Broadview Hotel Rooftop View

Neighbourhood: East End · Address: 106 Broadview Ave, Toronto, ON · Hours: Mon–Fri 4pm–11pm | Sat–Sun 11am–11pm · Price Range: $$$

Why Visit

The Broadview Hotel’s rooftop gives you sweeping city panoramas with an east-end perspective that few venues offer. It’s the rare Toronto bar where the CN Tower isn’t the only skyline showstopper.

What Makes It Unique

Most Toronto rooftop patios are clustered downtown and face west, so the Broadview stands out by giving you a full-circle view from the east. The restored 1891 building adds serious atmosphere—you’re sipping cocktails where a strip club once operated, and you can still see architectural details from its many former lives.

If you want a Toronto rooftop that actually earns the hype, go to the Broadview Hotel. A lot of places in the city talk a big game about “views,” then hand you one angle between condo towers and call it a skyline. This isn’t that. From the 8th floor, the whole city opens up in a way that feels almost unfair: downtown to the west, the east end spreading out around you, the Don Valley running north like a deep green cut through the middle of it all, and the lake sitting low to the south. And yes, the CN Tower view really is that good. It’s one of the cleanest public angles on the tower in Toronto, which is saying something. From here, it sits right where you want it in the skyline, framed by the downtown core without feeling cramped or chopped up by nearby buildings.

Part of why it works so well is that the rooftop isn’t floating above some generic glass box. The Broadview Hotel has actual character, and you feel that before you even reach the roof. You come in off Broadview Avenue, pass through the old bones of the building, then head upstairs and the city suddenly spreads out around you. That transition matters. It gives the rooftop a sense of place that a lot of newer spots just don’t have. You’re not only going up for a drink, you’re moving from one version of Toronto to another: street-level east end energy below, open sky and sweeping sightlines above. The building itself gives the whole outing a little more weight, so even if you’re just there for a casual drink, it doesn’t feel random or thrown together.

What usually happens there is pretty simple. People arrive, get a drink, and then immediately drift toward the railing like it’s choreographed. Five minutes in, somebody’s pointing out the CN Tower, someone else is trying to spot their neighbourhood, and the group slowly starts doing a full clockwise lap of the rooftop without really planning to. If it’s your first time, do exactly that. Don’t plant yourself at one table and assume you’ve seen the whole thing. The west side gets the most attention for obvious reasons, especially later in the day when the sun starts dropping and the skyline starts glowing. That’s the money shot, no question. But the north, east, and south views all matter too. Looking east gives you a more lived-in Toronto, with the street grid and the neighbourhoods stretching away instead of the downtown postcard version everybody expects. Looking north, you get the Don Valley and a sense of how the city climbs and spreads. Looking south, you catch that lower, flatter horizon that reminds you the lake is there even when you can’t see much of it. It’s a rooftop that rewards wandering.

The atmosphere changes quite a bit depending on when you go. Early in the evening, especially on weekdays, it can feel relaxed and almost calm. People are in no rush, the music is present but not overpowering, and you can actually take your time choosing a spot and looking around. That’s a good window if you want to talk, take photos, or just sit with a drink and watch the light change without feeling like you’re in the middle of a scene. By sunset, though, the energy shifts fast. Everybody starts angling for a west-facing seat, phones come out, and the whole room gets a little more animated. You can feel the place tighten up as the best light arrives. It’s not obnoxious, just very clearly the prime time. Later at night, the skyline gets darker and more reflective, and the rooftop becomes more about the mood than the view itself. The city lights are still doing plenty, but the experience changes from sightseeing to hanging out above the city.

It’s especially good for date night because it does a lot of the heavy lifting for you. You’ve got a great view, a bit of breeze, the skyline glowing in front of you, and enough movement around the room to keep things lively without turning chaotic. There’s something about being up there while streetcars clatter below and the light shifts over the buildings that makes even a fairly standard drink feel more memorable. It’s also one of the better spots if you’re into photography or just like taking city photos that don’t look like everyone else’s. The CN Tower angle is the obvious one, but the full sweep of the rooftop is what makes the shots work. If you can, get there before golden hour and stay through dusk. The skyline changes dramatically in that window, and the transition from daylight to evening is half the appeal.

The drinks aren’t cheap, and nobody should pretend they are. This is not the place you go because you want bargain cocktails and a quiet corner. You’re paying for a view that’s actually hard to beat, plus the fact that the room and the building give it a little more personality than the average rooftop bar. That said, the price only makes sense if you lean into what the place is for. Order a drink, take your time, and actually look around instead of treating it like a quick stop. If you rush it, you’ll miss the point. If you settle in properly, it feels worth it.

The neighbourhood helps more than people sometimes give it credit for. Broadview sits in the east end in a part of Toronto that still feels more grounded than the downtown core. You’re not arriving in a polished entertainment district where every block looks the same. You’re on a real stretch of city street with streetcars, local traffic, and a mix of old and new around you. That matters because the rooftop doesn’t feel disconnected from Toronto; it feels like it belongs to it. You’re close enough to the downtown skyline to get the big city view, but you’re also far enough east to see Toronto as a whole instead of just the financial district version of it. That’s a big part of why this rooftop stands out from competitors. A lot of other places give you height. This one gives you context.

The honest reality is that summer evenings can get busy quickly, and the best seats go first. If you show up late without a reservation, you might wait, and even if you get in, you may not get the exact spot you wanted. That’s just the tradeoff. If the weather’s good and the sunset’s promising, everyone else in the city has had the same idea. The smartest strategy is simple: book ahead, arrive a little early, and be ready to do the full rooftop tour before settling in. If you’re serious about the view, aim for a table with clear west-facing sightlines, but don’t ignore the other sides once you’re there. Sometimes the best moment is not the obvious CN Tower shot, but the quieter look north or east when the city starts to settle down. And if you’re visiting Toronto, this is one of the few places where I’d actually tell you to plan around the timing instead of just winging it. Sunset is the move. Summer evenings are busiest. Clear nights are best. A cloudy day can still be good, but a clear one is the version you remember.

For first-timers, I’d keep it simple: make a reservation if you can, don’t arrive starving unless you’re ready for a wait, and go in expecting a lively bar rather than a serene observation deck. It’s social, it’s popular, and it gets crowded for good reason. People come here for the skyline, but they stay because the whole setup works. The view is genuinely one of the best in the city, the building gives it character, and the rooftop has that rare mix of energy and openness that makes Toronto feel bigger than it sometimes does from street level. If you want one elevated drink in the city that actually feels worth the price, this is the one I’d point you toward. Address is 106 Broadview Ave, and yes, it’s worth the trip across town.