It’s easy as a millennial to feel like the Toronto we once knew and loved is dead and gone — and it wasn’t a drawn-out demise, either, but one heralded by a rapid spate of closures of iconic institutions.
One more in this long line has just hit the chopping block, its abrupt disappearance leaving a hole along Spadina Avenue (and in our hearts).
Red Room is one among a family of bars beloved by students and those of us regulars who have been frequenting them for well over a decade.
It was first opened in 2007 as the moodier sibling of Green Room, a legendary, though somewhat seedy place that resided in a back alley off Bloor Street, but ended up having to move when its building was sold in 2017.
While fans breathed a collective sigh of relief once it was announced that Green Room had settled into the old Crown & Tiger Space on College Street, the fate of Red Room under the exact same circumstances appears to be, unfortunately, the opposite.
The restaurant, located at 444 Spadina, has been shuttered for some months now while being listed as “temporarily closed” on Google, which led locals like myself to believe (read: hope) owners were just waiting for patio season and the heavier foot traffic that comes with it to reopen.
Unfortunately, as of this week, the establishment’s status on the site was suddenly changed to “permanently closed.”
Owners of the spot have proven to be impossible to track down, and employees at sibling businesses had no information to share. But, the real estate agent who helped list the entire building for sale back in 2021 — a listing that expired after a few months — broke the sad news of Red Room’s permanent closure to me on Thursday.
Michael Himel, executive vice-president of Cityspace/PSR Brokerage, said that the handwritten signs posted in the bar’s windows reading “sorry we[‘re] close[d]” most likely, to his knowledge, mean for good, not just for the winter.
“The building was just sold, and I believe the restaurant is now closed,” Himel said over email.
Handwritten closure signs have been in the restaurant’s windows for a few weeks, though one gracing an inner door states that it was simply “closed for renovations.” The inside, based from glimpses through the windows, looks the same as ever.
Like staff at Green Room, Pour Boy and Java House, he could not provide a contact for the person rumoured to run all of the aforementioned Toronto stalwarts at the top level — along with also, apparently, Future Bistro, Last Temptation and the now-defunct Nirvana, which was probably the most similar to Red Room as far as vibe — who lives in Vietnam, according to a server at Green Room (hence the Vietnamese staples that dominate all of the very similar menus).
So if you get nostalgic for Red Room’s kick-ass sangria, Pad Thai or other menu items, there’s at least the chance to get pretty close to the same thing at any of the above spots that remain open under different management — and hopefully will for a long while still.
