The owners of a neighbourhood sports bar and on-site brewery in Toronto’s Canary District are gearing up to sell their businesses due to mounting economic pressures.
The Aviary Brewpub — located at 484 Front St. E. — is the result of a collaboration between Longslice Brewery and The Dock Ellis Sports Bar. The community-focused sports bar is known for its award-winning beers and classic pub eats, including chicken sandwiches, buttermilk fried chicken, smash burgers, nachos, and tater tots.
Since being founded in 2018, The Aviary has grown to encompass an expansive patio and a TV-filled interior, where you can almost always catch friends, families, and co-workers huddled over some scratch-made snacks to watch high-stakes games and sporting events.
However, the business transparently shared its struggles with customers earlier this week, noting that while the team was excited about new possibilities in 2024, they have made the immensely difficult decision to sell the pub and brewery.
“Business has been great, we love the community, have a fantastic space, and are known for our award-winning beers and ‘all are welcomed’ attitude so why sell now?” co-owner of Longslice Brewery Veronica Lesch told blogTO.
“Ultimately, it comes down to the economy. We are at a point in time where we need a bigger business partner or financial investor to take both businesses to the next level. Instead, we have been in survival mode for almost five years.”
Lesch says as small business owners with limited resources, the pub and brewery have weathered three pandemic years, and now with back-to-back inflationary and recessionary years, have struggled to stay afloat.
“Prices have doubled and tripled for our main staples. Interest rates spiked at the end of 2023 impacting consumer spend through most of 2024. Downtown Toronto’s hospitality industry is only starting to recover now, but it still has a long way to go,” Lesch explained.
“As challenging as recent years have been, we refuse to give up as we believe in Longslice Brewery and The Aviary Brewpub but it’s getting too hard. We need help.”
In their announcement, staff encouraged their customers to send them an email if they or someone they know has any interest in buying a brewery and brewpub. As expected, the comments section of the post was immediately filled with heartbroken reactions from regular patrons.
“Wow. Lacking in words, but never love. I hope something good comes out of this decision, and something better follows it,” one customer wrote.
“I’m so sorry to hear this, wishing you the best! Hope the folks that purchase it remain as awesome as you guys,” another commenter reads.
Lesch confirmed to blogTO that The Aviary and Longslice Brewery — including the pub, beer retail shop, home, and licensee deliveries — will remain open and running for the time being.
