Where To Drink Cocktails In Toronto Right Now

This summer, all eyes will be in Toronto as the city prepares for its official FIFA hosting duties. The crowds will draw in international audiences who will, inevitably, head out to the city's bars. So where does one go?

There's plenty of great and stalwart bars worth stopping into, and you can find those on this year's list of Canada's Best Bars (releasing April 28th).

Or, head to one of the brand-new entries to the city's bar scene. Below, find the buzziest, new or newly-refreshed places to sip cocktails across the city (and one a few hours out of it, but it's well worth the drive).

Les Incompetents

By all standards Les Incompetents , in St. Catharine's , is a bar. There's a mean Martini and a tight list of cocktails, industry specials and shellfish towers. One glance at the menu and you'll realize you're in for a treat. The ever-fluctuating, seasonally-driven menu parades out little wonders of the sea (chef Zach Smith is a west coast guy, so the appreciation for seafood runs deep) executed with finesse and a hit of whimsy. Scallops on the half shell with deep-fried sweetbreads. Baked oysters, with vadouvan and escargot. Perhaps a lobster thermidor, or a koji-marinated secreto with frites, for the table?

Drinks, equally, are a cut above, thanks to co-owners Owen Walker (a Toronto bar veteran) and spirits whizzes Geoff Dillon and Adam D'Intino. If you're lingering around St. Catharine's, head to Fat Rabbit: Smith's zero-waste butchershop-slash-restaurant that celebrates whole-animal dining. Bring friends: a menu of large-format, family-style experiences (prime rib dinners, whole suckling pigs, or porchetta roasts) are worth it.

Bar Etc.

Lee Stein and Sasha Siegel are bringing their deep knowledge of the city's west end bar scene to the east side, where they run the tropically-inclined Bar Etc. Drinks are built off classic- and well-loved formulas but tricked out with practiced technique and ingredient exploration. The Paloma? Is built with blanco tequila, yes, but also Cocchi, aloe, clarified grapefruit, coconut water, and lime leaf. The Savoury Martini is hit with pickled papaya brine and basil oil. Food leans towards Asian-influenced bar snacks, like beef tataki with nam ji jaew, and a pineapple smash burger with togarashia aioli.

Bar Allegro

Jonathan and Martine Bauer, along with partner Maxime Hoerth, stepped onto the Toronto scene with Pompette, a slick, Alsatian-accented restaurant with creative dishes and Parisian classics executed with a tight, technicality. But they're bar people— Bar Pompette, their second project, regularly ranks among the best on the continent—so they shuttered the Pompette space and turned it into Bar Allegro, a slick aperitivo bar. True to the Italian art of day drinking, cocktails are sessionable and smartly constructed—a selection of Negronis, a spicy margarita and a fluffy Garibaldi. The Martinis—Gorgonzola, Lemon, Pesto, or a Gibson—are worth it.

Riley's

The swish new downtown steakhouse specializes in dishes that wow—baked alaska flambeed tableside and whole chicken ceremoniously carved as diners (and their phones) watch. Drinks-wise, the move is to flag down the roving Martini cart. Things like, a Perfect Martini or a house Vesper (made with mustard seed vermouth) are shaken or stirred and garnished tableside. Glamorous!

Dirty Laundry

Veteran Toronto bartender Robin Goodfellow's new venture doubles down on two concepts. The first, Cafe Gigi, is a stay-all-day cafe-slash-bar. The second, Dirty Laundry, is a Tex-Mex- ish cocktail bar. For the latter, there's a full nacho menu and a range of serves-four punch bowls including the 'Lunch,' made with tequila, cucumber, corn, guacamole, lime and spice. Cafe Gigi pulls cues from European cafe culture—gluten-free snacks that pair well with coffee (which can be spiked if the occasion allows). Worth noting, all cocktails sit around $13 to $15 (rare in the city) and everything is celiac friendly.

Bar Raval

This bar is not new by any means. It's one of the city's North Star bars—a persistently excellent place to grab cocktails (and coffee, or $8 Cava in the daytime), linger around the sinewy wood bar or share tapas around barrel tables. The bar's draws only grew this year when Chef Zach Smith (behind the buzzy St. Catherine's nose-to-tail restaurant Fat Rabbit) came back onboard. Now, plates of pintxos and tapas are traditionally rooted—croquetas with jamon, boquerones—but also richly creative: truffled Chateau de Bougogne, maple syrup, and salchichon on a baguette, ahi tuna tartare with shaved tuna heart and sherry mayo.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com