Broadview Hotel Rooftop

Neighbourhood: East End / Leslieville · Address: 106 Broadview Ave, Toronto, ON · Hours: Mon–Thu 4:00 – 10:00 PM | Fri–Sat 4:00 PM – 12:00 AM | Sun 4:00 – 10:00 PM · Price Range: $$$ · Phone: (416) 362-8439

Why Visit

The Broadview Hotel Rooftop gives you jaw-dropping views of the CN Tower and Toronto skyline from a preserved 19th-century landmark. Kick back with a glass of wine or cocktail as the city lights up below.

What Makes It Unique

Unlike most Toronto rooftops, this one crowns a Victorian heritage building, wrapping you in old-brick charm alongside those glass-and-steel views. The 360-degree perspective means you’re not crammed against a rail fighting for a sunset selfie—the best sight lines across the east end are yours. If you want a less corporate, more relaxed rooftop vibe, this is the east side's clear standout.

If you’re looking for a rooftop in Toronto that actually feels like Toronto, the Broadview Hotel Rooftop is the one I’d send a friend to first. It sits above the Broadview Hotel, a restored Victorian building in Leslieville, and the setting does a lot of the work for it before you even get upstairs. You’re not just going out for a drink; you’re getting a view that frames the city in a way that’s hard to beat, with the CN Tower sitting off in the distance like the city’s own exclamation point. From the right spot, especially near sunset, you get that clean sweep of skyline and open sky that makes even longtime Torontonians stop talking for a minute. It’s one of those places that makes you feel like you’ve finally earned a proper evening out.

What makes the rooftop work so well is that it doesn’t feel like a generic hotel bar trying to copy a Miami mood. There’s enough of the building’s old character left in the bones of the place to keep it grounded, with the original brick and timber giving it more personality than the average slick rooftop lounge. At the same time, it isn’t precious or old-fashioned. The terrace is set up for actual use, not just for photos, so you’ll see couples leaning into the view, groups of friends sharing snacks and drinks, coworkers on a post-work stop, and plenty of people clearly there because they came for one thing only: that sunset over downtown. In summer, the outdoor section is the main event, and it’s exactly the kind of spot where people settle in a little earlier than they planned and end up staying through the blue hour because the light keeps changing and nobody wants to leave.

The vibe shifts depending on when you go, and that’s part of why people keep coming back. Early in the evening, especially on weekdays, it can feel relaxed and almost orderly, with the crowd easing in slowly and everybody still on their first drink. Around golden hour, the energy changes fast. People start angling for better sightlines, phones come out, and the whole place gets that low buzz that good rooftops get when everyone quietly realizes they’ve timed it right. Later on, once it’s fully dark, the skyline becomes the star and the rooftop gets a little more social. It’s less about the perfect photo and more about being somewhere that feels a touch elevated, literally and otherwise, without becoming stuffy. In winter, the enclosed lounge keeps the view alive through floor-to-ceiling windows, and while it’s not the same as being outside in warm air with the city spread below you, it still has the advantage of letting you enjoy the scene without freezing your face off. That’s Toronto for you: the city makes you earn your rooftop season, and this place at least gives you a decent backup plan.

The drinks and food are better thought out than what you usually get at a rooftop spot that knows people are mostly there for the view. The bar leans into Ontario wines and seasonal cocktails, and the menu changes enough that you don’t get the sense they’re just pressing the same safe buttons all year. If you’re the type who likes a crisp white wine at sunset, this is exactly the sort of place where that feels right. The Eastern Promises cocktail is a popular order for a reason, and if you like something that feels a little more considered than your standard rooftop spritz, it’s worth trying. The kitchen is more substantial than you’d expect, too, which matters because nobody wants to pay rooftop prices and then realize they’re choosing between fries and a sad handful of nuts. You’ll find small plates, oysters, and a rotating selection of mains that make it easy to turn a drink into an actual evening. It’s a better experience if you treat it like dinner with a view rather than a quick pregame stop. That said, it can absolutely work for a single drink if you know what you’re there for and time it well.

Part of the appeal is that the Broadview isn’t in the downtown core, so the whole outing has a slightly different feel from places that are surrounded by office towers and streetcar noise. Leslieville and the East End give it a more local, less polished-in-a-corporate-way atmosphere. You’re not stepping out of a tower lobby into a rooftop that could be anywhere; you’re arriving on Broadview Avenue, with the neighbourhood stretching around you in a way that reminds you this is still a residential part of the city with a strong sense of place. The streets nearby are busy but not chaotic, and there’s enough going on around the hotel to make before- or after-dinner plans easy if you want to keep the night going. It also means the rooftop tends to attract a mix of people: neighbourhood regulars, people crossing the city for a special occasion, and visitors who’ve heard that this is where you go if you want a proper view without feeling like you’re in a tourist trap. That mix gives the place a more relaxed social rhythm than some of the flashy downtown competitors.

Compared with other rooftop bars in Toronto, the Broadview stands out because it gives you a view that feels expansive rather than just elevated. A lot of rooftops in the city look good in photos, but they don’t always give you that sense of depth: skyline in front, neighbourhood below, sky opening up behind it all. Here, the CN Tower angle is one of the best in town, and that matters because Toronto doesn’t have endless dramatic viewpoints. When you’re up there at sunset and the tower starts to silhouette against the western sky, the whole city suddenly reads as a landscape instead of a grid. That’s why photographers like it, and it’s why people who aren’t even especially into taking pictures still end up taking pictures. You don’t have to be a skyline obsessive to appreciate it. The view does the heavy lifting, but the setting doesn’t let it become a one-note gimmick.

Still, it’s worth being honest about how the place works in practice. On good-weather evenings, especially from June through September, it gets busy fast. If you show up at peak sunset time on a Friday or Saturday without a reservation, you may be waiting longer than you’d like, and in some cases you may not get the best seats at all. That’s the trade-off for being one of the most desirable rooftops in the city. If you want the actual best experience, book ahead and aim to arrive a bit before sunset rather than at the exact minute everybody else has also decided to arrive. That gives you time to settle in, order a drink, and watch the light shift instead of scrambling for a table while the sky is already doing its best work. Weekday evenings are usually easier, but even then, it’s smart to reserve if you care about timing. The rooftop can also feel a little crowded when the weather is perfect, and service sometimes slows down when every seat is filled, which is normal for a place like this but still worth keeping in mind if you’re planning a celebratory night.

The best strategy is simple: book early, go for sunset, and stay long enough to see the city move from daylight to dusk to night. If you’re planning a date night or a special occasion, this is one of those places that can carry the whole evening without needing much else. Order a drink you actually want, not just the most obvious one. Get something to eat if you plan to linger. And don’t rush the view, because this is one of the few places in Toronto where the skyline isn’t just a backdrop; it’s the whole point of the evening. Whether you’re there for a first date, a birthday, a visiting friend, or just because you feel like treating yourself to a better-than-usual night out, the Broadview Hotel Rooftop gives you exactly what you hope a rooftop bar will give you in this city: a great angle on Toronto, a good drink in your hand, and a reason to stay until the light is gone.