Bitters & Bloom

What is Bitters & Bloom? Perched at 577A College Street above J's Steak Frites in Little Italy, Bitters & Bloom occupies the moody second-floor enclave formerly home to the Toronto Temperance Society. Conceived by restaurateur Jad Sfeir and pastry chef Tara Tang alongside bar veteran Jason McNeely, the space trades clubby bravado for deep red walls, gold accents, low-slung velvet seating, and an intimate bar counter. With zero exterior signage and a locked black door requiring a keypad code, it is built entirely for quiet trysts and focused imbibing.

Bitters & Bloom Menu & What to Order McNeely’s cocktail program balances floral aromatics and intricate infusions across roughly a dozen signature tipples. The Monkey's Paw stands out as an inspired tropical Old Fashioned built on pineapple rum, amaro, and house banana peel syrup, while Kermit’s Revenge offers a vibrant, melon-forward lift with light rum, Del Santo, and honeydew. Sours like The Shinji—shaken with gin, Benedictine, and Japanese Choya liqueur—can be made vegan on request, while Tang delivers standout French-leaning bar plates like the truffle-and-gruyère roast beef pretzel sandwich and sweet madeleines topped with crème fraîche and caviar.

Know Before You Go Entry is strictly walk-in with no reservations, so you will need to check the bar's Instagram stories (@bittersandbloombar) before arriving to find the daily passcode for the street-level keypad. Velvet chairs and counter perches fill rapidly after 8:00 p.m. on weekends, making early arrivals or late-night visits ideal; the 506 Carlton streetcar stops steps from the door at Euclid Avenue. The bar is open Wednesday through Thursday from 6:00 p.m. to midnight and Friday through Saturday from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.