The Commoner Bar Room
The Commoner Bar Room is open for dine-in. You can choose to dine inside or on the back patio, which currently has capacity for 12 people. Staff are equipped with PPE.
The Commoner Bar Room is the sister location of the Roncesvalles restaurant, The Commoner.
This dimly-lit version in Little Italy is meant to be more of an evening outing destination than the Roncy version, which leans more toward a family-friendly vibe.
The Bar Room definitely feels more suitable for pre-party starters and group dinners.
It's less craft beer heavy here, too. While the other location has 32 taps, Commoner Bar Room has eight, with the focus resting more on a menu of crafted cocktails to go with the leathery, nostalgic feel.
Head to the back for the open back patio, complete with a little herb patch with mint and basil.
A tuna tostada ($13) comes with ahi tuna, smashed avocado, and a mix of apple, jalapeno, pico de gallo. It's sprinkled with feta cheese and topped with sour cream.
The buffalo cauliflower ($12) are heavily saucy tempura-battered bites with blue cheese and scallions.
Crab cakes ($12) come served on a cast iron pan. Garlic aioli is the dipping sauce for these panko-covered bites with jalapeno, corn and red pepper.
For groups anywhere between two to four people, the Commoner Board ($54) is a hefty serving of several entrees for picking at.
It's a weighty portion with caesar salad with radish, fried capers, and bacon. There are sides of refried black beans and traditional coleslaw, house fries and a rack of back ribs in a sweet house BBQ sauce.
Buttermilk-brined fried chicken comes with cajun honey. It's a nice pairing with the jalapeno cornbread. Braised beef sliders are slow-cooked for five to six hours.
Aside from classic cocktails like an Old Fashioned or Manhattan, a favourite is the Botanical Spritz ($13) with Ketel One Botanical, elderflower, bitters, cava and grapefruit.
The Fennel Sour ($14) uses unfiltered gin, Chartreuse, fennel stalk, sage, wormwood bitters and lemon.
Fareen Karim