Pinkerton’s Snack Bar - Toronto, Ontario

A cool spot on Gerrard with yummy snacks and drinks. This neighborhood needs more places like this! Staff was awesome too!

Always our go-to place when we want to go for drinks. The service and atmosphere are always friendly and vibrant. The staff are very welcoming and always check in. On top of having good drinks the food is also delicious. It's great that they are open late as well and ... their kitchen stays open pretty late too. Read more

Absolutely fantastic! The chef and the serving staff were absolutely top notch. An incredible shout out to the wonderful chef that took care of my severe food allergies to nightshades and handcrafted. A wonderful beautiful tofu salad. The flavors were crisp and amazing. Just the care and detail I could ... n't say anything negative about my experience at this wonderful little establishment drinks were absolutely fantastic. The care and detail and presentation of the other food that was presented to our table was amazing. Thank you for a wonderful evening and can't wait to come back! Read more

Another gem in the east end !! No need to look far East Enders!! We had such a fun time sitting at the bar. Nolan and the other bartender (sorry I forgot your name new guy lol) were very friendly and treated us well with great cocktails and the tastiest ... snacks. We all ordered our own bao buns and then shared the tartare, spicy beans and cauliflower. Make sure you save some room for the warm brownie for dessert!! Read more

Despite it’s British sounding name, Pinkerton's Snack Bar’s menu decidedly has an Asian influence. The kitchen and the bar seemed to have developed separately, as their drink menu leans towards classic cocktails like my favourite of the evening… the paloma ($16), adorned with a lovely pink peppercorn salt rim that ... adds a kick to the tequila, mezcal, and citrusy drink. Beautifully made but hardly seems like a drink that pairs with fried rice. Still, I enjoyed it with a plate of duck fried rice ($18). It’s a good version of the dish, filled with flavours thanks to duck confit chunks mixed with micro chopped vegetables, egg, and hoisin that added a savoury richness. My only grumble is the rice was too fresh – every Asian knows that day old is best for frying – so the dish was too wet. The crispy salt and pepper tofu ($13) arrived hot and crunchy and would have been delicious if it weren’t for the accompanying spicy tomato chutney. While I didn’t find it revolting, tofu and marinara isn’t really the greatest combination, especially when I was looking forward to the more traditional chopped bell pepper and onions relish version instead. I enjoyed the soft buns used by Pinkerton’s for their bao buns ($15 for two), but they needed more filling. There was too much batter on the small pieces of Korean fried chicken, so the protein became dry and leaned towards a jerky consistency. The bulgogi sirloin was better, the beef more pronounced, and being marinated helps to keep things moist, especially when dressed with carrot slaw and spicy mayo. Surprisingly there wasn’t a leaf of fermented cabbage in the kimchi fries ($12) - I then realized the menu description says it’s topped with kimchi mayo and pickled vegetables but not actual kimchi. The flavours came through in the mayo, but I found there were too many greens compared to the actual spuds, so the dish wasn’t hot enough. Ultimately, Pinkerton is aptly named as a snack bar and not a restaurant. Their food will satisfy a boozy stomach but won’t wow the taste buds. Luckily, their cocktails do, such as the beautiful floral French 75 ($16). The cocktail’s lavender and jasmine elements weren’t too overwhelming, additives that can sometimes leave a drink tasting like dish detergent. Rather, it was refreshing, a lovely drink to sip on a hot day. Read more