Poutine and hockey and moose (mooses?), oh my! A Canada-themed bar featuring all of the country’s favourite things is setting up shop in Toronto, and it’s set to open its doors in just a few weeks.
These are troubling times we Canadians find ourselves living in, what with the threats of tariffs and annexation looming over our heads, but, on the other hand, I can scareceley recall a time — save for maybe the 2010 Vancouver Olympics — where national pride has been at quite such a high.
In December of 2024, the Angus Reid Institute reported that Canadian pride had fallen to its lowest levels in decades. Understandable, of course, given the country’s complex colonial history and more renewed efforts in recent years to work towards Truth and Reconciliation.
Nothing brings people together quite like a common enemy, though, and who better than Donald Trump, with his tariff threats and “51st state” jokes, to fill the role?
As of February 2025, roughly two months after the initial poll and one since Trump took office, the intstitute reported a marked rebound in Canadian pride levels, with the number of Canadians self-identifying as “very proud” of their country jumping 10 points from 34 to 44 per cent.
It’s no wonder, then, that local businesses of all kinds are getting in the patriotic spirit, and the latest to do so is West Queen West’s Offworld Bar, or, as it’ll soon be known, Grizzly Bar.
In a matter of weeks, the outerspace-themed bar will soon be taking on a form that looks a whole lot closer to home with their new concept, which is set to pay homage to the bevy of unique facets that make up Canadian culture.
And, yes, that includes CanCon. Queue up the Fefe Dobson!
“We’ve been thinking a lot about what to do with Offworld,” Jessica Langer Kapalka, the Chief Marketing Officer at Storm Crow Alliance, Offworld’s parent company, tells me.
“Although the outer-space theme is fun, we realized last fall with our Hellbar pop-up that what we actually have is an incredibly versatile space that can take on a huge variety of themes.”
The team has also, in light of recent events, been thinking a lot about Canadian unity, which led to a sort of lightbulb moment for the bar’s next chapter.
“We are Canadian-owned and operated, but the cool thing about our staff is that they really represent the diversity of Canada: many of them are originally from elsewhere in the world, but they all live and work in Canada, and they all love Canada,” Jessica tells me. “That’s what has always given Canada its strength.”
As for what you can actually expect from the bar, which is set to officially open in April, Jessica tells me that they want to create an experience which feels deeply Canadian, expands beyond the bounds of the old plaid-shirt-and-maple-syrup stereotypes we’ve grown accustomed to, and speaks to the Canadian experience.
Make no mistake, though; there’ll be plenty of plaid and maple syrup, too.
“We want people who walk in to be amused and delighted in equal measure,” Jessica tells me.
“We want them to be surrounded by Canadian-ness and feel embraced by it. We want them to have that excited little frisson of recognition, the ‘I understood that reference!’ More than anything, we want them to feel right at home, in a place that’s by Canadians, for Canadians and our allies.”
As far as refreshments go, you’ll be able to sip on beers from a number of local breweries like Side Launch and Collective Arts, alongside a handful cult-favourite cocktails from the Offworld menu that’ll live on — with a few tweaks — at Grizzly Bar.
For example, Jessica tells me, the Black Hole experiential cocktail which made headlines a few years ago is sticking around as the Hadfield, after beloved Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.
When it comes to food, the menu is equally patriotic, with local delicacies like Montreal smoked meat on rye and a diverse array of poutine offerings joining the likes of chicken wings tossed in maple whisky sauce made with whisky from Ontario distillery Felix Spirits, bison burgers made from Quebec bison and buttertarts from MoeTarts, winners of two medals at last year’s Midland Butter Tart Festival.
Jessica also mentions that, while the bar intends to source a vast majority of ingredients locally, should they find that approach simply not possible, “we’re trying to source from other allies, like Mexican produce and New Zealand elk for our elk burgers.”
At the end of the day, Jessica tells me, the bar is all intended to be taken in good fun, offering Canadians and visitors alike a healthy, lighthearted way to express their pride at a time when much of the news feels pretty heavy.
“It’s an antidote to doomscrolling,” she says.
“Instead of checking Facebook or Instagram a million times a day and feeling helpless, come to Grizzly Bar and meet fellow Canadians to play shuffleboard and watch hockey and compete in our Great Canadian Apology Contest or the Hoser Olympics! Make yourselves into a Canadian Heritage Moment!”
Grizzly Bar is set to open in mid-April at 739 Queen West.
