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Eat & Drink

Unlovable loses liquor license during NXNE

Posted by Derek Flack / June 18, 2012

Unlovable Bar TorontoUnlovable, the popular basement bar near Dundas and Gladstone, is in the midst of a battle to avoid entrance into the deadpool. Cited by police for being over-capacity on June 15 while hosting bands playing NXNE, the establishment's liquor license has been suspended indefinitely. That seems like a rather harsh penalty for a violation that must happen with some regularity around the city, but according to the bright yellow notice currently posted on the front door, "past conduct" might have also played a role in the shutdown.

The initial reaction from the bar to the suspension was as gloomy as the Smiths song after which it's named. A short note posted to Facebook read that Unlovable was "no more" in the wake of the previous day's events. Although we've yet to make contact with co-owner Jamal Watson, a subsequent post indicates a change of heart took place over the weekend. In it, he promises to do his "best to get this thing figured out and [to] open as soon as possible."

Following the revocation of a liquor license, businesses have 15 days to request an appeal of the decision to the Licence Appeal Tribunal, a quasi-judicial panel that presides over provincial licensing matters. There's no guarantee that Unlovable will win its case, of course, but ownership has yet to throw in the proverbial towel — and that's a good thing. The bar is currently looking for photos from Thursday night to help build its case.

Update (3:00 p.m.)

Phédre and Beta Frontiers have both released new tracks to help raise funds for Unlovable's appeal. More on this here.

Discussion

31 Comments

BM / June 18, 2012 at 01:44 pm
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Indifinate? We should revoke that person's pen.
o__O / June 18, 2012 at 01:48 pm
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Well. There are rules.
DSmith / June 18, 2012 at 02:15 pm
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I think BM was commenting on the spelling mistake.
Mike / June 18, 2012 at 02:19 pm
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If you're talking about a property with issues of "past conduct", then this was the weekend to keep your nose clean. Most NXNE venues were at high capacity and most were serving until 4:00 am, meaning a greater chance of overservice to patrons. I really think Unlovable should have done a better job in keeping things under control this weekend.
Frank / June 18, 2012 at 02:21 pm
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The place was jammed and dangerous.. one small fire,the trample.. smoked and cooked Hipsters!
Bobby / June 18, 2012 at 02:27 pm
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Mark / June 18, 2012 at 02:28 pm
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Great, keep fighting for the right to stay open, break the laws and perhaps get someone killed. Keep up the good work.
cameron replying to a comment from o__O / June 18, 2012 at 02:30 pm
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do you like to follow rules? is it fun being told what todo?
yoche replying to a comment from cameron / June 18, 2012 at 02:56 pm
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Those rules are put in place for the overall safety of the patrons. Not all rules are fun but in the case of an emergency it just makes it more difficult to exit in a timely manner if the area is clogged more than it should be.
Matt / June 18, 2012 at 03:06 pm
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Seems like a lot of local press automatically take bar and restaurant owners' sides in any dispute about laws. Patios are a great example of this: magazines and blogs always act as if denying some west-end haute-hipster bar's patio application is a great injustice, even if there are a bunch of apartments or houses right on top of it.

Jo / June 18, 2012 at 03:17 pm
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I'm curious to know how many heads the police counted during the bust. It happened 30 minutes after I left, at which time there were about 25 (give or take a few) people inside, and then always 10 or so people outside smoking. Crispy hipster joke aside, the place was not jammed and dangerous: there was no one in the front room, so it's not like people would've had to jump over each other to escape from a fire. Then again, it is possible that 20 or however many people it takes for them to reach capacity showed up within the last half hour. We'll see if pictures can clarify that. Also, what is "other legislation"? and "past/present conduct"?
Jb / June 18, 2012 at 03:20 pm
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What is a Hipster?
Seriously. That word gets bandied about on the comments section of this website so much it is truly devoid of any meaning at all anymore.
Eric26 replying to a comment from cameron / June 18, 2012 at 03:22 pm
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yes and yes
Alex / June 18, 2012 at 03:24 pm
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Nice to see some rational comments...the fire dept doesn't have rules to be a buzzkill, they have rules to make sure you don't die in a horrible fire...
mike in parkdale replying to a comment from Jb / June 18, 2012 at 04:17 pm
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http://dustinland.com/dlands/dland.hipster.jpg

