded me of the post-​secret website where thoughts are always posted anonymously. What a way to top my night off.
I was expecting this place to be extremely chilly — as it is in an older building, but the interior was very well insulated and I never felt cold, even sitting beside the window. Just before midnight, a crowd of 10 showed up and things got very lively. The music was great and I know on other nights, they play shows like mad men.
This place is such a gem. I cannot wait to come back!

First off they were playing D’angelo as I walked in — amazing!!!
This spot is cozy, intimate and overall seems like a classy joint. The wine menu ranges from affordable to splurgeworthy! These are all positives in my mind but …
I went on a Friday night and it was quite full. Some people may find the furniture «cool» or «vintage» but I found it rather impractical. It’s all re-​purposed stuff (like a door or a vanity) that has been made into «tables». With less people this may have been nice but with a fairly full house I just felt cramped and I’m not big dude.
Would I go back?
Probably if I was with a group that chose to go here but this is far from the top list of venues.

WARNING — NOT DINNER. Made the mistake going in hungry, it’s definitely a wine bar. Surprise!
When I was introduced to this place, all the food were in jars, I said, «sweet! mason jars with delicious soup and stews» — WRONG. The jars are little and comes from the fridge, there is no kitchen there.
We got the CHICKEN LIVER PATE — this was probably my favourite thing on the menu — the taste after you let it thaw a bit was actually quite tasty, but I do like pâté in general.
We got something LEMON TUNA-​esque. It tasted like canned tuna and fat in a jar. This wasn’t my favourite. The waitress recommended a pairing with WHITE BEANS, it tasted better with it but it was canned tuna.
The CHARCUTERIE AND CHEESE PLATE — was good, it had nice pairings but I wasn’t bedazzled by it.
Love the décor, the romantic sewing tables and doors as tables are the perfect setting for a date — if you want to eat very little. It is hard to find but it’s the perfect place for drinking. The pink accents of this wine bar, were sweet, but seemed like a place where girlfriends got together, so the messages are very conflicting for a romantic date. Overall, wasn’t my fav. experience, probably because I was really hungry. Go for a drink, not for dinner.

ONCE you find it, you’ll become a regular like I did! Great wine list and jarred bites. Funky décor with cozy atmosphere. Themed nights a lot of fun too.

Liked didn’t love.
A few things soured my first trip to Swirl. First off we couldn’t go upstairs, I guess my bud and I arrived too late and so we had to sit on the lower level. Unless I’m mistaken I didn’t see anything online about that upstairs dining area closing early, but I’ve been wrong before… shocking, I know! This is going to sound super silly, but the lighting downstairs blows. It’s bright, harsh and made for a super uncomfortable experience. Couple that with the fact that some of the only seats left were near the drafty door, it was sort of rough all around before our server came over. (Am I 80 right now?) He was ok, a little awkward, but pretty informative. My friend Chad and I settled on some small plates and vino, none of which was terribly impressive. I’ll be the first to say that the things leading up to our orders arriving didn’t really set the tone for success, but I am more than willing to go back and give these guys another try. Carrot cake for dessert was probably the best part of our adventure. Different than most I’ve had in that it was quite cake-​y, light and not as dense as traditional CC.
This just in though. There’s a «Swirl Sangria» flavour at Ed’s which I’m a huge fan of! Locals supporting locals… brings a Unilocaly tear to my eye!

I had been dying to check this place out because I looooove wine.
The wine list is extensive and has some very tasty options, and best of all, is very reasonably priced. As others have mentioned, there are very limited options other than wine. There are, however, tons of board games!
I’d noticed that some of the reviews say that this place is really girly, and I wondered what that could mean. Well, I found out. This place is like Zooey Deschanel come to life. Don’t get me wrong, I love girly things, but maybe not on a Saturday night when I am dressed up to go out!
I’d definitely like to come back another time to take them up on one of their many weeknight specials.

This is a cute little bar, with a nice atmosphere and a reasonable wine list. The server we had was great… I hate to say it again, but this is another neighbourhood gem — located above my pups fave dog store, this is a great place to visit!

Swirl is this impossibly perfect wine bar. First, its a bit hard to find, and when you get there, you immediately kind of feel like you’ve walked into someones apartment and crashed the party.
But then you realize that may be the point. the list is ever changing, and the last time I was there, all the food came in jars. delightful. its impossibly small, so i would recommend it being a group night out, but if its just the two of you, and you feel like an amazing intimate experience, well shucks, you may just love it.

A friend who lived in the area took me here one evening; not being from the area I never would have found this gem in a million years!
The space is, to say the least, charming. It’s the converted upstairs of a storefront that’s carved up into one back room and then a main room, looking out over the quiet street below. Décor is classic, yet modern with old desks and doors re-​appropriated into tables. Oh, as an added bonus you can write wishes on post it notes and leave them in the table drawers.
A nicely thought-​out menu offers a variety of wines by the glass (as well as a basic selection of beer and cocktails) and small plates. Since we had just popped in for a glass of wine and something small to eat, we got the seasoned olives. Let me say this: I dislike olives but these were darned tasty. I wish I’d been able to try more of their offerings!

