Real Sports Bar and Grill

Real Sports is the most impressive sports bar I have ever been to hands down. Located in Maple Leaf Square right across from the entrance to the Air Canada Center there is no better place to go to watch the game or go for a pint and a pound before or after. However, if you want a table you better have a reservation because this place is packed most nights of the week and you may be waiting in line. There is also a bar along the left side just past the entrance or from wall to wall at the front. The main anchor that brings people into Real Sports is the massive stadium size screen viewable from the main floor and the upstairs.

            

The wings are very good with the perfect amount of breading and sauce on the outside that gives a tasty crunch with a warm moist inside. They offer lots of flavours such as Ankle Skater (Mild), Pee Wee (Medium), Big Leagues (Hot), Drop The Gloves (Suicide), Cajun Dry Rub, RP’s Lime Salt, Honey Garlic, Bacon Maple Mustard, Garlic Parmesan, Honey Mustard Dill, Thai Sweet Chilli, Peking, Bobcaygeon, and Fan Fusion. My favourite was the Fan Fusion which is a mix of the hot and honey. There are no daily deals at Real Sports and no wing deals, wings cost $15 a pound, $28 for 2, and $52 for 4.

On Tap:

Molson Canadian

Coors Light

Molson M

Creemore Springs

Mill Street Organic

Steam Whistle Pilsner

Rolling Rock

Sleeman’s

King Vienna

Moosehead Lager

Sam Adams Boston Lager

Rickard’s Rotating Tap

Foster’s Lager

MGD

Harp

Heineken

Carlsberg

Kronenbourg 1664

Kronenbourg Blanc

Stiegl

Okanogan Springs Pale Ale

Granville Island “English Bay Pale Ale”

Kilkenny

Caffery’s  

Blanche De Chambly

Shock Top

Weihenstephan Hefeweissb 

Watermark

Watermark is a great Irish pub in downtown Toronto, right on the Toronto waterfront on Queens Quay. The best thing about this pub is the space they have outside and inside. The patio near the water is great for watching ships sailing by in the summer or if the weather isn’t as nice they have an enclosed outside bar. The inside is dimly lit with a wooden bar walls that supports several t.v.’s to watch any game. The hostess and waitress were polite and knowledgeable of the menu and even though it was during the dinner rush I did not have to wait long for my drinks or wings.

The wings are an average size but taste great and your choice whether they are breaded or not. The wing sauces they have are mild, medium, hot, suicide, hot’n’honey, honey garlic, and Canadian Eh! The only downside to Watermark is they do not have any wing deals, wings cost 12 a pound or 20 for 2.

On Tap:

-          Budweiser

-          Labatt 50

-          Bud Light

-          Alexander Keith’s India Pale Ale

-          Alexander Keith’s Red Amber Ale

-          Alexander Keith’s Premium White

-          Mill Street Tankhouse

-          Mill Street Organic

-          Guinness

-          Harp

-          Kilkenny

-          Shock Top

-          Hoegaarden

-          Smithwicks

-          Rolling Rock

-          Stella Artois

-          Strongbow

-          Bavaria

-          Kronenbourg

-          Leffe Blonde  

WEGZ Stadium Bar

WEGZ Stadium Bar is one of the largest bars I have seen in Canada and it is filled with everything a great bar should have. They have a monster 16’ x 22’ theater style projection screen in the back right corner, horse racing, 2 golf simulator booths to the right of the bar and 6 well-kept pool tables. 90 other t.v.’s including 10, 10’ x 10’ projection screens surrounds a large 360 degree bar in the center. This bar is sport fanatics’ dream house showing all UFC paper view events, every NFL game played every week, any horse race at woodbine and they would play every hockey game if it was on.

Although most of their wing deals and specials are not advertised well they are well worth it to find out. For all football fans Sunday is pint and a pound deal, get a pound of wings and a bottle of bud or bud light for only $10. For parties or large business meetings they also offer the locker room with advanced booking. This fully private room seats up to 60 guests and is equipped  with 7 t.v.’s and a 14’ x 15’ HD screen power point ready and internet access.

