Eulalie’s is the neighborhood bar everyone wishes was in their neighborhood. Luckily for us, it’s in ours.
We first spotted Eulalie’s while driving to work. Since we live just north, we’d occasionally come down the one-way street and past their patio. Of course, at 8am, it was pretty sleepy. So, it took us a few months before we set out on foot one evening to remember which side street we needed to wander down. Answer: Ashdale, tucked next to neighborhood mainstay Kohinoor Foods. Also: Well worth the walk.
Right across from the library, it has a definite community feel. There are green leafy plants growing in pots and jars, nestled in here and there. Bamboo poles and bistro lights lend it a secluded tucked away feeling. Eclectic design elements feel familiar and fun. Large colorful water cups are borrowed from a Saturday afternoon on the family deck.
And the food, brews, and drink are…. amazing. I’ve occasionally ventured down just for a taste of the Mac and Brussels. (Again, very well worth the walk…) Aaron devours the wings. When travel was allowed, my Dad enjoyed a burger and loved the homemade ketchup. Everything fresh, nothing frozen, and despite a few efforts by regulars to attempt favorite dishes at home, difficult to replicate.
Chris Fleming bought this hidden gem three years ago, after working there for the summer as something of an audition. She was interested in owning a restaurant, a friend was the previous owner, but Chris didn’t yet know the place or its community. So, she offered to work there for a few months, to see if she felt like it was a good fit.
She got to know the regulars, people who live in the neighborhood. In the restaurant business since her college days, she had spent plenty of late nights in rowdy bars and was most struck by the kindness of her customers. As Chris connected with other friends in the industry, she shared that this was a key draw to the location. “I’ve never served nicer, more genuine people.” Seating a total of 75 people between the warm interior and bright patio, it was the right place for where Chris found herself in life.
At the end of the summer, she talked to her friend. “I love this bar. I love this neighborhood. So yes, I’d love to buy it.”
The neighborhood was also a draw because, with the exception of summer festivals buzzing with energy, the patio is filled usually with people who walked there. “Everyone knows each other. Families with kids on the patio know each other. The people later at night know each other. Women come here by themselves because they feel comfortable.” (Author can confirm, would be totally comfortable.)
This community is what has helped Eulalie’s survive the pandemic, despite unreliable regulations on when the patio can stay open. Like other similar establishments, they were recently given less than 24 hours’ notice to open and then just weeks later told to close within a matter of days. Sizable fees from delivery services and the expense of to-go packaging make a take-out only model financially inviable – so Eulalie’s has needed to close its doors while weathering the storm. Subsidies have helped keep the business alive, but this round of somewhat erratic opening and closing has clearly been a blow. As a naturally positive, warm, and can-do person, Chris has rolled with the punches up over the last year. But for her along with most Ontarians, it now feels like things are floundering.
What makes her most proud in these difficult moments is the real concern and commitment of her community and her staff. Staff have been professional, patient, and kind through the ups and downs of the occasional maskless customer and while Eulalie’s doors open and close. A neighbor drove by recently to check in, saying that a group of friends were all thinking about how to keep Eulalie’s part of the neighborhood. “We need Eulalie’s!”
During our quiet afternoon interview, a few people walk by and ask how things are going. Chris helps me look after my rescue dog and gazes proudly across her patio.
We need Eulalie’s Corner Store. We absolutely do.
The Backyard Projects 