Restaurants
Indie Alehouse
Indie Alehouse is the much-anticipated brewpub that has finally opened on Dundas Street in the once-dry Junction. With an opening date that was long-delayed by red tape, construction woes, and unexpected surprises, anticipation about Indie Alehouse among Junction residents, the city's foodies, and beer fans alike has been mounting. But as I found out on a recent visit, the neighbourhood's long-awaited first brewpub actually manages to meet all those expectations and provides a dining experience that's likely to please almost everyone.
The space, once occupied by Reitmans, has been extensively renovated, including a new facade and some more technical work to ensure that the heavy on-site brewing equipment rests firmly on the old building's basement I-beams. The decor and vibe are well-suited to the food and beer menus in that everything here suggests upscale pub.
Subdued furniture in wood with exposed brick walls are accented by slightly more elegant touches like a slick marble bar and a punched-tin ceiling, with a handful of interesting pieces acquired from local reclaimed furniture stores Smash and Forever Interiors. It's the kind of unpretentiously rustic place that will appeal equally to the scene-oriented set and Junction locals looking to have an after-work pint — of which both demographics were clearly represented on the Wednesday evening I visited.
To start the evening I had a pint of one of Indie Alehouse Brewing Company's staple beers, their Instigator IPA. It was a great coppery-coloured pint with good head and mild citrus aromas. There's a pleasant hop bite with a subtle malty backbone and a classic American pale ale bitter finish. I was immediately impressed and anxious to try Indie's other brews, which include a phenomenal Breakfast Porter ($6 for 16oz), their Red Tape Stout — named in honour of the difficulties getting the place up and running — ($5.50 for 9oz), and their Pumpkin Abbey, a beer that will change the way you think about pumpkin beers ($5.50 for 9oz).
Once my guest/photographer arrived, we ordered Indie's Chacuterie Platter ($19), a rotating selection of meats that head chef Patrick Fraser, formerly of Salt, has had brought in from Dolce Lucano in Woodbridge. Tonight it's wild boar sausage, spicy fennel cacciatora, and cured beef served with some pickled onions, radish, and grapes. All the meat was excellent, though it was arguably a little small for two people to share — especially two hungry people currently drinking great pints of beer.
For dinner, we order the Smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich ($13) and the Three Little Pigs Pizza ($15), which includes smoked pork, more wild boar sausage, and Berkshire pork belly. Two meals, it turns out, that are pretty solid choices and representative of the food Indie Alehouse does best given that the kitchen includes a pizza oven and an in-house smoker.
The Three Little Pigs Pizza was great and, to borrow from the wrong children's story, was just right. No topping overwhelmed any of the others — there was no over-abundance of sauce or cheese and, remarkably, despite three iterations of pig on the dish, it wasn't too salty or heavy.
The pulled pork was likewise satisfying. The meat was cooked to a point where it was perfectly soft, but just short of dry, and was smothered with just the right amount of Carolina BBQ sauce. The sandwich came with fries and house cole slaw.
Aside from the pizza offerings, the other menu items echo the upscale pub vibe with snacky yet interesting options like Parmesan and Sage Popcorn served with whipped bacon fat butter ($3), Chilli and Cheese Fries ($9), and even Mac and Cheese — albeit mac and cheese with portobello, oyster, and honey mushrooms ($11).
By about 7:30pm, the place was starting to get full, despite the fact that there's still been no official opening yet, aside from "a few tweets." Owner Jason Fisher says a lot of their business thus far is thanks to enthusiastic locals. "They seem pretty happy we're here and they've been extremely helpful. I wouldn't be here without the support of the Junction."
And while some people seem to wander in not quite knowing what they're getting into — I overheard a customer try to order a Fosters — it seems pretty clear that they're all won over by the time they leave; a fact made all the more clear by the line that was forming at Indie's small retail space, which currently sells 1.9 litre growlers of their staple beers.
Clearly, the Junction is happy that the Indie Alehouse has finally arrived, and it won't be long before the rest of the city gets on board too.
For more on Indie Alehouse's beers, check out Ben's Beer Blog.
Photos by Paul Aihoshi.
