Pub Crawl – Smokeless Joe

Smokeless Joe
125 John Street
416-728-4503

Back in 1996, when J. Sergei Sawchyn - aka "Joe" - opened Smokeless Joe, a smoke-free bar featuring several hundred beers from around the world, it must've seemed like a very risky move. Imported beers beyond Guinness and Heineken were still little more than a novelty to the majority of beer drinkers, and smoking was so closely associated with social drinking in the minds of many people that a bar that prohibited lighting up seemed destined for failure from the get-go.

13 years later, not only is Smokeless Joe still open, but the rest of the city has changed to more closely match Sawchyn's philosophy of what a bar should be. Going smoke-free is no longer just an option for bar owners, it's the law of the land whether they like it or not, and the success of specialty beer bars like beerbistro, Bier Markt, Volo and others prove that when it comes to his beer selection, Sawchyn was really on to something.

It helped, of course, that there were other things about Smokeless Joe that made it a place worth visiting. There was no television, and music (usually blues) was always kept to a moderate level, allowing for conversation with both friends and strangers, the latter happening more often than in many Toronto establishments thanks to the bar being so intimate, with a capacity of less than 30 people. And of course, the fact that Sawchyn was such a friendly and accommodating publican didn't hurt either.

Those who are familiar with the Smokeless Joe of today know that Sawchyn is no longer the owner, as he passed the reins to Joe Sacco (yes, another Joe) in 2001, but much to the relief of the regulars at the time, the "New Joe" changed very little about what made the bar special. If anything it got better, as Sacco brought along his knowledge and contacts from his time as the manager of the Academy of Spherical Arts, where he had overseen another of the city's better beer lists.

With Sacco bringing in rare and exclusive beers from around the world, and the service remaining as knowledgeable and friendly as always, the bar's reputation continued to grow not just in Toronto, but elsewhere as well. "We have customers from all over the place," says Sacco. "There's one gentleman from Texas who comes to Toronto every three months or so, and he always insists to his secretary that he gets booked at the Holiday Inn on King so that he's within walking distance of here. Stories like that make all the hard work and hours of running this place worthwhile."

While tourists and visitors are always welcome, it's the locals that are the bread and butter of any business, and Smokeless does quite well in that regard also. Sacco boasts proudly of having the "best customers in town, they're very eclectic," and based on the clientèle that comes and goes during our visit, it's hard to disagree. From the parents with two young kids enjoying a dinner of mussels and curry, to the trio of tattooed girls distraught that their favourite apple beer is no longer available, to the group of twenty-somethings drinking everything from pints of local lager to Belgian Trappist ales, it's obvious that the bar holds appeal to more than just the hardcore beer geeks.

"Different people come here for different reasons," explains Sacco, "the space, our staff, the food, the beer. With everything, we try to give reasons for people to keep coming back, and try to position ourselves differently from everybody else on the street. I can't compete with the big chains, so we try and do something unique."

One area where this uniqueness comes though is in the food menu. Limited space means that the "kitchen" is essentially a prep area in the back room and a few hot plates behind the bar, but Sacco still manages to serve a wide enough variety of food that pretty much anyone can find something that hits the spot.

"We take a lot of pride in our food menu, and we do everything from scratch. We get mussels delivered three or four times a week, I go and get our oysters myself, and every Saturday I go to the farmers market to get ingredients. We don't have the capacity to do steaks or burgers, but what we do, we do really well. I can't say that we do the best of everything, but I'm confident that we do a really good job."

As is obvious from the aroma on busy nights, mussels are the speciality of the house, with a dozen or so varieties available, ranging from traditional choices like Mariniere (white wine, garlic, shallots & parsley) and Belgiques (Blanche de Chambly, leeks, garlic, celery and onions) to a few more adventurous options such as Singapore style, made with coconut milk and an incendiary assortment of a dozen different spices that Joe describes as his version of "suicide wings".

Vegetarians and vegans are also well-served, with two veggie pastas, a vegan chili, and a vegan soup. (On our visit, the soup is an outstanding African peanut soup that had us wiping the bowl with chunks of crusty sourdough.) Bruschetta and crostini are offered for starters or snacking, the "Down Home" clam chowder has testimonials on the menu of being the "best chowder ever", and sandwiches include German salami and the house favourite BLAST (bacon, lettuce, avocado, salsa & tomato). Up to a half-dozen different oysters are also generally available, along with a shelf full of different hot sauces for those who are so inclined.

On the liquid side of things, beer is definitely the main focus, but there are a few other options as well. A small and ever-changing whisky selection has always been a popular choice, and a few other spirits are also behind the bar, although Sacco notes that they can't really accommodate "the cocktail or martini crowd. The most exotic we'll get with a mixed drink is rum and Coke or rye and ginger." Beer, however, is another story, as Smokeless still has one of the widest selections of bottled beers in the city, as well as ten draught taps pouring both local craft brews and well-chosen imports.

One problem, though, is that increased competition has made it harder to bring in as many exclusive beers, which has led to some criticism that the beer list isn't as long and eclectic it once was. But according to Sacco, things haven't really changed in that regard.

"We still bring in as much beer as we can," he says, "although we don't have the room to carry all I would like. The problem is that a lot of the other places that carry beer now have way more space than we do. So if a certain supplier has 100 cases, those places are going to order 50, 60, 70 cases, and by the time it gets to me, I'll take 2 cases. But I don't look at anybody as competition, as the more places that are selling good beer, the better it is for everybody. When customers ask me where else they can go, I tell them about beerbistro and Bier Markt and C'est What and Volo. We all have to support each other."

So, what has changed at Smokeless Joe? Well, there's a flat screen TV behind the bar now that is occasionally turned on, and the music is sometimes a bit louder (and not always the blues) depending on who's working the bar. But otherwise, they've still got a cozy atmosphere, great food, an outstanding beer list, some of the best staff in town, and most importantly, a friendly and enthusiastic owner who works his butt off to make sure his customers are happy.