As the weather gets a little warmer we find ourselves longing for a patio or a nice air-conditioned room, enjoying a nice little glass of something special in the company of friends.

Well, that dream may be delayed for a little while yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a little taste of Old Town Toronto in your glass with some of these local drink options. No matter what you fancy, from beer, wine, spirits, and sake, it’s all here and available for delivery or takeout. Here’s what you need to know.

Beer

Who doesn’t love a pint (or two, possibly three) of good locally-made beer? Fortunately, Old Town Toronto is one of the city’s top spots for good beer made here. Batch House on 75 Victoria Street has a bottle shop open for business daily from 12pm-4pm with delivery options available. You’ll get access to their selection of in-house beers like the Black Lager and ESB along with some classics from Creemore Springs Brewery such as Lot 9 Pilsner and Boundless IPA. There are even food options and pantry essentials like beans, butter, and flour in case you need an excuse to go out!

For a bit of extra variety, the Goose Island Brewhouse is providing free local delivery right to your door for orders of more than $20 with cans, special edition bottles, and merch all available. For the lager lover the Between the Pipes Unfiltered Pilsner is a gorgeously crisp German lager with slight notes of caramel. If you’re a fan of a beer with a little more oomph there are still bottles of the Dysphoria Bourbon Barrel Aged Baltic Porter available. Aged in Buffalo Trace Kentucky Bourbon Barrels for 8 months and sitting at 12%, the beer packs a punch in more ways than one.

While we might not be getting as much sports in our lives these days, the Score on King can bring the sports bar experience to you with a takeout menu of all their epic food dishes and a happy hour menu featuring $3 cans of beer! Sadly, they aren’t offering a kit for any of their epic Caesars, but their beer selection, which has a more than healthy assortment of domestic and craft beers from such breweries as Steam Whistle and Great Lakes, will be sure to get you by.

Finally, a Toronto institution, Mill Street Brewery has entered the beer delivery game, offering free delivery for orders of $50 or more on packs of their beers along with some special limited bottles like the latest from their Wild Side Series. While we absolutely recommend the original Organic Lager, other selections such as Rodeo Monk White IPA and their newest offering the Big Little Lager are wonderfully inventive beers to enjoy.

Wine

Things just wouldn’t be the same in Old Town Toronto without enjoying a Affitisciuta pizza and a glorious glass of red wine from Terroni on Adelaide. Lucky for us, they are offering delivery on UberEats, DoorDash, and SkipTheDishes along with takeout. While they do have a selection of beers available, the real treat of Terroni is their wonderfully curated wine selection that has everything from the dark and delicious to the bright and bubbly. And if you’d like to browse the wines available in their shop you can do so while also picking up some food staples like their Peperoncini Piccanti, olive oil, or pasta making kits.

Mercatto del Vino

If you miss stopping by Mercatto to choose from any one of their dozens of wines available, you’re in luck. The restaurant has teamed up with Nicholas Pearce Wines to create ‘Mercatto del Vino’, an online shop that offers a superbly curated selection of wines available wholesale by the case. If you want a more varied selection of wines or if, like us, you can’t choose because they all look delicious, mixed cases from wineries such as Leaning Post, Keint-He, and Nicholas Pearse are available (along with an exquisite spirits pack). And to add a level of generosity to the mix, one meal will be donated to Community Food Centres Canada for every case of wine sold and 25% of gift card purchases will go towards staff support during this time. By the by, don’t forget to use the promo code VSMERCATTO for free contactless delivery.

If it’s just one bottle of wine you’re after along with an unforgettable meal, local hangout the Scotland Yard Pub is offering their hearty meals with a selection of craft beer and $10 off all of their bottles of wine including Marcus James Malbec and the Casal Thaulero Pinot Grigio. Enjoy a generous pour of the good stuff while enjoying their turkey club and famous triple cooked fries.

Something a little stronger

Now beer and wine are all well and good, but sometimes you want a bit of the stronger stuff or a nice flavourful cocktail to soothe the mind and body.

The folks over at Izumi 泉, Ontario Spring Water Sake Co. have been offering up their amazing sake concoctions for same day pickup. Along with their Nama-Name Signature Unpasteurized Sake, you can purchase their cocktail mixes like the Yuzu-Lime Sake Collins or special limited editions like the Winter Cuvée. And if you’d like to make a special moment out of it, they are also selling Sake kits including the decanter along with a selection of foods and cosmetics.

Izumi Spring Water Sake Co

For over 30 years Nami Japanese Restaurant has been the essential sushi destination in Toronto and we couldn’t be happier that we still have access to their amazing food and immense selection of sake. In their takeout menu along with the assorted bento boxes, dishes, platters, and a la carte food items is a huge drink menu that’s half off. Of course Nami has a wonderful selection of wines and Japanese beer available, but one really should take advantage of the 16 top shelf different sake bottles available!

We’d be remiss if we didn’t write about drinks available in the neighbourhood without sharing a cocktail recipe of our own. So without further ado, here’s a special Old Town Toronto take on the Old Fashioned:

The Old-Old Town Toronto

1.5 oz Canadian Club 100% Rye Whiskey
1 brown sugar cube OR .5 oz simple syrup
2 dashes Black Walnut Bitters

Muddle sugar cube in an old fashioned glass with bitters
Add whisky and stir
Add 2 BIG cubes of ice
Stir again and garnish with Luxardo Maraschino Cherries and orange peel

Sip slowly, savour, and enjoy responsibly!

Recipe Card for The Old-Old Town Toronto

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