Sweaty Betty's
13 Ossington Ave M6J 2Y8 Toronto, ON, Canada

Oh what a night!It was SO GOOD to see everyone again, we have all missed each other so much and that was an amazing party, it really felt like we were all together in person somehow. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for everyone who participated behind the scenes and in front of the camera and showed up and danced and made it the magical night that it was. Thanks for your patience with the technical glitches we were experiencing, Zoom is not a perfect platform but... our cool calm and level-headed tech mistress worked hard all night to keep the party going and make it a huge success! And beyond that - we raised just over $4000 between the auction and donations, which has bought us more time to stay alive during lockdown and got us that much closer to our goal. We love you all so much and more importantly, we have to keep on loving each other even more right now. Hang on tight to your friends, let last night be a reminder of how many of us will show up for each other. Big love today to you all #bettysweloveyou #savesweatybettys #virtualparty #virtualgaybar #thankyou See more

You’ve all been asking - here is the info on how to attend the event! We will be releasing the Zoom ID right here on our Instagram feed at 7:45 pm on Saturday February 13th. As soon as you have it head over to the room and we will let people in. Once in the main room you'll see the "schedule of events" posted and from there you can move from room to room! All other relevant details will be posted here too throughout the night, for example if our event reaches capacity but sp...ots open up. Keep your eyes on our stories for updates! You will need the latest version of Zoom to enjoy the breakout rooms. Please make sure you have it before joining us. We will be offering a Google Drive filled with Sweaty Betty’s backdrops for you to drop into your own background (make sure to enter through the Zoom app, not your browser). These backgrounds will be available the night of the event, and the link will be dropped into the chats regularly. This link also includes the Auction Catalogue. We want this event to be accessible to as many people as possible so there is no charge to enter, but please keep in mind it is a fundraiser so that we can keep Betty’s alive. Throughout the night we will be dropping the link for the Go Fund Me, we suggest a minimum donation of $20 to enter the event, or consider paying what you would for a night out drinking at the bar, or maybe buy a round of drinks for someone else. You’ll also have the chance to bid on fabulous auction items and select spots for private Tarot readings too. And remember, this is a DIY, grassroots, flying by the seat of our pants community-driven queer event! As we always have, we are coming together to have a fabulous party while raising much needed money to keep this safe space alive. We don’t want a Toronto without any queer+ bars left after this lockdown ends, we need to save Betty’s for all of the baby queers to come, so there’s still a place to go for first dates, torrid romances, and dramatic breakups. See you Saturday! #savesweatybettys #savesafespaces #divebar #queerowned #lgbtqia #queerwest #torontoevents #virtualevents #virtualparty #lockdownparty #fundraiserevent #bettysweloveyou #sweatybettysbar

Next Saturday night, it’s a virtual fundraiser at Sweaty Betty’s! Join us for a nostalgic throwback to the days of Hump Day Bump, Vazaleen, The Scandelles at Lee’s, The Beaver... as the LGBTQIA+ community comes together to help save one of the last standing Queer West bars. Check out our incredible lineup - have a drink with May at the virtual bar, chill to DJs, check out the mind blowing cabaret lineup including comedy, burlesque, video, music, and drag. Get a tarot reading.... Bid on a fabulous auction item. See people you’ve missed, catch up with old friends, hide from your exes - just like old times! Grab a drink or two, dress up or not and party like it’s 2008. More details to come. Save the date. Share with your friends. For a couple of hours let’s all come together, escape these hard times and keep Betty’s alive #bettysweloveyou #savesweatybettys #savesafespaces #virtualevents #queerqueenwest #sweatybettysbar

Very long THANK YOU post coming! First, thank you everyone so much who bought merch on Saturday, it was a very successful day and as every little bit counts for us, we are so grateful to you coming out Also a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has so donated to the GoFundMe over this past week. The response has been unbelievable. Your generosity, your story shares, the media who reached out, have insured the bar can stay alive for at least a couple more months of this lockdown.... We want to make sure too that everybody knows that we have applied to every single federal and provincial relief program. The issue that we face, that a lot of small businesses are facing, is that we are required to continue to pay costs like rent, insurance, utilities, maintenance and more, upfront and on time every month, and yet the receipt of the government relief money is lagging behind by months and months. After 4 months of lockdown, a rent increase, our insurance doubling, a huge basement repair, investing in Covid safety renovations, only to then have the bar’s hours restricted again and again and then close completely for yet another lockdown... well it’s just not feasible to expect businesses to stay alive under these conditions. And the government support is not covering all of these costs, it’s only addressing a portion of rent or utilities or in the form of loans that you’re not sure you’ll be able to pay back if you don’t survive. So thank you again for your generosity because without our community, our friends and our regulars and family, we wouldn’t have had a chance to make it through this. And again another huge THANK YOU to lovely and wonderful @jessicards who made all of this magic happen! We have lots of amazing ideas for over the coming months and we also can’t wait to be able to give back too. We love you all so much, thank you from the bottom of our whiskey-soaked hearts #savesweatybettys #community #toronto #ossington #queenwest #queerwest #kindness #love #gratitude #savesmallbusiness #thankyouthankyouthankyou

