The Grover Pub

Favourite local hangout! Great food, craft beers & friendly staff. Love the regular activities that are hosted here.

I gotta be honest; its a bit of a shit hole. One of those bars that’s better only seen if you’re already totally hammered before stepping foot inside, or you’ll notice how gross it really is.

Excellent wings, sandwiches, burgers, salads, platters and enhanced by great beers and even better service!
Poutine will make you comatose!
Today was not disappointed at all with the wings and Southwood burger.

Nice clean place, good food, wait staff is great.

Dropped in for a quick lunch with the wife and son #2. Friendly server. Clean establishment. Great selection of local and not so local craft ales along with some of the mass produced «favourites». Reasonable selection of well priced wines for those that partake. So far two thumbs up. Standard menu for a pub but covers a lot of tastes and it is a «pub» after all :). Lots of space so you can bring a gang or maybe rent the party room downstairs for a bday bash. Two thumbs up. Now the place was empty and it was a rainy Wednesday afternoon but the food arrived super quick. Two of us the soup and sandwich lunch special and one the chicken Caesar wrap. The soup (chicken gumbo) was lovely and the buffalo chicken wrap equally so. Three thumbs up :). Great value at $ 7.99 :)
Overall it’s exactly as you expect it to be as a neighbourhood pub/​bar and I hope they prosper under the new owners. It simply just what Kingston Rd. needs. Two thumbs up.

This place has been around for decades but has gone through a few different owner/​operators. The latest ownership change occurred over the last few months. So we decided to check it out to see if there have been any noteworthy changes (or improvements).
Sadly disappointed. The place has had somewhat of a makeover. Some new paint, new Tvs and new staff. The menu has changed but with no great shifts in the overall patchwork approach. Best way to describe the menu is pub meets diner
We had crab cakes and a couple variants on the burgers.
Meh.
Crab cakes were quite clearly frozen. Not a huge offence by itself but there was no heart and soul in the presentation or gArnish to make them standout. ²⁄₁₀
Burgers were overcooked (burnt) and they tasted bland and almost identical despite quite different toppings. Why bother with variants when they all taste the same? ²⁄₁₀. Fries were basic super fries but at least they cooked them as we asked (extra well done near burnt).
Service was pleasant.
Mixed bag of patrons detracted from the venue for us. A few hardcore bar regulars. A gang of ball cap wearing bieber wannabes who were loud and loaded dominated the mood. Music was way too loud for 530pm.
It was just weird and the food was not enough to go back for.
Too bad. This place was really something 25 years ago known for the best wings in Canada. They seem to have lost their focus and are trying to be all things to all people instead of catering to a niche for the middle class families that dominate the surrounding neighbourhood. Hope someone with vision and courage takes over in the near future and revives this local landmark.
Good luck Grover.

I’ve been coming to the Grover for years, mainly because it’s close to home. However, the place was bought by new owners who’ve been making really positive changes to the place: lots of local beers on tap, good menu, and lots of really awesome events like open mic, karaōke, and even a knitting club! The new owners are also very community driven, and they do care about customer satisfaction (the old owner couldn’t care less), which I love.
The only complaint I have is that the service is very hit and miss. Some servers are great and some are not so good, but the place has gone up in quality over the last several months, so hopefully this can improve as well.

My girlfriend and I have been regulars at the Grover for 6 months now. We go for half priced wings and open mic on Fridays. Yesterday was the last time we will ever go there. They know us by name and most of the time even, they remember our order. We have never run a tab there and when we asked if we could run a tab for a couple days we were told no by the Bartender, even when ownership has told us before that we can run a tab. A couple people that we know have run tab before and they are in goodstanding. So we were a little insulted that we weren’t valued customers. Not only that but one of the waitresses is always snarky with us (probably because we’re in our early 20’s and most of the regulars are older people) and she even one time questioned our tip. Also another bartender one time didn’t give me my change when I paid for a beer, and he just assumed that my change was a tip for him. The food is alright, however it sometimes takes us over an hour to receive our meal. The service is bad, and regrettably my girlfriend and I will not be returning because we don’t feel like valued customers, even after going to the Grover 2 – 3 times a week for 6 months.