The wings at WEGZ regular priced are expensive at 13.25/pound or 35.25 for 3 pounds so I recommend you go on a wing special day. The sauces they offer are mild, medium, hot, 12 alarm, buffalo, Jim Beam bbq, sweet chili, and honey garlic. The dry rubs are salt & pepper, sour cream and onion, lemon pepper, parmesan ceasar , jerk, or ketchup. All wings come with carrots, celery and a ranch sauce. The wings are slightly more greasy then most wings but are very moist and loaded with flavour. My Favourite sauce was the Jim Beam bbq, it had a lot of flavor and a bold taste. If you like your wings spicy I would go with the 12 alarm. The hot wings that I ordered were not hot at all and tasted more like a mild or medium.

Wingporium

Wingporium is a small sports bar that serves wings, ribs, burgers and other pub food. When I saw the amount of flavors they offered I had to check this place out. When I arrived at the location on Islington just south of Bloor I was a bit skeptical because at the moment there is no sign on the front of the building although there were plenty of signs in the window display.  The inside was smaller than it looked from the outside with tables lining the walls and a few others clustered in the middle. The t.v.’s were all hanging on the walls varying in size and the large 70” t.v. to the right of the bar made up for the fact they didn't have a projector. 

               

                Because they do not offer a pint and a pound deal we decided to go on a Tuesday night when wings are on for $6.50 / pound with the purchase of a beverage. Other good daily deals are all you can eat wings on Monday for $22.99 / person and 2 pounds of wings and a pitcher for 24.99 on Sundays. On the menu they divide the 88 flavors and sauces into the typical groups: dry, mild, medium hot and suicide. Beside the flavors they indicate if they are a staff favorite  new addition, or a bestseller to help narrow down your options. This visit we tried the spicy maple glaze, interview with a vampire, all dressed and chipotle. If you’re a big fan of garlic and parmesan I recommend the interview with a vampire but my favorite were the spicy maple glaze. Although I was disappointed that they weren't as spicy as I was hoping, the maple glaze made the wing taste like it was wrapped in candy bacon. If you haven’t tried candy bacon I recommend you try it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5hqoFnGgiM 

                

                 The other awesome thing Wingporium offers that I think more places should is you can get any flavour wing sauce on an order of potato wedges. We ordered the interview with a vampire on ours and they may be the reason I come back.  

On Tap:

- Stella Artois
- Stella Artois Light
- Hoegaarden
- Alexander Keiths Pale Ale
- Alexander Keiths Red
- Budweiser
- Bud Light
- Labatt 50



Location: 1000 Islington Ave, Toronto, ON M8Z 4P8
Website: http://www.wingporium.ca/

Puck N Wings

Puck N Wings is a great hockey themed bar style restaurant at Young and Finch. This place specializes in wings with close to 50 flavors and sauces, some great, some not so much. On the night that I went to Puck N Wings there was a UFC event so we arrived early anticipating a large crowd and backed-up kitchen. Our server was a very nice and polite blonde female who was very friendly and knowledgeable of the drink and food menu. Our drinks did take a while to arrive but again it was an event night and the place was starting to fill up.

The menu rates the hotness of the wing sauce on a scale of 1 – 5. They divide the sauces and flavors into a couple categories: NHL Lineup, Punch Line, World Cup Lineup, Dry Rub Guys and Future Stars. The wings are fairly expensive at regular price, costing $11.99 per pound or $23.49 for 2 pounds. They do take a while to come out but they are fresh made to order and there is a notice on the menu. The wings are very good though, large and meaty with a nice breading and come with lots of sauce and a side of vegetables. I ordered 2 flavors, blue cheese buffalo and Island Heat. The Island Heat was very good but I think the blue cheese buffalo was one of the best wing sauces I have tasted in a long time. It was spicy and creamy and there was more than enough to cover all the wings. Hopefully next time I drop by there will be an NHL game on the t.v.’s.
         

