12 Pubs of Christmas

As you may know I love events so it comes as no surprise that I love the holiday season, the many excuses to link up with friends and loved ones and indulge in food and drink. At one of the dinner parties a group conversation lead to what sounded like a fabulous idea…12 Pubs of Christmas. I’ve been told that it’s an Irish tradition and who were we to argue with tradition?

While this post isn’t encouraging you to fly towards overconsumption, it does encourage spending a day with friends, bonding over whatever strikes your fancy. For our group, it happened to be beer and Jamesons for the most part, but that’s just us. This past Saturday a group of 19 friends and friends of friends dressed in festive hats, gathered at noon at the Distillery district to kick off our 1st annual 12 pubs of Christmas. The Distillery Market was the perfect place to get everyone in the festive mood, they also had food and plenty of mulled wine and beer gardens to help get the pub crawl started. It was a bit challenging for us to get a table at our first stop (Mill St) but we managed to hang around the bar and at the beer garden outside as we waited for our stragglers to arrive (if you plan a crawl, be sure to keep plenty of time at the first stop, because people always tend to be late, especially after a crazy night out!).

I was the designated time keeper and I had no issues yelling and pushing people to get moving from one place to another. This is a key role if you actually do want to hit up all your spots, so choose the person wisely! We managed to do our 12 pubs within ten hours and while we lost a few people half way along due to other commitments,  most of us were still standing at the end of it. We fueled our bellies and stayed hydrated any chance we got (with water as well as beer!). The fun, random conversations and bonding that happens over the course of a day, is remarkable and unforgettable. And yes.. you may not fully remember all of it the next day, but you do remember leaving with a smile on your face. Yes.. even when you’re off to pick up the Little Monkey at 1 a.m. from her grandma’s place!

If you’re in the downtown Toronto area, here’s a list of the pubs we hit. All within walking distance from each other.

• Mill St – noon Good spot to start at but keep in mind that it may be difficult to gather a large group without a reservation.
• Christmas Market 12:45 (lunch) Great ambiance and allowed everyone to roam around, however it can be cold in the winter, dress appropriately.
• Fionn Mac Cools 2:00 (15 min walk from the Distillery District to Fionn’s. Lunch) Neat little spot where they gave us the private room and brought out the food speedily!
• Bier Market 2:45 Perfect time to be here, no crowds and it was the perfect opportunity for a group picture.
• Scotland Yard  3:30  A new discovery for some of us, friendly staff and some darts to keep us amused.
• Amsterdam Bicycle Club 4:15 Who knew there was a bar attached to the Spaghetti Factory? Even bumped into some Irish tourists here! Loved the ambiance.
• Tilted Kilt  5:00 You get what you ask for here, a busy bar at this time of the evening. Servers scantily dressed flying around ensuring everyone’s topped up.
• Jersey Giant  5:45 A hidden hole with a juke box and a pool table. Just what we needed to break up the monotony!
• Great Burger Kitchen 6:30 (dinner) A quick spot for dinner. No fuss, good eats with some pints on the side.
• Cést What 7:30 Everyone’s favourite beer spot, they continue to impress!
• Flatiron and Firkin 8:30 Sadly, the one spot I remember the least about. Though my  guess is that it was a good one!
• PJ O Briens  9:30 Where all good things happen. The perfect spot to end the night because those who wanted to continue the night could do so and others could easily bid farewell. Crowded but filled with potential new friends.

• Gather a fun, drama free group of people. Ensure there’s a mix of old friends and new
• Stick to a schedule but ensure you keep enough time to get drinks, food at select places and walking between the places
• Try to reach out to the pubs and give them a heads up if you are a large group. Keep in mind that most pubs don’t take reservations after a certain hour but you will always find space in the bar area for a quick pint
• Choose a theme, ours was festive hats and they definitely helped us stand out from the crowd and also made it easier for new friends to identify each other!
• Be happy go lucky and have fun, experimenting with new brews

 

 

Here’s a montage of my evening :