Discussion
55 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
Anyways, good beers, good food though the portion sizes were a little small especially the mac & cheese, lose the arugala salad and make the M&C bigger. Biggest miss were the fries. In the chilli cheese fries the fries were like they were only blanched. With the shrimp po' boy they were better but could use a little more time in the fryer.
This review is a grammatical nightmare.
Strunk, Bill, Jr.
This is what happens when you go on one vacation to x country.
It is a welcome addition to the neighbourhood.
Mill Street Growler - $12.50
Granite Brewery Growler - $12
Indie Ale House Growler - $20
If you're still "working out the kinks" while officially accepting the public's money, you probably should have remained closed until you, ya know, worked out those kinks.
It's about not buying the "working out the kinks" nonsense. You work out the kinks before you start accepting the public's money... or your reputation suffers because you rushed things. Period.
Maybe if you eat out every single day, you're willing to give second and third chances to professional chefs, professional waitstaff, and professional restauranteurs, but few of us have that luxury. I want these kinks worked out before I decide to visit one establishment over the thousands of others I can choose from. Saying "oh, it's their first week" is nonsense.
Not being able to perform properly because you have too many customers is a loser's excuse.
But I find Toronto diners very complacent. And complacency breeds shit. I don't want restaurants to turn to shit because they know they can get away with it.
The beer is amazing, the food is just as good. The staff, decor and 'hood - all match. The growlers are on the high end, but they sell out daily! So hard to argue. I think Bellwoods is in the same range (?)
If a 6-pack of Sam Adams is $18+ tax at the LCBO is it not worth supporting a local brewery for better, fresh beer? If you don't think so - go elsewhere and quit whining on the internet.
Rob - get out of your mothers basement and go kiss a girl.
If he had of just went and got the beer there would never have been a problem but I guess he was having a bad day. Why is it the customers job to go get the beer at this place ? Seems like the retail end is a big pain in the ass for them. To bad I really like there beer and would have been a loyal lifelong customer and recommended it to everyone I know (basically everyone in the Junction) But he has advised me to do the opposite for some reason.
I was there, sitting next to the retail store, you were a douchebag.
You threw a fit when you were asked to go pay at an empty bar after they went out of their way to serve you before the retail store opened! I got excited because I was waiting to buy a growler when they opened and did so right after you left in a snit because he asked you to go pay at the bar because he was not set up yet.
Then you got snarky and started ranting about the price, LCBO etc. You didn't need to get the beer, just pay at the cash register. Seemed very reasonable, I had no problem with it.
Maybe you both were having a bad day, the guy got angry when you started ranting and saying the beer was not good then he basically said just leave if you want to go the the LCBO. He was upset after you left and felt bad, but very confused why you wouldn't pay at the bar and how you snapped from wanting a growler to the LCBO is better in one second. Like you were looking for trouble.
They sell out of growlers every day, I go early to get mine, sounds like you will be much happier at the LCBO. More for me.
BL - Amazing comments - harsh though, but amazing.
As for whining and going elsewhere, well people will do just that. You can lay down and take the nearly 50% price increase and be happy. I'm sure other locally brewed growlers will follow suit to match this "fair" price, especially with more people like your self that don’t have a clue about market value.
I really don't recall anyone else there but myself and the gentleman that was working there. I guess you are the guy working there(nice try). You should just sell customers beer and not give them attitude, I was very calm, if thats how you describe "throwing a fit" you really have bad judgement. And also I never said anything negative about your beer, Your beer is excellent (maybe slightly over priced but I can live with that) , Too bad I will never buy your beer. If your going to have a retail outlet you should try to make it easy for customers to buy it. No one wants to line up for 15 minutes or be sent here and there to do work YOU should be doing.
Good Luck!
I was sitting in the booth next to the retail store. That guy was the owner, I think. He went out of his way to serve you and you wanted more and for sure threw a fit. Ask your friends if you have any, they will tell you that you are a whinny goof.
I spoke with him after when I got a growler and he was in shock about how bad some customers are. Seriously people want better beer and places to eat and drink then shit all over when they are not treated like royalty.
Please stay away and make it easier for me to get a seat.