Location: 362 Bloor Street West, M5S1X6

Website: pucknwingsbloor.com 

St. Louis Bar and Grill

St. Louis bar and grill is a great place for value priced food any night of the week. This place is perfect for students with half priced wings on Wednesday and half priced apps on Thursday you can get a ton of food here on a tight budget. They also have 32 0z. mini-pitchers, which are my favorite, and other  great deals on beer offering a pint and a pound on Sundays for $13.99 or the personal mini-pitcher with a pound for $15.99. The wings are smaller than average, a little greasy and the skin isn't crispy at all but they are full of flavor  The best part about the wings is how the sauces are categorized based on the amount of sauce put on. The categories are dry spice, lightly sauced, saucy, and very saucy.  The also rank how spicy the sauce is out of 5 flames. My favorite flavor was the mixed honey garlic and hot sauce called hot & honey. Unlike most places, the sauces with 5 flames are VERY hot. The hot sauces also tasted very good and did not lose the flavor in the spice.

                

            The bar area seemed small when we walked in and was mostly empty when we arrived at 7:00 on a Thursday night. There were only 3 t.v.’s and all were only visible from the bar or the seats very close by any further away from the bar you could not see a t.v. the wait staff was very friendly and quick although there were not many other people to serve. The server was very knowledgeable of the food and drink menu and was also very informative of all the deals available that night.

               

            Overall the food was decent, not exceptionable, but the value and quality compared to the price was more than reasonable. A great place for students or anyone on a tight budget.

On Tap:

-          Molson Canadian

-          Coors Light

-          Budweiser

-          Shock Top

-          Alexander Keith’s

-          Rolling Rock

-          Rickard’s Red

-          Rickard’s White

-          Stella Artois

-          Heineken

-          Guinness   


Location - 4548 Dufferin st.
website - http://www.stlouiswings.com

Hoops Sports Bar and Grill

Hoops Sports Bar and Grill is a fun entertaining place to watch any football, hockey, baseball, or basketball game. The location I go to quite often is in North York across the York University campus. They have specials every day of the week including a burger for $8.99 on Mondays and fajitas on Fridays. Tuesday and Thursday you can get a pound of their jumbo roaster wings for only $5.99, Saturdays a pint and a pound is $15.29 and Sundays a Pitcher and 3Lbs is $39.99. 

The wings are huge with a crispy skin and although it can be tough at times there's always lots of meat on the bone. Some flavors like medium and hot are bland and don't come with much sauce. Other sauces such as Thai, sweet and sour, and honey garlic come loaded up with sauce and go well with either dry seasoning, Cajun or Peppercorn. Suicide also came with a fair amount of sauce but tasted a bit off and was not as hot as I thought it would be. The fries are good if you eat them quick, they are thinner stringy fries and cool off quickly and once that happens I no longer found them appetizing. I found the booths and table very small and tables very close together making getting in and out uncomfortable. There are so many T.V.’s in this bar you can see one from where ever you sit although the placement of the large projection screen limits how many people can see it. Some of the table waitresses are clueless as to what beverages are available and once your order is taken it can be tough to get their attention again and rarely follow up on your food order. 

When I ordered from the bar not only were my drinks quicker but my food as well and the bartender was more knowledgeable of the whole menu. The patio is nice during the summer with lots of room, T.V.s, and a scuffed up pool table. On Thursday nights a DJ pumps out loud annoying music most of which is terrible but sometimes is not allowed to play if a big game is on. Overall the service is great if you sit at the bar, the food is good and quick, and it’s a fun exciting time to watch the game.  

On Tap:

-            Ø  Guinness

Ø  Heineken

Ø  Michelob Ultra

Ø  Stella Artois  

Ø  Carlsberg

Ø  Alexander Keith’s

Ø  Sleeman

Ø  Shock Top

Ø  Hoegaarden  

Ø  Coors Light

Ø  Budweiser

Ø  Bud Light

Ø  Molson Canadian

Ø  Molson M

Ø  Blue

Ø  Rickard’s Red

Ø  Rickard’s White

Ø  Rolling Rock

Location - 4207 Keele St. North York
Website - hoopssportsbarandgrill.com