Half-price wine nights in Toronto’s east end
There are two kinds of wine drinkers: those that taste with their palate, and those that taste with their wallet. For those of us in the latter category, you’ll be pleased to find Toronto’s east-end offers a number of budget-friendly wine nights throughout the week, sure to satisfy your inner wino as well as your inner cheapskate.
Ascari Enoteca
1111 Queen St E, Toronto ON M4M 1K7The service and atmosphere at this intimate Italian spot is well worth the trip out to Leslieville, but it’s their pasta, made fresh in-house every day, that had us looking up real estate listings in the area – like their effortlessly indulgent carbonara, made with cured pork cheek, peas and runny egg yolk. The spot’s carefully curated wine list is updated regularly, and on Mondays bottles are on offer at half price.
F'Amelia Restaurant
12 Amelia St, Toronto ON M4X 1E1Cozy and inviting, and boasting one of Toronto’s most beautiful patios, this Cabbagetown standard serves Italian comfort food with an epicurean flair – but it’s the attentive, friendly service that’ll have you feeling like one of the family. Best save this one when you want to ball out on a budget: wine Wednesdays offer half price on bottles over $100.
Globe Bistro
124 Danforth Ave, Toronto ON M4K 1N1Four letters: BYOB. Find free corkage every Wednesday at this Danforth fine dining spot. Just hit up the LCBO conveniently located down the street for a bottle to pair with executive chef Dan Sanders’ exquisitely prepared, locally sourced Canadiana cuisine.
Goods & Provisions
1124 Queen St E, Toronto ON M4M 1K8Cute, quaint and undeniably Leslieville, the east end’s best-kept secret serves small, indulgent dishes with a curiously effective Asian influence (despite its very much prohibition-era inspired décor). Come for the daily cocktail hour, between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. for half price wine from their small yet competent wine list.
Skin+Bones
980 Queen St E, Toronto ON M4M 1K1Serving Queen Street East’s best Sunday brunch (sorry Lady Marmalade), this husband-and-wife-run neighbourhood haunt in the heart of Leslieville is worth a re-visit, specifically later in the evening on that same Sunday, where you’ll find buck-a-shuck oysters and glasses of bubbly for only $7 a pop.
Prohibition Gastrohouse
696 Queen St E, Toronto ON M4M 1G9Nothing subtle about this Queen Street bosom for the besotted. The daily "hooch hour" may be a bit of a misnomer, seeing how it's held between 5 and 7 pm, as well as 10 and 11 pm every night, but we're too busy enjoying a $5 glass of wine to really care.
