15 York St
Toronto, ON M5J 0A3
Phone : 416. 815.7325
http://www.realsports.ca/bargrill.html
I was in Toronto over the Christmas weekend, and on a very cold Christmas Eve night the cousins and I ventured to downtown Toronto for dinner and drinks. We initially found that most of the bars were closed, but Real Sports Bar and Grill was open. When this place was suggested, I thought this place has some audacity to call itself Real Sports Bar and Grill! I mean come one, its Canada, what do they know about sports Eh! Okay, they know hockey.
Well when I walked in, I was taken back, by one of the largest television screens I have ever seen in my life. To get an idea of how big the screen is check out the YouTube video below (not taken by me). If that screen is not enough, that have additional screens all over the place, including in the booths. I have never seen a bar with the amount of screens! With that said, I will let them have the title of Real Sports Bar and Grill.
Now that I have gotten over the fact they call themselves Real Sports Bar and Grill on to the menu. To start the drink menu had an expansive list of draught, bootle beers, cocktails, spirits and wines. There really is something for every sort of drinker. If you do not drink, I am sure they have coke or pepsi, but I never checked. Once you finally get through their drink list and order up, time to peruse the food menu. As with the drink menu, there are a lot of options here as well from Appetizers, Salads, Sandwiches, Burgers, Entrees and a very entertaining Steak menu. We will get to the steak menu in a bit, but first for my meal.
I started off with the sliders. I find it difficult to resist sliders when ever I see them on the menu. Sure I will never get White Castles, but perhaps I should be glad. The sliders came with cheese and a “secret sauce”, which I believe is thousand island. I could be wrong, but the combination worked. The burger had substance and was cooked medium, bread soft, just the right combo for a gourmet slider. For the entree, I split the Filet Mignon sandwich and the 1/2 Rack of Ribs. The Filet sandwich was okay at best. I was not really impressed, but the Ribs were another story. They were falling off the bones, with a great house BBQ sauce. The menu calls them “Melt in your Mouth Ribs” and they really do.
Something interesting about The Real Sports Bar and Grill, was their steak menu. They featured a Steak challenge on it. For $75 (CAN) you get a 67 oz. Ribeye with a 1lb side of fries and cole slaw EACH! If you finish it, the meal is free. Needless to say I DID NOT ATTEMPT this! Just don’t tell them you are a Senators or Habs (Montreal Canadians for us non-hockey fans) fan as they will charge you double!
All in all Real Sports Bar and Grill lives up to its name. They have enough screens that even a Best Buy looks barren. The food is excellent and there is something for all flavors of drinkers. What else can I say but this places is the Real Deal!