The Reveal - The Commoner Bar Room
An extension of Roncy’s The Commoner, The Commoner Bar Room in Little Italy should be on your radar whether you’re celebrating happy hour, heading out for dinner or late night convos.
Provisions & Tipples
At first glance, the menu reads pretty casual - fried chicken, burgers, nachos - but make no mistake: this comfort pub fare is superbly executed and at times, even elevated. Cocktails are on point, too. Classics abound - Old Fashioned ($13), Negroni ($12), Manhattan ($13) - but step out of your comfort zone with herbaceous forward and other evocative house creations such as Earl Gray ($12) featuring dry gin, earl gray reduction, and rosemary; and Beam Bulldog ($13) with Pike Creek, Dolin Vermouth, Amaro Nonino, cardamom syrup, and peach bitters.
Food + drink diary
Botanical Spiritz ($13) Ketel One Botanical mingling with Cava, elderflower, bitters, and grapefruit = summer in a glass.
Not only is Fennel Sour ($14) a beautifully balanced cocktail boasting unfiltered gin, Chartreuse, sage, wormwood bitters, and lemon, it utilizes fennel stalk grown in the onsite garden, delivering a fragrant, compelling anise finish.
Crab Cakes ($15) rarely makes an appearance on a non-fine dining menu, so it’s a no-brainer. And superbly composed. Rock crab studded with jalapeno, corn, and red pepper, rolled in panko, and served with romesco and garlic aioli, delivers an alluring heat that lingers long after the table’s been cleared.
It takes a bit of work to get through the thick, craggy, crunchy coating of the Southern Chicken ($17) but unctuous thigh meat awaits with licks of spiced honey mustard, cabbage slaw, red onion, and a boatload of pickled jalapeño for a serious kick. If your server suggests the truffle fries to pair with it, a spiel you’ve heard a gazillon times before, suppress the eye rolls because these hand cut, skin-on, heavily salted, truffle-scented spuds are superb - sure to convert nay-sayers, all least for the moment.
This is a first. Every restaurant will tell you their ribs are “fall-off-the-bone,” but rarely if ever, is it true. Back Ribs ($25) here however, fall apart as soon as you lift them off the plate. For any another dish, this would spell disaster, but here it’s heavenly. And though saucy, the meat’s not drenched nor too sweet. And while the house maple butter is meant for the jalapeño cornbread, go ahead - be extra and smother it all over the ribs.
Backdrop
The interior is sleek, delivering modern tavern bistro vibes lined in warm woods and exposed brick walls, finished with wine hued banquets and penny tile floors.
Currently, the restaurant is offering patio seating on the street out front, and out back in a wood-lined space. The airy back patio lined in wood is spacious, with tables far apart – more than six feet - so you can relax and settle in.
Numbers
Drop a pin
614 College St. (at Grace St.)
Ring, ring
416-530-1881
Come on in
Tues-Thurs 5pm-11pm
Friday + Sat 5pm-12am
Sunday 5pm-11pm
Please be seated
24 seats available on the patio, 12 out front, 12 in back.
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