Toronto's original lawn games bar is closing
Five years ago, the thought of playing games at a bar other than billiards, darts, or board games was pretty much unheard of. Track & Field in Toronto's Little Italy changed all that.
Now, Toronto is home to other bars where you can play lawn games like bocce indoors, but soon, Track & Field will be leaving the scene. Slated to close on August 3, the building was actually sold back in October 2018.
Track & Field tried to eke out an existence in the basement of 860 College for as long as they could, but it became clear that running a business with construction going on all around them wouldn't be viable. That said, they are on the lookout for a new space for the lawn games bar concept.
All this info was posted to Instagram in a heartfelt goodbye on Monday. "As soon as we find the right space, we plan to set up shop in a new (and hopefully improved!) location."
"Rest assured this is not goodbye forever, it's just goodbye for now. Still, it's hard to imagine Track & Field anywhere but here — this place has been our home for just-over-four years (feels more like a decade)," they wrote.
"As for relocating, we're definitely hoping to stay in the west end — Dundas West, Parkdale, Bloor West etc. It depends so greatly on the space, though! Lawn games take up a lot of room, so it has to be big. I'm sure we'll know our new home when we see it," owner Nickie Minshall wrote in an email.
"In terms of festivities, lots planned. We've got one more Fade County set for June 30th, which is our longest standing party. T&F gets a funky tropical/Floridian dive bar face lift, we make Pina Coladas and other frozen boozy treats, and dance around to DJs brains4brkfst and Grump," she continued.
"We're also planning an industry bocce tournament dubbed Staff Meal on July 14th, which is a throwback to the tournaments we used to run in 2015 (our first year!). Beyond that, I expect the eleven weekends we have left will all be pretty crazy parties, the craziest of which will obviously be August 2nd/3rd, our final weekend."
Minshall also runs Bangarang, which you can still hit up for cornhole if you're missing that lawn games bar vibe.
Hector Vasquez
