Smart restauranteurs and bar owners know that the bathrooms in their establishments should be treated as another opportunity to delight patrons aside from the food, drinks and service. A cool bathroom not only encourages social media selfie sharing, but can also be something that draws in new customers. “Have you seen the bathrooms in that place? You HAVE to check them out,” is a phrase that gets thrown around more and more these days. On that note, here are some of Toronto’s best restaurant bathrooms in case you’re looking for more of an interesting experience when it’s time to ‘break the seal’.
Rhum Corner
Location: 926 Dundas Street West
Full disclosure: I’m a huge fan of Toronto restauranteur Jen Agg after reading her book, ‘I Hear She’s A Real Bitch’. She takes great pride in designing her restaurant interiors, and the bathrooms are no exception. At Rhum Corner, her husband is the artist responsible for much of the art on the walls. The co-ed bathroom is covered in drawings of men and women in various states of undress (much like you will be when you’re in there).
Mildred’s Temple Kitchen
Location: 85 Hanna Avenue
The bathrooms look nice enough at this Liberty Village brunch hot-spot, but it’s not how they look that’s so interesting… it’s what’s coming through the speakers. As soon as you close the door to each individual bathroom, you’ll hear recordings of Air Canada safety announcements, so you’ll know exactly what to do in the event of an emergency water landing.
e11even
Location: 15 York Street
Winner of Canada’s Best Restroom in 2011, this ACC-adjacent restaurant has floor-to-ceiling marble and heated, bidet-style toilets in its lavatories.
Photo courtesy of e11even.
Otto’s Bierhalle
Location: 1087 Queen Street West
These washrooms are unassuming until you notice the BIG RED BUTTON in each individual room. Just try to resist pushing that thing. When you do, the lights go dark, the lasers come out and the rave music starts! I imagine the line ups for these stalls are longer than normal at peak times.
Pretty Ugly
Location: 1237 Queen Street West
This relatively new cocktail bar in Parkdale has undeniable hip-hop influence from the playlists to the bathrooms, which look like all 87 members of the Wu-Tang Clan vomited all over the walls (in a really cool way, though). Protect ya neck!
Barberians Steak House
Location: 7 Elm Street
I will leave the vivid description of the toilets at Toronto’s oldest steak house to my friend who said it best: “They are like electronic bidets on steroids. You can have your ass air-dried for real.” Alrighty then.
Doomie’s
Location: 1263 Queen Street West
Do you enjoy having your morals aggressively questioned by cute stick figure cartoons? Then you will LOVE the bathrooms at this vegan burger joint on Queen West, which have become the star of many bathroom selfies.
The Broadview Hotel
Location: 106 Broadview Avenue
The Broadview Hotel recently unveiled its new identity as a hip boutique hotel and hang-out with a sweet rooftop patio. The new development has held on to some of the heritage building’s history… namely as the popular strip club called Jilly’s. The bathrooms pay homage to the old strip club, with large murals of dancing ladies on the walls.
Have you come across any notable restrooms while dining or drinking out in Toronto? Share in the comments so we can all pee in style.
Feature photo courtesy sstrieu via Flickr.
