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Sneaky Dee's: dive bar, popular bar or both?
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Sneaky Dee's: dive bar, popular bar or both?

Hello and Happy Friday! Today’s edition wraps up the first week of Humber Views. We hope you’ve enjoyed what everyone has released so far! The guests in today’s podcast episode are Kirstan Radford and Sam Gilbert, two Sneaky Dee’s regulars and they tell me what they love most about the popular Toronto bar!

Today’s subculture topic is about Toronto’s “infamous” Sneaky Dee’s and those who regularly attend. What makes it so popular and what makes Sneaky Dee’s stand out among so many other dive bars in the city? Does it have to do with the food? The history? The atmosphere? Read on to find out!

And if this is your first time coming across Humber Views, welcome! Make sure to subscribe below so you don’t miss out on any future stories in the coming weeks.


Sneaky Dee’s is not just a bar, it’s a home

By: Josh Welsh
"The Sneak" by Rabblefish is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

🎧 Listen to the podcast that goes along with this story in the player at the top of this issue of Humber Views.

If there is one thing everyone can agree on at Sneaky Dee’s, it’s the food.

“They have wicked awesome nachos,” says Sam Gilbert, a 30-year-old Sneaky Dee regular.

Darryl Pezzack agrees. “Their nachos are amazing, I can’t get enough of them,” he says.

Gilbert also says the best spot to take selfies is in the bathroom. “Its tie-dye colours make it fun.” 

The food is not the only great thing about Sneaky Dee’s. There’s also the stellar service they offer. “The staff are amazing, they always make it a good time,” Pezzack says. “The restaurant staff I’ve experienced [there] have always had a kind way of speaking and actually have a conversation with you compared to other restaurants where they just take your order and walk away.”

Sneaky Dee’s is a popular bar among Torontonians, especially young people. Located in the Annex area, on the corner of College and Bathurst streets, it has become a “home-away-from-home” for college students and young punk/rock bands of the past, who have left layers of graffiti on the walls and booths. Before the pandemic, the bar would offer events for social gatherings and, on a regular weekly themed night, would usually draw a stellar crowd. For those looking for a late-night food fix, it’s also open until 4 a.m.

The Tex-Mex bar and concert venue is family run and has been that way for the past 30 years. Their previous location was across from the former Honest Ed’s on Bloor and Bathurst streets. They moved to their current location at 431 College Street in the early 1990s. At the time, it was a key venue for the Toronto punk rock scene. It was also a popular hangout for anti-fascist activist groups like the Anti Racist Action (ARA).

On Wednesdays, Terrance Balazo hosts Another Round Trivia, a series of trivia nights that he writes and hosts himself. Because of the pandemic, Balazo has had to move Another Round online to Thursday evenings over Twitch. He says the same people attend almost every week and the demographic is huge. “It’s everybody from their early 20s and the oldest is 70, which makes it difficult for me to write questions because I can’t focus on one specific group,” he says jokingly.

When asked what makes Sneaky Dee’s stand out in the city, he lists the fact that it’s family owned, its look, and the food as the things that create its huge appeal.

“It can seem intimidating at first because of the graffiti and it looks like a dive bar but it’s not a dive bar,” says Bolazo. “I think that it’s family-owned and not [part of] a chain of pubs makes it different.”

When it comes to the atmosphere, its fans call it one of the best bars in the city. “Sneaky Dee’s has a vibe to it,” says Kirstan Radford, Gilbert’s roommate.

Gilbert agrees instantly. “It’s the people that go there, usually everyone is really nice there. We always end up back,” says Gilbert.

Four teenagers pose in front of Sneaky Dee's mural.
Sam Gilbert (far left), Kirstan Radford (beside on the right), Darryl Pezzack (second right) and Alex Arena (far right) pose in front of a Sneaky Dee’s mural. Photo credit: Darryl Pezzack.

Gilbert and Radford started attending Sneaky Dee’s for their emo nights and concerts. “Emo night is everything you’d want it to be. It’s just the best,” Radford says.

In September, a proposal was submitted to the City of Toronto to demolish Sneaky Dee's and its surrounding buildings to construct a 13-story mixed-use condominium, which upset many Sneaky Dee’s enthusiasts. Online petitions to save the venue started popping up shortly after and garnered thousands of signatures in the wake of the news. Some people demanded it be declared a heritage site, while others have since flocked to social media to share their memories and love for Sneaky Dee’s amid reports that it could be gone forever.

From hip-hop nights to 90s nights to emo nights, Sneaky Dee’s offers a wide range of food, cheap drinks and events for everyone of all ages. “There’s so many different versions of Sneaky Dee’s that you can enjoy. Anybody can go,” says Gilbert.

A mosh-pit of people at Sneaky Dee’s (pre-pandemic) during one of their Emo-themed nights. Photo credit: Sam Gilbert.

If you loved what you read or feel this story on Sneaky Dee’s is worth the share, feel free to pass it along to your friends, family and followers!

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About the author

Josh Welsh is a third-year Bachelor of Journalism student at Humber College. He is also an Alumni of the Acting for Film and Television program of 2016 at Humber. Josh is an 80s music buff and loves watching everything and anything from Scream to Scarface, to the James Bond and Star Wars franchises. He hopes to become an arts and entertainment reporter and/or host.

He can be reached through e-mail at josh.welsh@hotmail.com or his social media channels:

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