Sidebar
A tavern that times dinner to the show and brings you back.
The brief
Sidebar is a tavern at 161 Danforth Avenue, one door east of the Danforth Music Hall. Smash burgers, fried chicken, oysters and every Toronto game on the screens. The brief was everything a guest touches online, and the systems the staff run the room with.
The insight
Half of Sidebar’s nights are decided by the venue next door. People want dinner before the show and a drink after, and the one thing they cannot risk is missing doors. So the site leads with time: what is on tonight, when doors open and a booking that promises you are out in time.
The work
The site
A warm, incandescent look for a room of brick, brass and booths. The homepage reads the clock: open or closed, who is playing next door, which games are on. Pre-show booking, a waitlist, pickup orders, private events, gift cards and a flip-through menu.
The guest platform
Bookings, reminders and a draw that rewards regulars, with consent handled properly: express opt-ins, a separate text opt-in and a ledger of every consent. Perks sit on food, events and merch, inside Ontario’s liquor rules. The platform is licensed to Sidebar, not handed over, so it keeps improving.
The host stand
A staff admin and a host-stand app on a tablet: live tables, the waitlist and the night’s bookings in one view, built to run on Cloudflare’s free plan.
The result
Sidebar is in final testing ahead of launch on the Danforth. A tavern with a site that sells the night next door, and a platform that turns a pre-show dinner into a regular.
The site
One door east of the Music Hall.
Out by doors
Book pre-show and the kitchen times it to the show next door. Miss doors and dessert is on the house.
Tonight, live
Who is playing next door, which Toronto games are on and whether the kitchen is open, right on the homepage.
A menu you flip
The menu as a book you page through, with allergens and prices that staff update themselves.
Thirty steps from doors
Hours, map and the walk from Broadview station, so nobody has to ask.
Project highlights
Results described qualitatively.
