Popular Toronto sports bar closing permanently and getting immediately replaced

A Toronto sports bar that touted itself as the first of its kind in the world will close permanently next month, and it's getting replaced by something decidedly more common.

While Toronto is home to plenty of great sports bars, basketball fans in the city have known just one mecca for the past three years: NBA Courtside Restaurant.

Self-identified as the world's first exclusively NBA-themed sports bar, the restaurant's prime location — just a stone's throw from Scotiabank Arena — has made it a go-to for fans, whether they're grabbing a quick drink-and-dinner before catching the game or simply wanting to be close to the action while they watch from the bar's numerous screens.

A robust retail section sells the merchandise of several NBA teams, while some tables were even made from pieces of the 2021 NBA All-Star Court. As far as a bar pandering to basketball fans goes, NBA Courtside should have been a slam-dunk.

That said, like so many NBA GOATs before it, it'll soon be time for NBA Courtside Restaurant to enter permanent retirement, as the restaurant is slated to become home to a new Gabby's location.

According to Gabby's website, the new location — the chain's 19th in the GTA — is set to open in September 2026, leaving NBA Courtside's days numbered to, at best, a couple of weeks.

Before you lament the loss of a prime sports viewing location in the city, though, the pub already promises it'll maintain its predecessor's tradition of screening Raptors games, along with all the city's other fan-favourite sports teams, on its 16-ft. 4K big screen.

On top of the big screen, the bar will also offer half-price chicken wings every Monday and Wednesday, 14 draft beers on tap and seating for more than 200 people: score!

Gabby's Waterfront, formerly NBA Courtside, will be located at 15 Queens Quay E.