York Station Bar

Cool little place to duck out of the madness, glad a friend put me onto it! Worth a visit to say hello to the friendly Alina!

I would stop here every day after work… or maybe for lunch if I lived/​worked nearby. What a fabulous cozy little bar. The drinks are good (I got my Canadia staple — whiskey and ginger) and the menu is small but the staff is great and the comfort level is even better.
I wish I had discovered this adorable 24 seater before my last night in town. Definitely a lovely spot to have a sip… closes at 7pm is the only drawback.

By all rights this place should be overrun with hipsters, but it’s not. During the day it’s full of businessmen and conference attendees. At night it’s a few confused (and delighted) hotel guests and commuters. It closes at 7pm, so this is not your late night spot.
This is a small bar with a few tables is modeled after a club car. It’s a sort of downscale gilded age décor, plus trains. Yes, there’s a train that runs around the bar.
You’ll notice that York Station has the best bartender, ever. Alina is the only bar who’s worked here for 20-​some years. It’s like if your grandma also made a mean martini.
Prices here are a little higher bars in Toronto as a whole, but cheap for downtown (or compared to New York), and much less than The Library downstairs.
If you’re hungry, there’s soup and sandwiches if the free bar snacks aren’t sufficient. You’re in a fancy hotel and people order them all the time, so they must be pretty good.

I serendipitously discovered this place whilst whiling away an hour prior to a dinner date with a great friend. We’re SO glad we stopped in as we walked around looking inside the Fairmont.
Warmly greeted and attentively hosted by a truly impressive, expert bartender, she was truly one of the gems I’ll remember from my visit across from the U.K. We both had cocktails, and were served several lovely bar snacks including a couple of warm spring rolls. We chatted somewhat until new customers arrived.
Being interested in customer care we were delighted to see the skill of serving an unsure lady with a cocktail she’d like, it was nice to see the charming host work her magic!
The place is small, hey it’s billed as the smallest bar in Toronto, but it’s a great experience. We loved it’s charm and it’s quiet atmosphere. I only hope when I hopefully visit in the fall of next year it’s still the same.

You want an old school great cocktail bar? Alina is the best damned bartender in the world. Fantastic drinks, lovely attitude, great snacks and a lot of love. She knows manhattans and any other proper cocktail. If you’re early enough, you get bacon wrapped scallops, shrimp rolls and chips. If you’re a nice person, she puts on the engineer’s hat, blows the train whistle, and shows you why it’s a former CP hotel. Best bar in downtown hotel. Limited hours, but the bartender is a genius, so deal with it.

if you’ve never been, i’d definitely recommend a try. it’s such a weird little spot in toronto! service, drinks and snacks are all consistently good.
just one note, if you’re going with a large party, try somewhere else. it’s not a big place.

This is a tiny bar on the second floor of the Royal York modelled after and the same size as a train car. They only serve soup and sandwiches (by the quarter) and it is AMAZING. The proprietor will put on a train hat, blow a whistle and run a model train around the top of the room if you ask her to. I highly recommend the chowder and 2/​4s of sandwiches (mix and match!) for an amazing, very satisfying lunch.