416 Snack Bar

I had been to 416 Snack Bar, 181 Bathurst Street, twice before but never to eat, just to drink. Food aside, it’s a cool spot for some libation but just in case you skipped dinner, you can do some preventative hangover protection by indulging in the “snacks”.

Their micro meals are an homage to all things Torontonia; our ethnicity, our culture, our neighbourhoods and our people.


It’s genius really but more importantly it’s f’ing delicious.

We clumsily employed “the lady-and-the-tramp-like manoeuvre” as they do not provide cutlery and we really wanted to taste everything.

A sushi pizza ($5) is a real darling with a perfectly crunchy rice crust and hot smoked BC salmon. It is not doused in pink mayo. We shared then I ordered my own.

The bone marrow toasts ($4) are pretty self-explanatory; dollops of luscious, silken marrow on top of toasted bread rounds. Steve’s scared of marrow so more for Sandy and I. He went for the plain old oysters (3 for $7) instead and we doubled up on another marrow order. Yessss.

A mini mac ($4) is a recent addition and is exactly what you think it is; the cutest sesame seed bun you’ve ever seen, teeny, finely sliced pickles, shredded lettuce, processed cheese and pink sauce. There are only two differences between the 416 version and ‘The Golden Arches’ and that is the absence of the middle bun and that this patty is solo, thick, juicy and cooked to medium.

We order three more.

The octo taco ($5) is another newbie. A flawlessly braised octopus leg is smoky and charred. The tomatillo salsa and corn tortilla don’t disrupt the octopus but make for the best the vehicle and the ideal accessory.

I don’t have a sweet tooth but Sandy wanted the s’more s’plosion ($4) for two. It is literally a ball of chocolate and cookie and marshmallow. It’s a mess and even more than not liking chocolate, I don’t like chocolate all over my fingers. Unfortunately this is not a cutlery free dish.

There is really only one problem with 416 Snack Bar; I will never be able to just drink there ever again.