The holiday season in Toronto wouldn’t be complete without a trip to one of the city’s plentiful pop-up Christmas bars, and this year we’re getting a brand new one to check out.
While many a festive fanatic Toronto resident is already familiar with the classics — Civil Liberties’ Miracle Bar, Papi Chulo’s Mistletoes and Margaritas, et. al. — the more, quite literally, the merrier.
The latest local watering hole to throw its Santa hat into the ring is Queen West’s The Dirty Laundry, which, starting this November, will transform into its new holiday cocktail pop-up, A Dirttty Little Xmas.
Opening in late spring 2026, The Dirty Laundry has quickly ascended the ranks to become one of the city’s favourite new bars, thanks to its cheap drinks, aesthetic atmosphere, and droolworthy Tex-Mex (and happily gluten-free) eats.
Next month, it’ll enter a whole new era, getting decked out in kitschy Christmas decor from floor to soaring ceiling and adding a full suite of festive drinks and bites to its menu.
Running from $13 to $22, the new cocktail menu offers far more interesting options than your average spiked eggnog and peppermint espresso martini. The Santa’s Sack, for example, combines flavours and aromas of deer musk, amber, leather, and smoked pine with clarified whiskey for a sip that tastes like you’re hanging out, sharing cigars in Santa’s study after a long, successful night of gift deliveries.
For the savoury girls among us, the Thanksgiving Dinner — which is a cocktail, not a menu item — is a must-try. A riff on the martini and its eponymous holiday feast, it features Brussels sprout gin, cranberry syrup, bone broth, and sweet potato foam.
To pair with the drinks, a handful of holiday-inspired food items, like shareable fondue platters, pigs in a blanket and an Xmas treat platter, are joining the bar’s already expansive snack menu.
A Dirttty Little Xmas runs Nov. 16 through Dec. 30, and you can find it at 1186 Queen St. W.
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