Under new management, they really went above and beyond. We had the pleasure of a power outage while sipping a flight of craft beers and the staff were very accommodating to all customers present. I know I said in my last review I would never be back, what can I say, I overreacted. Added menu items are tasty, and I’ve made a note to try their burgers next time I am in.

After three tries, we’ve dubbed this place the «no-​place.» They are very versed in the word «NO.»
“May I have some honey?” NO
«May I get a grilled cheese sandwich, since you offer grilled cheese on other items? „NO.“
“Do you have rootbeer?» NO
«Could I get my burger medium rare?» NO
«May we sit in the corner?» NO
«Excuse me, is there a waiter or waitress available?» No, we’ll be with you soon.
—fifteen minutes later, after listening to the waitress go on and on about the Leafs with a customer at the bar (she wasn’t bartending), we got up to leave, and she then says «Are you ready to order?»
At least we got to reply with «NO.»
We went to Feathers a block down the street. Treated well, GREAT selection of beers and Scotch, and terrific service with a smile.
The food is fair. The wines are not so good. Great selection of beers. Plan on waiting a looooooonnngggg time for the food to come out. Last night, we stayed through the pain (it was too cold to go elsewhere). After ordering two quesadilla, a burger, and some sweet potato fries, we had the pleasure of waiting 45 minutes. It would have seemed faster, had the waitress kept our ginger ale, wine, and jack/ginger’s freshened.
I’d give them one star, except their sweet potato fries are pretty good.
Unless you’re really into torture, avoid this place. The owners won’t miss you at all. And I promise, you won’t miss them, either.

Went there on a Wednesday night. No one acknowledged us at door so we eventually took a booth.
Ignored for ten minutes and finally left.
Place was busy but not packed. NO ONE made any attempt to acknowledge us, say hi, apologize for being busy. Just completely ignored us.
Went to Feathers down road and had great meal.

Solid pub for a decent meal and a pint.
Have taken the family there several times, kids meal was fine, and adults meals are always good. Nothing spectacular, but good.
Burgers and Sandwiches (Philly Steak) and Pastas are a great choice.
Good Selection of Beers for the area too! Lots of TVs, would be great for Sunday Football

Spent tonight there with my family, and no one walked away unhappy.
Food was excellent. Service was to be commended. Plenty of space and large screen televisions available so that you can sit anywhere you like and be able to watch what you wish.

I love the Grover. We used to go there pretty often. They have beautiful plasma/​lcd TVs all around. It’s a great place to watch a playoff hockey or basketball game… although living in Toronto I suppose I’m dating myself a bit there. It is good for other things too!
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They have a backyard patio and the food is not bad. I wouldn’t want to eat there everyday, but for a pub it’s not bad. They have one burger called «The Hammer» and another one called «The Godfather.» I ordered it one day just because I love the name. I believe it’s sauté onions, mozzarella and burger. Good combination but pretty heavy food.
I’ve also been with someone who had the souvlaki which was also good.
However, the wait staff can be a bit ditsy. In a funny sort of way. One day we sat on the patio, and the waitress came to take our drink orders. She brought a beer for me, and a water for guest who had ordered a club soda. Then the guest changed her mind later and ordered a martini — another water came. We also asked for menus which she never brought. We eventually gave up and just went home.
But as I said, it’s good for some things and not others. Certain times of year if you sit on a patio you’re in no man’s land because the waitresses would rather work inside. Although I believe this weird incident happened in May or something.
Except for that, service is pretty good. Lots of different draft beers on tap, but I don’t think they had any Ontario Craft beers on tap, which is unfortunate.
If you live in the area, it’s a great place to try. However I wouldn’t go there now living in the West part of the city. It’s a bitch to get to. And having to rely on a streetcar to get me anywhere far makes me want to regurgitate, so I doubt I’ll be going back here soon.