The Esplanade has quietly built a reputation as one of downtown Toronto’s best-kept secrets — a strip with a genuine neighbourhood feel despite sitting minutes from the core. This July, that strip is about to get a lot louder.
Dolly’s, a massive new country bar inspired by Dolly Parton and opening where Bier Markt stood for decades at 58 The Esplanade, comes from brothers Dan and Graham Hnatiw — the team behind The Old Spaghetti Factory, Bar Cathedral, Eloise, and Bar Cart, all located on the same strip. With 1,400 square feet of interior space accommodating up to 700 guests, plus room for another 100 on the patio, Dolly’s is shaping up to be Toronto’s largest country bar by a wide margin.
Don’t expect kitsch, though. Rather than horseshoes and tumbleweeds, the brothers describe the aesthetic as more “grown-up” — inspired, as Graham Hnatiw puts it, by the feeling of “your aunt’s basement in the ’70s,” a cozy space built for hanging out and listening to records. Free line dancing lessons run every Wednesday, with beginner lessons on Fridays and Saturdays before the floor opens up to more experienced dancers, and live music is planned for Thursdays, with the brothers working alongside the Canadian Country Music Association to book emerging and established acts alike.
Food leans into late-night comfort, with pizza — helmed by a sixth-generation Italian baker — as the anchor, alongside salads, prime rib burgers, tequila shrimp, and salmon. The pizza station stays open well after the main kitchen closes for the night. A connected café and bakery is also planned to open later this year, extending Dolly’s presence into daytime hours.
Dolly’s opens mid-July at 58 The Esplanade — get your boots ready.