The final last call has arrived for one of Toronto's most beloved drinking establishments. The Imperial Pub and Tavern, a downtown fixture for 81 years, will serve its final drinks on November 15, 2025, marking the end of an era for the city's social landscape.
A Neighbourhood Pub Without a Neighbourhood
For eight decades, the Imperial Pub stood as a bastion of authenticity in a constantly changing city. Located at Yonge and Dundas, the two-storey establishment outlasted nearly every comparable institution in Toronto, remaining family-owned by the Newmans throughout its entire history.
Sam Newman, part of the third generation to own and run the pub, perfectly captured the establishment's unique position in modern Toronto: "It's like a neighbourhood pub in a neighbourhood where nobody thinks there's a neighbourhood anymore."
The area surrounding the Imperial has undergone dramatic transformations over the years - from seedy adult entertainment district to what many now describe as a soulless concrete hellscape dominated by gigantic LED screens and chain restaurants. Despite these changes, the Imperial remained constant: jazz on the jukebox at conversation-friendly volume, comfy old couches and barstools, and simple, affordable pub fare.
More Than Just a Bar
The Imperial served as an affordable respite from Toronto's urban stresses for countless Torontonians from all walks of life. Businesspeople, students from adjacent Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson), jazz enthusiasts, and those down on their luck all found common ground within its walls.
The pub's upstairs Library room became particularly cherished by students, functioning as what owner Fred Newman called a "refuge" - a giant university common room where students could read, do homework, or simply enjoy a soda water without pressure to consume alcohol.
"People don't believe me when I tell them how surprised we are by people's reaction to our closing," said Ricky Newman, Sam's brother and business partner. "It's gratifying for sure. It's like Sally Field at the Oscars: 'You like us, you really like us!'"
Rich History and Unpretentious Charm
While more famous Yonge Street taverns gained renown as music venues - the Coq d'Or where The Band formed, Friar's Tavern where Bob Dylan and Oscar Peterson performed - the Imperial maintained its identity as a straightforward "beverage room" throughout its history.
The pub physically embodied Toronto's often-ignored history in surprising ways. The Library bar upstairs was originally hotel rooms - a requirement when the Imperial opened, as beverage rooms had to be located in hotels. Downstairs, a huge aquarium served as the circular bar's centerpiece, originally installed in the 1950s to separate men's and ladies' sections when post-prohibition laws required gender segregation.
Fred Newman shared colorful memories of Ontario's famously baffling liquor laws, including a requirement that the Imperial close from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily to send men home for dinner. Instead, patrons would decamp en masse to the nearby Brown Derby for 99-cent all-you-can-eat spaghetti.
The Imperial's menu reflected its straightforward philosophy. Ricky Newman explained their approach: "The idea was to simply keep our promises low, and let people be pleasantly surprised by the basic food being better than they expect." This meant regular hot dogs, hamburgers that stayed in their buns, and chili that "attempted absolutely nothing fancy and profited from it."
Hope for the Future
The closure isn't due to neighborhood decline but rather property changes - the site recently changed hands, with developer Bazis planning luxury condos that might include student residences. This represents an ironic outcome given generations of Ryerson/TMU students counted among the Imperial's greatest fans.
However, the Imperial's story might not be over. The Newman family is storing everything that isn't structural - the ratty furniture, pool table, jukeboxes, and lantern light fixtures - with hopes of potentially reopening elsewhere.
"It feels like it'd be hard to stay away forever," says Ricky Newman, offering hope that the Imperial's unique communitarian spirit might someday return to Toronto, even if in a different location.
As Toronto continues evolving into a richer, more important, and slicker city, the loss of establishments like the Imperial represents more than just another closed business. It marks the disappearance of one of the city's last truly democratic spaces - a place where anyone with enough wits to behave was welcome, regardless of background or circumstances.