How cute is this Leslieville wine bar? The sign is small and it’s up a narrow flight of stairs. I wouldn’t have noticed it, but had heard good things from Unilocalers (thanks guys!) so the sign caught my eye. Came on a weekend after dinner and the main room was occupied for a birthday party (and I secretly thought «how did *I* not think to have my b-​day here?»… what a sweet, intimate venue for a gathering of friends!). So we sat in the little back room through the French doors. Mismatched furniture, eclectic music choices («Thriller» anyone?), board games, cookbooks… it’s like being in someone’s home. The room was hot, but the rotating fan helped. So did the perfectly sweet, fruity white sangria ($ 16/​jar, which is about 3 glasses) with pear and mangoes. DC and I also shared the chocolate cake, our server’s suggestion (he said they are «famous» for it). Like all the food items, it came in a little jar and was covered in a thick layer of creamy marscapone cheese. Our raspy-​voiced, Beatles t-​shirt-​wearing server was convivial. Nice added touch — the bill comes in a used book and instead of cheap mints, you get a little envelope with tea from nearby Majesteas (
). We got the «Wrath of Grapes» blend — an organic green rooibos with lemon, ginger, and peppermint. I’m actually drinking it at home *right now*! Like.
Look out for their weekly events:
Sundays — movie night
Mondays — book swap
Tuesdays — board games and ½ price beer
Wednesdays — Mad Men night

The last thing I thought was playing CLUE with some other Unilocalers on a Saturday night.
Swirl is a nice place to hang with a couple of friends, maybe a little to feminine for some but great to have different bars and loungers that have different vibes.
Good selections of wine but for beer drinkers it will be really disappointing to just have 1 and only 1 choice… but then for me, no need to make decision?
Daydreaming while my friends were asking me questions about who killed with what and where definitely not me call relaxing :)

I never thought I’d be playing CLUE on top of a sewing machine table on a Saturday evening, but Swirl made it possible.
I suggest you give this place a pass if you are not a wine drinker. Other options were very limited but there is a handmade pink wine menu with lots of selection. They did not have anything non-​alcoholic and I believe they only had two choices for beer.
It was HOT here… it’s the upstairs area of a house and there is no air conditioning. I don’t think a/​c is very hipster, because I’ve noticed none of the hipster bars have it.
Anyway, the place was done up in a very unique artsy fashion, very fairytale-​ish. The bathroom was SO cool as was the back room.
The bar tables are refurbished antique sewing machine tables.
There was a selection of board games to play (Clue, Trivial Pursuit 1980s edition, Operation and some others).
Seems like a good place for a quiet night out with the girls.

Swirl is adorable. Teeny, tiny, cupboard like, patrons sit on reclaimed benches with either old doors or antique sewing machine tables. Your wine comes care of the very quiet and friendly server in a little clay carafe. Very dark and quiet with candles.
There are about 6 tables in a space the size of an average dining room, so note you can hear every conversation word-​for-​word, and you will be very close to your neighbors. On last visit we had a late 40s couple (clearly first date or newly dating) on one side, a pair of hipsters playing Operation on the other, a solo woman reading a book by candlelight and three luluemon clad women catching up. Very eclectic crowd.
There is a larger room with one large table in the back, which would be perfect for a group, complete with board games.
You won’t find any bargains here, for sure, but a carafe of wine (½ L) was around $ 20. We did not sample any food, but it is all brought in.
Swirl is very unique, which lends to its charm. Very charming, It feels like a tiny wine bar in Barcelona. More for a romantic date, quiet drinks with girlfriends. Definitely a place to go and relax quietly if you cannot do so at home, and «unplug»
Will definitely return, but a little too calm/​quiet/​tight to be my neighborhood go-​to.

There is something so much more satisfying about finding a place that’s hard to find. Bad signage and hidden entries make you feel more «in-​the-​know». I walked right past Swirl without noticing the odd apartment entry amidst the storefronts on Queen street when I heard my boyfriend behind me say, «the stairs on this place look completely up your alley». He was right.
We walked right up the damask print stairs into the cutest little converted bar above a pet shop. The wine list is well curated and reasonably priced, with amazing appetizers served in mason jars (all made ahead, this place has no kitchen) and great cheese plates direct from the Leslieville Cheese Market. The friendly service and interesting liqueurs (chamomile grappa, pomegranate tequila) ensured that I’ll come back again. Perfect date spot.

Cute upstairs locale on Queen Street East. If you are looking for a cozy place to chat with a friend or a few, this is it. They have a tiny menu of pots– you’ll see what I mean if you go. There are ‘pots’ of pâté, cheese spread and meat. The wine list is great, but the mixed drinks are also fantastic. Put a wish in the drawer as you leave. Read all the other people’s wishes when you walk in.
Quite music– so if it is dead, make nice with the owners since you feel like you are in their kitchen.