CURBSIDE MERCH SALE!! 3pm to 7pm at the bar this Saturday the 16th. Sarah will be there to greet you curbside, all forms of payment accepted including e-transfers, maybe a few surprises, who knows. Please wear your mask and social distance and WE MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH #savesweatybettys #sweatybettysbar #sweatybettystoronto #hoodie #tshirt #hat #mask #pins #stickers #hottoddy #cocktails #lockdown #lockdownsucks #torontoevents #ossingtonstrip #ossingtonbia #savesmallbusiness

@narcitycanada was kind enough to reach out today to talk to May about the struggles she’s gone through as a small business owner this year, and the effect of the outpouring of support she’s received since the GoFundMe was set up. Click on their profile to read the full story and hear the interview. Link is in the comments too #savesweatybettys #narcitycanada

This gorgeous patio is just waiting for you... We’ve still got our fresh-pressed juice cocktails on all week for $12, with $2 from each going to @toronto_humane_society - Morgue-Arita (fresh lime and charcoal with tequila) Spicy Cucumber (fresh cucumber and lime juices with tequila or gin and tajin spice) Cherry Paloma (fresh grapefruit and cherry juices with tequila) ... #cocktails #patio #charity #freshpressedjuices #itstheendoftheworldasweknowit #sweatybettysbar See more

WOW!! Did you catch owner May Brand speaking AGAIN on @cbcradiocanada yesterday? She talked live with Ian Hanomansing on Cross Country Checkup yesterday afternoon, discussing the hot topic of an impending potential circuit-breaker lockdown coming to Ontario and what that means for small businesses, especially in the bar industry. As usual MAY ROCKED IT! So what do you think about another lockdown for Ontario? May’s opinion - she supports it. Bars have endured ongoing ...restrictions - 5 weeks in Modified Stage 2 and now in the Red Zone indefinitely - and are forced to try to figure out how to survive with reduced capacity, no indoor seating since September, the popular Curb-lane street patio removed, Covid-related safety measures (read: $$$) ongoing, no government commercial rent support since August, and also real Canadian winter weather descending soon. Trying to stay alive while more and more unsustainable restrictions are added - meanwhile malls and big box stores are open to the max, indoor religious services continue, big venues are still holding weddings, not to mention the private gatherings that people are continuing to have as we all move inside. Where are the cases really coming from? The bar industry is being killed in Toronto and unfairly targeted, while casual contacts are the culprit. If everyone across the board shuts down for three weeks, we can maybe put the brakes on these numbers and #flattenthecurve. With only some places restricted while others have hundreds of people gathering indoors ... well it’s no surprise why we’re in a surge now. What’s your take? Lockdown or no? ICYMI you can catch it on the CBC Listen app for free - search for the Sunday November 15 show, May chimes in around 30:20. We especially loved hearing Dr. Hota replying to May’s comments with she’s absolutely right! #cbcradio

NEW MERCH ALERT! AVAILABLE AT THE BAR When you come in for a drink you can also pick up an iconic Sweaty’s hat ($35), a beer cozy ($3) to keep your paws warm while you’re holding a cold beer, or a comfy logo mask ($10). And for each mask sold, we are donating $2 to @parkdalefoodbank We’ve also got our cherry logo hoodies ($50), tshirts ($30) and our drunk skull long sleeve t ($35) available.... We took down the merchandise from our website and decided to sell it directly from the bar, so we can support a local print shop instead of unknown random international internet printers. And we’ve also got cute logo pins made by our awesome new staff member @draikeela Thank you for your continued support! #sweatys #merch #clothing #hoodies #hats #beercozy #tshirts #longsleevetshirt #skull #cherries #redandblack #lookingood #style #fashion #giveback #supportsmallbusiness #supportlocal #localbusiness #smallbusinesssupport #savebars #parkdalefoodbank #thankyouforyoursupport #patio #heatedpatio #outdoorseating #divebar #torontobar #toronto #sweatybettysbar #sweatybettystoronto

FRONT PATIO LAST DAY TODAY! It looks a little different because we had to tear down our fencing and tables and prepare them for winter storage, but the city is allowing the front patio to remain open until 10 PM tonight. So we are making do with what we have. Come out and enjoy this gorgeous weather while it lasts, lets soak up this sunshine as long as we can. Thank you everyone for supporting us this weekend, this front patio has been a saving grace financially for us and we couldn’t have done it without YOU #patio #patioseason #curblanepatio #patiodrinks #patiolife #summervibes #sunshine #fall #cocktails #beer #whiskey #pickleback #toronto #torontobar #divebar #ossington #sweatybettysbar #sweatybettystoronto