I guess I'm fairly sympathetic to your point--I hate the idea of a blanket excuse for providing a sub-par product for customers' hard-earned money--but with some really large caveats.
First, I don't think you understand what a soft opening is. In some cases it means you only invite friends in and comp part (or all) of their bill. In others, this case included, it just means that you quietly open the doors for a few weeks before promoting your official launch and hope that reviewers are civilised enough to wait a couple weeks.
Secondly, and probably more importantly, both of our frustration is not going to change the fact that what a restaurant is like in its first week is never representative of what it will be like in week four, 12, or 36. It's a complex operation that involves delivering a product to unknown customers in less than ninety minutes. Often new restaurants have people doing jobs they've never done before.
That's why I won't pay to eat at a restaurant that is less than three weeks old. I definitely wouldn't take a review written based on visits during that window seriously.
But they need improvement in:
-the glaring fluorescent light from the kitchen is brutal. Destroys what there is of ambiance in the restaurant. The disparity in colour between the incandescent in the restaurant and the fluorescent in the kitchen is painful. This could be remedied by dramatically reducing the pass through to the kitchen or changing the lighting.
- there are too many hard surfaces that reflect the sound in an unpleasant manner. The tin ceiling makes the normal restaurant din painful to the ear.
- the granite bar is too narrow and the absence of coasters....
- there needs to be more floor mats behind the bar - this area is wet and slippery and someone will be injured.
- there are too many bare walls and the paint colour does not compliment the flooring. It appears thee may be plans for further enhancement in this area.
- the vestibule - entryway is harsh and that bleeds into the rest of the space.
- The pizza seems to be made upon purchased wafer and is not pleasant.
- The pulled pork feels like a Sysco product - maybe it is - and is not very good.
- The plates are cold - the food was served on cold plates and the food rendered cold.
- There is no ice machine. Ice is to beverage as tissue is to a washroom.
- The music needs attention - it should sound good.
- The bartenders ought wear aprons of some uniform of sorts.
I would not recommend this restaurant to a friend. That aside - assuming that they are well financed (dubious) and have spent south of $3MM to open - they should survive for a year and by that time things will have improved. The management ought take a lesson from Barque on Roncesvalles.
I won't buy from their retail store and I'm going to save my money for the junction brewery retail. That just is not reasonable pricinn.
As for the food, I can't speak for the meat dishes, but the vegetarian ones are underwhelming. The arugula and goat cheese pizza is boring. The cheese platter is tiny (really - 3 slices of cheese). The strawberry and arugula salad is good, but not great. The mac and cheese is great, but it would be nice to have another veggie option other than the one pizza.
I have been to this Brewpub three times now and your review was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read. I have never posted a review or commented on one for that matter, but I rely on them for useful information. I can not help but reply to your comment.
-Lighting and noise are a real thing. Useful info for us consumers. However..
-If you want cocktails with ice, don't go to a brewery. Go to a winery some time and ask for a mixed drink and see how many pass you the cocktail list.
-The bar is 2 feet wide. Are you playing risk or putting together a giant puzzle? How wide does it need to be for you?
-I dont understand why you would mention floor mats for the staff. What does that have to do with your experience and how is that going to help me or anyone else in deciding whether or not to come here? Not helpful in the least.
-Cold plates in a bar? MAybe they should invest in a $3000 plate warmer so your burger bun doesn't get cold.
-What was wrong with the music? Too loud? Blown speakers? Were they listening to Nickleback? Again, this comment was of no help.
-The bartenders need aprons??? Are you kidding me? How and why does this bother you??
Furthermore, I hope to read more reviews from you. Your useless and misdirected comments made my night. They were all amazing.
I suspect the owners have a lot of cash invested - and if some reparable items are killing the overall experience then let em know so they may get on with the fixups.
Damn trolls.
i haven't been since the fall. i usually just go to 3030.
i have to agree with Joe regarding the hard surfaces. it really affects the sound. the bare walls affect the ambiance (i'm guessing they've put stuff up since the soft launch), the entrance is weird and the music was unpleasant. but i think that had a lot to do with the hard reflective surfaces.
i'll make the effort to pop in this week.