Country Heritage Park
Milton · up to 280 guests
Licensed bar · Free parking · Outdoor space
Country Heritage Park is an 80-acre property in Milton run by the non-profit Country Heritage Agricultural Society.
Read moreVenues in Toronto and the GTA filtered by Licensed Bar. Each profile lists the rooms and capacities the venue publishes, links to its own pages, and the site-visit questions to ask about minimums, bar policy, ceiling height, rigging and curfew.
Compare rooms with the venue matchmaker, check numbers with the capacity calculator, and read the F&B minimum entry before signing.
Royal Botanical Gardens
Burlington · up to 400 guests
In-house catering · Licensed bar · Free parking
Royal Botanical Gardens covers more than 1,100 hectares along the Hamilton–Burlington border.
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The Carlu
Downtown, Toronto · up to 1,500 guests
In-house catering · Licensed bar
The Carlu opened in 1930 as Eaton's Seventh Floor and was designed by French architect Jacques Carlu.
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LIUNA Station
Hamilton · up to 650 guests
Licensed bar
The venue occupies a restored former CNR railway station on James Street North in Hamilton.
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Luma
Downtown, Toronto · up to 200 guests
In-house catering · Licensed bar
Luma is a restaurant on the second floor of the TIFF Lightbox at King and John Streets.
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The Robert McLaughlin Gallery
Oshawa · up to 250 guests
Licensed bar
The gallery building, about 36,000 sq ft, was designed by architect Arthur Erickson and sits in Oshawa's Civic Centre.
Read moreWhat a licensed bar means
A venue listed with a licensed bar holds its own liquor sales licence from the AGCO and runs the bar itself. In practice, that means you do not normally need a Special Occasion Permit for alcohol served within the licensed area, the venue's staff are responsible for service, and those staff must hold Smart Serve certification. You buy drinks through the venue's packages or on consumption; outside alcohol is usually not allowed. If the event spills onto a lawn, terrace or room that is not covered by the licence, ask how the venue handles it before you plan anything there.
Choosing between bar options
Licensed venues typically offer an open bar by the hour, a bar on consumption billed at the end of the night, a cash bar where guests pay, or a hybrid such as drink tickets followed by a cash bar. Each changes your cost risk. Hourly packages give you certainty, consumption can be cheaper for lighter-drinking crowds, and cash bars cost you least but can feel unwelcoming at a wedding or a client event. Remember that bar packages usually carry a service charge and HST on top of the quoted price, and that bar spend often counts toward any food and beverage minimum.
Questions to ask the venue
- Which spaces are covered by the licence, and what time does last call fall?
- What brands are included at each package level, and can you add a signature cocktail?
- Is there a bartender fee or a minimum bar spend per bar station?
- How is alcohol-free service priced, and are there good non-alcoholic options?
- What is the venue's policy on refusing service and on guests who need a safe ride home?
Planning responsibly
Even when the venue holds the licence, hosts and planners share an interest in a safe evening. Serve food throughout, close the bar well before the end, and make getting home easy: check the transit options near each venue, or arrange shuttles or taxi credits for suburban sites. The bar and alcohol calculator helps you estimate consumption, and the encyclopedia entries on the F&B minimum and the open bar explain how these charges are usually structured.