YESSSSSSSSS!!! See you on #ossington #ossingtonstrip #queenwest #queerwest #divebar #patio #patioseason #patioweather #patiocentral #curblanepatio #cafeTO #cocktails #pumpkin #whiskey #beer #weekend #fridaymotivation #happysaturday #supportlocal #savesmallbusiness #supportbarsandrestaurants #sweatybettystoronto #sweatybettysbar

Well this is a post that we had hoped we would never have to write. We have been informed by Toronto Public Health that on Saturday September 19, a patron who was seated on our patio, later tested positive for Covid. We have been working closely with TPH since then and they have assured us it is considered a low risk contact, and that we have gone above and beyond what is required according to the new safety regulations. We have voluntarily contacted everyone who was at the b...ar that day from our sign-in log, and we want to be respectful and transparent to our customers and let everyone know publicly. Your safety and the safety of our staff have always been important to us. One of the only benefits of the new early closing hours is that we’ve been able to do a deep clean after hours without needing to close the bar. We had already installed a plexiglass barrier along our bar and we are working to install plexiglass dividers on the back patio next. We have carefully measured and planned out our seating indoors and out to comply with social distancing. We have ordered more hands-free sanitizer dispensers, and we are going to require people to use sanitizer before they even enter the premises. We have asked our customers to sign in when they arrive. The point of all of these measures is so that if someone who is asymptomatic but positive enters the bar, staff and patrons will be at low risk for contracting this virus. We’re just so thankful that no one else has tested positive as a result of this incident. Unfortunately we know this is likely the new reality going forward, that this may happen again, and that it’s probably happened in other bars and restaurants too. Please keep taking this seriously. We still have a long time to go until we can say that we’ve come out the other side. So, wash your hands. Use hand sanitizer. Don’t touch your face. Always wear a mask inside. Avoid gatherings. If you feel unwell, even a little, stay home. Take care of yourself and the people around you. We really don’t want to make a post like this again, so please everyone, stay safe

Thank you so much @blogto for the shout out! Positive press never felt so good. We are so proud to be part of an article like this, standing alongside these iconic Toronto legends. Thank you thank you thank you #toronto #torontobar #blogto #bestoftoronto #torontobarscene #divebar #localbusiness #smallbusinesssupport #sweatybettysbar #sweatybettystoronto

In case you haven’t heard, bars and restaurants are required to close by midnight and stop serving alcohol by 11pm, effective immediately. We’re not in agreement that this is going to actually reduce numbers - hard to believe people aren’t going to continue to enjoy a few beverages together after midnight in places that probably aren’t as properly regulated as a bar, like friend’s apartments. Bars are the scapegoats here, and certain politicians don’t seem to get that they’re... more likely going to decimate the small local businesses fighting to stay alive with this decision. Already we’ve had our capacity cut to a third, our curblane patio has been awesome this summer but will disappear in November, and we’ve invested a lot in measures to keep you safe like extra staffing, plexiglass shields and masks and constant cleaning. There seem to be a few rogue customers and establishments out there that are flaunting the rules, and they’re not helping with the reputation of the industry, but we think we, and most of the bars and restaurants that we know, are doing a hell of a job not just keeping all of our staff and our patrons safe, but all the while finding a way to keep our businesses afloat during this crazy time. Now somehow we’re supposed to cut our hours back, the hours when we actually make money, and just a month before we say goodbye to our front patio and the cold weather descends. We just want to make sure everyone knows how much we appreciate your support, coming out for an after-work drink, the kind reviews on Google, posting shots of yourselves enjoying a shot on your Insta stories... It all means so much. We’re all in this together but the hospitality industry really needs your continued support. We’re looking at options going forward like expanding our Takeaway menu. But a big thank you to everyone from the bottom of our hearts, for your continued support and patience, and please stay safe out there. Take this seriously, we’re not even halfway through this thing yet and we all need to stick together. See more

Having a blast for @marsmadethis birthday

Happy long weekend! Drink specials every day, our front patio and back patio are open, first come first served. Just a reminder that if you’d like to make reservations, you can only reserve the indoor back room, which is divided into two seating areas. Feel free to contact us through our website or DMs to make a reservation for your group. Thank you so much to everyone for helping us all stay safe, being patient and most of all being kind #labourday #longweekendvibes #patioseason #neverendingsummer #beer #torontobars #torontopatios #divebar #sweatybettystoronto #sweatybettysbar

