--- title: "Sidebar: A tavern that times dinner to the show | Culture Cartel" description: "Culture Cartel built Sidebar's site and guest platform: pre-show booking, menus, shows and game days, a host stand and a retention engine for a Danforth tavern." canonical: https://www.culturecartel.ca/work/sidebar language: en-CA publisher: Culture Cartel --- Sidebar # Sidebar A tavern that times dinner to the show and brings you back. - **Client:** Sidebar - **Format:** Digital - **Industry:** Hospitality - **Location:** Toronto, Canada - **Year:** 2026 ![Sidebar's homepage in a browser between two phones showing the house burger and show-night happy hour, on the tavern's black, cream and brass palette](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/work/sidebar/thumb.webp) Services - Website design - Website build - Booking and waitlist - Guest retention platform - Staff admin - Copywriting Practice - [Design & Digital](https://www.culturecartel.ca/services#digital) - [Growth](https://www.culturecartel.ca/services#growth) [Start a project like this](https://www.culturecartel.ca/start?service=digital&ref=sidebar) ## 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. ![The full Sidebar homepage: hero, tonight at Sidebar, pre-show booking, the menu, the calendar, the room and the map to the Music Hall](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/work/sidebar/site-full.webp) Project highlights ![danforthsidebar.com homepage: Eat before the show, stay for after, with the house burger built layer by layer](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/work/sidebar/g-hero.webp) 01 / danforthsidebar.com homepage: Eat before the show, stay for after, with the house burger built layer by layer ![The about band: a bar and kitchen one door east of the Music Hall, with photos of the room](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/work/sidebar/g-about.webp) 02 / The about band: a bar and kitchen one door east of the Music Hall, with photos of the room ![The menu page with section tabs for share plates, handhelds, dessert, on tap, cans, cocktails and wine](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/work/sidebar/g-menu1.webp) 03 / The menu page with section tabs for share plates, handhelds, dessert, on tap, cans, cocktails and wine ![Menu sections with prices and vegetarian markers that staff update themselves](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/work/sidebar/g-menu2.webp) 04 / Menu sections with prices and vegetarian markers that staff update themselves ![One booking form for a table, a group or event, or a question, with party size, date and time](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/work/sidebar/g-reserve.webp) 05 / One booking form for a table, a group or event, or a question, with party size, date and time ![Visit: hours for every day and the walk from Broadview station past the Music Hall](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/work/sidebar/g-visit.webp) 06 / Visit: hours for every day and the walk from Broadview station past the Music Hall Results described qualitatively. ## Start a project like this. Websites, apps and products built to perform, not just to look the part. Tell us where you are and where you need to be. [Start a Project](https://www.culturecartel.ca/start?service=digital&ref=sidebar) [Ask about this project](https://www.culturecartel.ca/lens?mode=ask&ref=sidebar) Related work - [Michael Kutcher](https://www.culturecartel.ca/work/michael-kutcher): A keynote speaker’s site built to get him booked. · Digital / Speakers and keynotes / Toronto / 2026 - [TA Speakers Management](https://www.culturecartel.ca/work/ta-speakers): All marketing operations for a speaker agency. · Digital / Speakers and events / Toronto / 2026 - [F1inTO](https://www.culturecartel.ca/work/f1into): We took F1inTO over and built it into the biggest race day in Toronto. · Live / Events and motorsport / Toronto / 2026 [Next project BOMAG Full marketing for BOMAG Light Equipment, launch through growth. Keep scrolling](https://www.culturecartel.ca/work/bomag) --- Culture Cartel, 8 The Esplanade, Toronto, ON M5E 0A6. info@culturecartel.ca, +1 647 459 2154. Start a project: https://www.culturecartel.ca/start