really, a hipster is relative. A guy in a T-Shirt with facial hair is a hipster standing next to a guy in a suit. All relative...
theend replying to a comment from Jb / June 18, 2012 at 04:27 pm
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Anyone from Queen West.
Jane replying to a comment from mike in parkdale / June 18, 2012 at 04:31 pm
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I really really want to see what comes next in that cartoon.....
Justin / June 18, 2012 at 05:35 pm
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Capacity there is 40, which gives the illusion of crowding when everyone is up the stairs near the bar. And I have to say, I feel like all this hipster talk is really hurting my feelings. I was there all the time because I did the chalk murals and I'm a giant dork, not a hipster.
A / June 18, 2012 at 09:20 pm
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Jamal is a super great guy simply trying to run a super great bar. The AGCO seems to be on the prowl during NXNE for some unknown reason. If pressure from local residents is the reason, then I have to say that Unlovable is a big improvement over the many dodgy "Sports" bars in the area. Toronto needs more bars like Unlovable, not less!
Richard Roe / June 18, 2012 at 10:14 pm
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Shawn replying to a comment from Jb / June 18, 2012 at 10:54 pm
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Its easier to tell Hipster men apart from hipster women; just look for the deliberately unkempt men wearing jeggings and RayBans.

I did find it funny that I saw 3 boxes of Pabst strewn across the neighbourhood over the last few days....
Error, Error! / June 18, 2012 at 10:54 pm
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Nobody wants to comment on the misspelling of licence, and the fact that the author didn't even bother to reference the photo with the correct spelling?

Okay, I will...
Frank replying to a comment from Error, Error! / June 19, 2012 at 03:17 am
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Yes.. its a spelling error. You want a refund? GTFO...
Jamal Severin-Watson replying to a comment from Mike / June 19, 2012 at 03:33 am
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Hi everyone

its been a weird week. we would 1st like to say, we enjoy the fact that a modest amount of discourse is happening right now about things, that is great. everyone has their own ideas and opinions. some people who weren't there, that night, got real.... well maybe they should've been there. We do our best to not talk about things that we do not know about. when you don't speak from a personal, or first hand knowledge or your experience, and say things like they are law... well i guess your some sorta God. The fact of the matter is we don't make money off of dead customers. and we aren't the type of people that take our friends/patrons (in most cases, as my ex would say they are the same) for granted. The bar is small. some would say "cozy" but we didn't and will never let 160 people in there. Which is what we are being accused of.

Now the end, you may hate of love the place, you might want to hipster bash (which by the way, is that the new "gay" bash? is it cool from your armchair to not understand something so you get super aggro like a child with a knife and justify yourself with the only "hate speech" left in this country that doesn't carry jail time. ie "I DONT GET THOSE PEOPLE , think their so cool i should mess with them, cause i was good at throwing a ball in high school, blah blah bhalhahalhalhalhalhalhalh GROWUP! WHO CARES!! I swear to god we don't care about you. if you are under the impression that I, or anyone of our friends actively thinks about you being a "square or a loser or lame" your just wrong, you might just suck, and that can be hard to deal with. you maybe a bad tipper and your friends are to embarrassed to tell you.) But for the record, the bar has never had an infraction, we got a little to busy one night, and now we are jobless.... JAH BLESS EVERYONE. and for everyone against me, I can barely spell, but i went to your schools
Doug / June 19, 2012 at 05:02 am
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@Jamal

Please, please, please tell me you haven't likened offside comments about a subculture, hipsters, to the discrimination faced by the gay and lesbian communities? Oh, and that ball comment was totally out of left field.
Stravulo replying to a comment from Jamal Severin-Watson / June 19, 2012 at 09:15 am
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I didn't understand much of which you just wrote, but good luck. Unloved your establishment is right now I guess.
Greg / June 19, 2012 at 09:41 am
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Theres more than enough skinny jean pabst drinking bars anyway.
bonezone replying to a comment from Doug / June 19, 2012 at 11:05 am
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left field... awesome.
robg / June 20, 2012 at 02:14 am
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Get 160 people down to unlovable, film trying to fit 160 people in the bar. I think u could get 80 in tops, and that's without a band, gear etc.
red / June 20, 2012 at 01:53 pm
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Well, i was there that night. I walked in maybe 15min before the cops came in and shut it down, and there is no possible way that there were 160 people in that place.
If there were, it was a genuine miracle that i was able to walk straight to the bar, get a drink, and then SIT DOWN - all within 5min.
It's a small place, and it felt crowded because everyone was up by the bar, and there was hardly anyone in the front room (which also had band gear). But anyone who's ever been to that place knows you could never fit 160 people in there and still be able to breath.
Maybe it was over-capacity; but it was more like 60-70 people, not 160.
In my opinion, the cops got a little vindictive because the bartender warned people that the cops were searching people outside, and that they should get rid of their stuff.
Or, at least, that was part of it. Cause she really didn't seem happy about it.
M replying to a comment from Jamal Severin-Watson / June 22, 2012 at 12:31 am
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I was there that night and there is absolutely no way there was 160 people in there; I would say about 70! I love unlovable and hope to see the doors open again soon. Good Luck!!

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