HEY - WE HAVE FOOD! Actually, we have partnered with a great little place up the street, one of our favourite local spots called Season Six. No delivery fees, no delivery app needed - in fact you just order from your phone right at the bar while enjoying your drink on the patio, and they’ll deliver your meal directly to you at no extra charge. Check out their awesome menu that changes up every couple of months, you can customize your own delicious meals (vegan options availab...le of course) and support two local businesses in the process. Best part - you don’t have to leave your seat or your beer to go get food. Ask our staff if you have any questions and check out the food menus in the bar while you’re here! #seasonsix #seasonsixrestaurant #seasonsixtoronto #fastcasual #eatseasonal #eatseasonsix #fresh #healthy #tasty #local #localfood #vegan #delivery #veganoptions #latenightfood #barfood #bareats #vegantoronto #vegantorontoeats #torontovegetarians #ossingtonstrip #ossingtonvillage #ossingtonbia #torontoeats #localbusiness #sweatybettysbar #sweatybettystoronto @ Sweaty Betty's

Two new additions to our TAKE AWAY specials! First up, the Betty White - your choice of 4 cans of Brickworks Hibiscus Lime Spritz, a super light and refreshing cider with 0g sugar, or their classic 501 Cider, for $25. And next we’ve added the Betty Does Mickey special by popular demand. Your choice of a 6oz Mickey of Absolut Vodka, Jameson Whiskey or Beefeater Gin, with ice, mixer and SWAG like shot glasses, fanny packs, or scrunchies, to add to your to-go bag. Yours for $25, and like all of our take-away specials, they come with a bag of chips! #covidlife #wearamask #socialdistancing #staysafe #takeaway #takeout #stayoutside #torontobars #patiolife #curblanepatio #sweatybettysbar #sweatybettystoronto @ Sweaty Betty's

Hey y’all! Thank you for bearing with us as we expand and improve our curb lane patio, and yes we’ll be opening our indoor back room and front bar seating as Toronto goes to Stage 3. Give us a week or so to get ready - everyone’s safety is our number one priority so we need a bit of time to figure it all out. Thank you so much for complying with all of the new regulations, and for being so patient with us! We have some exciting new announcements to come next week! We love and appreciate you all so much #bekind #patienceisavirtue #wearamask #curblanepatio #backpatio #patioseason #patioisopen #ossingtonstrip #torontodivebar #torontobarscene #torontophoto #torontoinsta #sweatybettysbar #sweatybettystoronto

Our new TAKE AWAY SPECIAL! Your choice of 4 cans of Woodhouse Stout, IPA, Lager, APA, or Pilsner, with a bag of chips - all for $25. Grab a bag to go on your way by or if our patio is full! #hotday #coldbeer #beertogo #takeaways #drinkspecial #woodhousebeer #ossingtonstrip #sweatybettysbar #sweatybettystoronto

Gorgeous sunny Friday on the curb lane patio, thanks to our friends at @millstreetbrew for setting us up. We have Mill St. Big Little Lager now on tap, a nice light little lager with only 4g carbs, 3.5% alcohol, and 110 calories, perfect for a blazing hot day like today. It’s our Friday drink special, along with Mill St. Organic, for $6.25 a pint. #millstbrewery #patio #umbrella #shade #curbappeal #torontobarscene #sunnyday #summervibes #biglittlelager #millstorganic #beeroclock #toronto_insta #sweatybettysbar #sweatybettystoronto

The City installed the new curb lane along Ossington today, which means our patio has been extended to the street! Lots of extra seating, all socially distanced. Feels kind of like #ossingtonfest !Come inside to order your drinks and sign in and then enjoy people watching out front #curblane #streetpatio #patioseason #ossingtonstrip #sweatybettysbar #sweatybettystoronto @ Sweaty Betty's

FINALLY - Our merch is available on our webstore! T-shirts, hoodies, crewneck sweatshirts and tanks available now (link in bio.) We also have a limited number for sale at the bar, but stock is being replenished as fast as we can. Thank you to everyone who requested hoodies and tees and supported our lil ol’ dive bar #hoodie #tshirt #tanktop #crewneck #apparel #merchandise #webstore #cherries #classic #divebar #localbusiness #toronto #ossingtonstrip #sweatybettysbar #sweatybettystoronto @ Sweaty Betty's

Just a reminder that the new city by-law came into effect today requiring all of us to wear a mask when indoors inside a public space. Please wear a mask when entering the bar, and when moving through to use the washroom or walk to the patio. While seated on the patio you do not have to wear your mask. We really thank everyone for being so understanding and supportive during this trying time. Everyone has been so agreeable to the new social distancing on our patio. We’re so happy to be able to serve you again and want everyone to stay safe. #staysafe #wearamask #covidtoronto #patioseason #socialdistancing #barpatio #torontobars #sweatybettystoronto #sweatybettysbar

Just for today! CLOSED SUNDAY JULY 5 Open again Monday regular hours. See you then!