Serial Tinder daters, parents of bored teenagers and viral trend enthusiasts, take note: There’s a new curling bar in Parkdale.
Sandwiched between two shops down a twinkly-lit back alley on Queen Street West is Lit: Rock Hard. The new business features eight slick lanes for an adapted curling experience and a bar to keep drinks flowing.
In this version of the classic Canadian winter sport, there’s no standing on ice, sweeping brooms or yelling ‘Hard.’ Instead, players take turns throwing slick, modified curling rocks from a stationary position at one end of a synthetic ice sheet toward a bullseye at the other.
“It’s a kind of lawn-bowling meets ice skating love child,” said business owner Nicole Hall, who launched the venue just before the holidays, inspired by similar enterprises in the U.K.
Like the sport’s transitional gameplay, this version, too, involves a hefty amount of knocking your opponents rocks out of the way to try to win the game.
The venue features four lanes inside a heated dome replete with a bar, propane fires and music. (On the stereo when TorontoToday visited last week was Madonna’s Like a Virgin and Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child O’ Mine.)
The venue also hosts four outdoor lanes, each of which has a private, heated bubble for warming up between rounds.
Bringing après-ski to the city
An avid skier, Hall said her hope for the business is to bring the “après-ski experience” to the city.
After spending time on the slopes in Collingwood, Ont. and other ski hills, patrons commonly take to a nearby bar for themed nights, featuring music and drinking.
“The après ski experience is pretty special to me, but in an urban setting not a lot of people get to experience that,” said Hall. “If we can bring this winter wonderland to the city, that’d be kind of neat.”
Lit: Rock Hard’s outdoor space features several fires with benches surrounding. Patrons can order hot drinks, including apple cider, hot toddies and mulled wine and can purchase food from a pop-up vendor.
Friends Michelle Cooper, Zoe Hoskin and Naomi Reesor visited the business for the first time on Jan. 17 after having heard about it from a friend who came on a date.
“Curling’s been a thing in the queer community, so we were like ‘Maybe we can learn to curl in a non-embarassing way,’” said Cooper, with a laugh.
The group told TorontoToday they’d been having a good time — that the vibe wasn’t too competitive, they were enjoying their drinks and the business’ staff were very attentive to maintaining a high lube-ratio on their synthetic ice sheet to ensure the rocks glided easily.
“We love the lube!” one shouted, wryly, from the far end of the ice sheet.
Won’t be here long
Lit: Rock Hard will offer curling until mid-March, after which the business will switch to hosting pickleball games through the spring in summer, Hall said.
Curlers keen for a quick round can play for $25 per person for 30 minutes. Double the price provides an hour-long curling session plus a drink and reserved table seating.
In each of the entrepreneur’s ventures, Hall said she’s been focused on giving folks a chance to come together and try something new.
After selling her first business, an air-gun shooting range in Vaughan, she said she felt ready to give something else a try.
The entrepreneur, who lives in Unionville, said she’s been really chuffed by the welcome she’s received from the Parkdale community.
“Everyone who comes, loves it,” she said.
