49 St. Clair Avenue West, 416.928.9525
Toronto's entry for the best sports bar will surprise you. The Sportscentre Cafe boasts three distinct sections all with their own ways to spend the evening.
The entry to the bar is roughly five steps down from the street in the basement floor of what looks to be an office building. Did I mention the Sports Centre Cafe will suprise you? Well it did me because it took me about 15 minutes in the freezing cold to find the place. The awning shown above (courtesy of blog.to) is the only sign of a social gathering place whatsoever. Kinda reminds of Cheers in that way. Don't be fooled, nobody knows your name here, nor do they intend to learn it. You're actually pretty lucky to see a server within shouting distance if they're not motivated to get you out quickly. At any rate, the front room, which I had originally mistaken for the entire bar -- ironically, the same thing happened to me in Cheers -- has a cozy feel. Approximately eight booths, with private flatscreen TV's, are surrounded by a few island tables. There are a few blindspots in this area which can be overcome if you have a booth with one of those fancy flat-screens. Tables, well you might only want to sit two or three since someone might not be able to see. A walkway from the door to the back divides this section from the bar and a few high chairs and tables near the front window. Not a bad room on it's own, but no place for rowdiness.
If you're crazy enough to venture past the bathrooms, Buckhunter AND Golden Tee then you'll find yourself in what I like to call, the "theatre area." Pretty much just a bunch of tables sitting in front of a huge projection screen. It's touted to be one of the best places to watch a Leafs game and I'd probably agree. So if you're a loser, this is definitely the place to be. There's also a few flat-screen equiped booths along the side in case you're one of those platinum seat types that doesn't want to be slobbered on by the shoutin-mad Leaf Nation after another humiliating loss. Just remember, the Leafs play EEEEVERY Saturday night so don't miss your chance to view one of life's spectacles. Did I mention this back section has it's own bar? The ying and the yang I guess.
Speaking of spectacle, just over the back railing of the "theatre area" is the Sports Centre Cafe's "gaming gym" (also what I like to call it). In a hole about the size of a quarter of a basketball court is the gaming area. I didn't spend any time there, but I recall seeing everything you'd want, pool tables, air hockey, foosball, arcade basketball and God knows what else. I can't imagine the service in this section to be any better than the front, but at least the "theatre area" bar is nearby.
So things don't sound so great for the Sports Centre Cafe. It seems to have all the makings of a great sports bar, but it falls prey to bad food, bad service and a bad team. Maybe someday Sports Centre Cafe, maybe someday.
Rating: On a scale of 1 to 1,000. 1 = Horrible
1,000 = College Inn
Sports Centre Cafe receives .... 6
Not too bad.
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