Dina’s Tavern
The crew behind Track & Field and Bangarang took over the old Silver Dollar Room — the rockabilly-and-punk room that ran on Spadina from 1958 until 2017 — and reopened it as a ’70s-leaning tavern with a sunglasses-wearing, cigarette-smoking cartoon rat named Dina for a mascot. The cocktails are playful (a tomato martini, a strawberry-and-coconut daiquiri), the look is bombshell-meets-rock-grit, and the back bar is a heap of vintage curios. Monday’s Jazz Rat Nights come with $10 martinis; Thursdays pour a $5 house golden ale.
The roughly 165-seat room was built to give smaller acts a proper stage — groovy bands and DJs on weekends, jazz trios, folk and psych rock midweek, plus a weekly bluegrass night carried straight over from the Silver Dollar days.
486 Spadina Avenue
Toronto