The Lockhart - Toronto

This bar was the primary reason we came to Toronto, and we were not disappointed. We had a great time at trivia night, and we were delighted by the food and drinks. One of the members of our party is a vegan, and she had plenty of options on the menu. Sadly, they were out of the vegan dessert, but service was great, the decor was quirky and fun, the staff was friendly and helpful, and the trivia contest was well done! We recommend The Lockhart highly!

YES, it's Harry Potter themed. Yes, there's subtle (and not so subtle) Potter decor. Whether or not you're a fan, it shouldn't matter this is a GREAT place to spend a few hours and your money. If you close your eyes and leave the Potter theme behind, it's a great local bar/pub with some of the friendliest staff brought together under one roof. Let's start with the menu, EXACTLY what you'd expect from the theme, BUT NOT the flavor you'd expect. The buttermilk fried horn tail, buttermilk chicken strips, with an outrageous flavor of sweet pickle and honey mustard sauce is top notch fare! The jerk roasted cauliflower was a favorite, and finished off by a veggie HATER! Yes they have a vegan and vegetarian menu. Now the drinks... The "MIXTRESS OF POTIONS AND ELIXIRS" Shahada will certainly entice you to try more than one of the list of beverages she mixes. The Befuddlement draft is a "sharing cocktail" for some, an XL one drink night for others. A blue freezie tasting, fire ignited, party in a small bucket is something to take pictures of when it's served to your table. Obviously the "Better Beer" is a Potter takeoff but worth it's weight in taste and price! Meaghan and Mia, are two of the most attentive bar people ever! Matthew, has a certain hit on his hands, opening a second site already, but he NEEDS to look into a third spot.. maybe the Detroit/ Windsor area....... PLEASE?????

Staff was fantastic at helping choosing from the drinks selection. Drinks were flavourful! Small and cozy place- would definitely go back!

We went to The Lockhart for brunch with a group of five. We arrived at their opening time (10:30 a.m. on a Saturday). The place is really cute - lots to look at and it's a fun vibe with disco music playing away. Our waitress was great, very attentive and the service was great time-wise as well. It is small, so I would be worried once it hits it's peak busy time, and that is why we planned to be there early. By the time we left there were two other tables occupied. Three of our party ordered the grilled cheese with tomato soup. There are two different flavours (one was brie/pear/onion and the other cheddar/leek and something...). They all loved it! I had the bread pudding french toast with caramel and apples. Also very good, but quite heavy for so early in the day. I ate half and it was plenty and very satisfying. We had a few sides as well and must say their homemade sausage patties were AMAZING and a must try. I had a mocktail caesar which was really, really good. Makes me want to buy the caesar mix they use that I have seen in stores (Walter's). We will definitely go back to The Lockhart and I would enjoy going for a drink to see what the pub atmosphere would be like there. They have a lot of neat cocktails which would be fun to try. A really unique and delicious experience - and I must add, very affordable as well.

The Lockhart is a good date place where Ilvermoney alums and magical wannabes will find icebreakers to chat about, like a house magician wondering around while we were there. I could see this as fun for trivia night, but don’t expect your would-be boyfriend the diehard Leafs fan to be as into it as you until he’s sampled a few potions. A novel visit for drinks and bar snacks, very clearly for grown Harry Potter fans. That’s what this is, a tipsy Harry Potter place.At its core it’s a typical Dundas West cocktail bar with a small bar and a few tables, very welcoming and attentive staff, and a decent themed drink menu, with light, original, yummy snacks.Drinks were lost on me as a non-drinker, but fun to watch (and reportedly highly effective) were the ‘Befuddlement Draft’ and ‘Inferi’ (each with lots of fire). Tequila-based Better Beer got good reviews, too, but no fire, just a roasted marshmallow.Food samplings were excellent, ‘Herbology 101’ & ‘Jerk Roasted Cauliflower’, but we weren’t there to eat, mostly just to check it out and relax our inner HP fan.I’ll go back for brunch, the menu looks good, but I’ll only go with like minded readers of magic. And though my kid is an above-avid Harry Potter fan (has all books, Slytherin uniform, wand, and the movies, so kind of hardcore for a 12 year old), I’m not in a rush to take them, and having seen the menu, they’re not in a rush to visit ‘except maybe for brunch’. Not much of a kid place based on our evening experience. We live close though, so come the fall and robe season, we could be back on a stormy Saturday morning.Not full marks for this, but very good. It may disappoint those expecting a pilgrimage sort of Pottermore experience, as I’m guessing the Lockhart have to be very careful about getting too close to copyrights. As a bar, it doesn’t have the Ossington edge some neighbours to the east will offer, but it is a welcome addition to the ‘hood and definitely worth the visit if the theme draws you in, so give it a go.