Toronto bar shuts down after just over a year in business

A Toronto bar from the team behind another successful local watering hole has called it quits on the concept after just over a year in pursuit of new horizons.

Since late 2023, Bloorcourt’s cozy and sleek Overpressure Club has been a phenomenon, serving up cocktails that are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the palate alongside a tight menu of Japanese-inspired snacks.

It’s a remarkable thing when a bar or restaurant in the city is able to deftly straddle the line between elegance and accessibility, and owner Alfred Siu, who’s also behind Dundas West’s Project Gigglewater, achieved exactly that in Overpressure Club, earning it a stamp of approval not only from the neighbourhood, but the scores of discerning drinkers who stopped by.

In spite of the bar’s popularity, though — which even earned it a spot in the top 25 on Canada’s top 100 bars — Siu has officially made the decision to call it quits on the concept, closing the bar’s doors permanently on Friday, Jan. 3.

This isn’t the tired old story of a bar being pushed out by greedy landlords or property developers, though; in fact, it poses the potential for an equally great — or even better — concept to arise in its place.

While Overpressure Club, in its current iteration, is gone for good, Siu is keeping his hands on the Bloor West property and getting to work on turning it into something entirely new.

More details will be on their way in the near future, but Siu tells blogTO that the new concept, which will bear a new name and feature updated decor, will feature Mexican and Korean-inspired food paired with top-notch drinks.

“We feel this new concept will serve the neighbourhood well as it shares a border with Koreatown,” Siu tells blogTO.

For those feeling particularly heartbroken about the loss of Overpressure Club, there may still be hope.

“The Overpressure Club concept was great and well-loved,” Siu acknowledges, “so we will likely open it again in a different location.”

The new concept is set to open sometime in mid-January, though the exact date has yet to be confirmed, in the same space that previously held Overpressure Club.

Overpressure Club was located at 815 Bloor West.