Those who are weary of Donald Trump’s 51st state rhetoric can now seek refuge at the most Canadian bar in town — Grizzly Bar on Queen Street West — which opened Friday.
Co-owner Jessica Langer Kapalka and her husband Jason wanted to create a place where people could channel their patriotic pride. “We wanted a place where people could be happy and excited about being Canadian,” she said.
The bar is a response to souring trade relations with our southern neighbour, but it is not anti-American, said Langer Kapalka: it’s pro-Canadian. Patriotic, not nationalistic, she added.
Though the bar’s origins are political, “Canadianness goes beyond elections. It goes beyond whatever the current politics are. Being Canadian, it’s being part of a people. It’s being part of culture,” she said.
The bar’s esthetic is cosy and nostalgic. The space overflows with Canadiana: Olympic men’s hockey memorabilia, Canadian artwork, a pair of vintage hockey skates, vintage university pennants, prints of TTC streetcars, as well as a taxidermied fish above the bar. Much of the memorabilia was donated, Langer Kapalka said.
There’s a gallery wall of Canadian heroes, including Terry Fox, David Suzuki, Jean Augustine, Celine Dion and more.
The bar’s playlist will only feature Canadian artists and local live acts. All menu items will have a Canadian theme and will be made from ingredients that are locally sourced, or from Canadian allies.
The menu has some custom Canadian offerings, like the Hadfield cocktail, named after astronaut Chris Hadfield. It’s a sweet, creamy dessert cocktail with a cookie dough ball inside. The drink has an “experiential” component, Langer Kapalka said; you drink it while wearing noise-cancelling headphones, which will play Hadfield’s performance of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” which he played while in space. One hundred per cent of the bar’s beers, seltzers and wines are Canadian, Langer Kapalka said.
When it comes time to pay the bill, customers can hand over cards or cash, but also Canadian Tire money. If you choose to do so, you will be gifted a shirt with Canadian Tire money on it, part of the bundle of swag donated to Grizzly Bar by Canadian Tire itself. “We’re thrilled that they’re into this,” Langer Kapalka said.
The bar will have games, too. There will be an “apology competition,” in which you’ll need to apologize for increasingly absurd, ultra-Canadian scenarios, like “Oops, I drove the Zamboni over my brother’s hockey stick.”
“One of Canadians’ greatest pastimes is apologizing to one another,” said Kapalka Langer.
There’ll also be a frozen T-shift contest, in which the first person to pry open the frozen shirt and put it on, wins.
The bar is campy and the couple likes it that way. “We are the biggest nerds,” Kapalka Langer said. “We try to bring a lot of that spirit to Grizzly Bar.”
