How a Toronto sports bar forced into 3-month closure never lost its sense of humour
An onslaught of woes forced one Toronto sports bar into a three-month closure in late 2025, but through it all, its team never lost sight of the good times ahead.
It was early June when the first of what Mitchell MacDougall, Director of Operations at King East's Score on King (and its sister bar Score on Queen), describes as "inconveniences" began.
Just as patio season — a time of year that nearly doubles the bar's capacity — got into full swing, the intersection of King and Church, of which Score on King occupies the southeast corner, was completely closed for infrastructure upgrades.
In addition to reconstructing the sidewalk around the intersection, a nearly 150-year-old water main was to be replaced.
This meant that, not only would the sound of jackhammers be killing the vibe all summer long, but the bar itself was completely obscured by fencing that meant potential patrons would have to walk out of their way to cross the street, let alone enter the bar.
Still, MacDougall and the team made the most of the situation, posting quippy signs around the surrounding area, directing people to the bar: "Still open. Still awesome. Now 70 per cent harder to get to."
"We totally understand that city infrastructure and rehabilitation has to happen. It's something that we all need," MacDougall says, so he took it all in stride, opting to weather the storm the best he could.
Finally, the construction was completed in mid-August and, with the promise of at least a month of decent weather left in the season, the Score on King team felt sure that they'd be able to return to regular business levels.
A week later, however, upon walking into the bar's basement, MacDougall noticed water coming in from the vacant, City-owned building next door — and it wasn't just a trickle.
"I called the city when I saw water coming through our basement wall, and I knew it wasn't our plumbing stack, so I called the City immediately. I said, 'Hey, there's water coming out of your building onto the sidewalk. It's coming into our basement.' And an hour later, they came and shut it off. By that time, we had over four feet of water and 3000 square feet of space."
Where the earlier construction had been a mere inconvenience, the flood — caused by a new water main replaced during that very construction period bursting — was an all-out calamity.
The bar has one restroom on the main floor, with an additional eight in the basement. The building's fire and electrical panels were completely submerged, rendered useless. The entire basement would have to be rebuilt, meaning the bar, after a particularly challenging summer, would have to close down.
"It was heartbreaking," MacDougall tells blogTO, "and the biggest thing is we had to lay off the staff, and we had no timeline on when we were going to open. It was basically every day; you do another assessment, you make a lot of calls, and then you're still at a standstill."
The flood was, understandably, a "hit to morale," MacDougall says, but still, just as they had when the construction had totally camouflaged the bar, they managed to ride it out with a laugh.
On Aug. 29, Score on King took to its Instagram to show a picture of the damage, calling back to the signs they created just a month prior: "Now closed. Still awesome. Now 70 per cent more water."
Having weathered the storm of the Covid-19 pandemic, MacDougall says that challenges are nothing new for Score on King: difficult times will always arise whether you're anticipating them or not, and the only thing in one's control is how you react to them.
"I mean, there's nothing we could do about it," MacDougall explains.
"There's no reason to lash out and complain and, I mean, it's, it's not fun for us, but it's fun for our followers and our regulars and our fans to have a look and say, 'Hey, listen, these guys are keeping their heads up.'"
On Nov. 20, 2025, nearly a full three months after the flood, Score on King was able to officially reopen, and the support from the community, MacDougall tells blogTO, still brings a tear to his eye.
"It was almost overwhelming, the amount of support that came from the community," he says. "It just really shows how close-knit of a community Old Town is, and the loyalty and the friendships goes a long way."
Nowadays, it's full steam ahead at Score on King. The entire team returned once the bar reopened, and there's a full suite of programming planned, like Bingo Nights every Tuesday from 8 to 10 p.m., daily Happy Hour from 3 to 6 p.m. and late-night industry specials starting at 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, to keep the good times rolling.
And, hey, patio season is only four months away.
Score on King is located at 107 King St. E.
Fareen Karim
