Beach pubs see steady flow of FIFA World Cup soccer fans as tournament nears its final stages

By JULIA SAWICKI

As the FIFA World Cup enters its final stages, Beach Metro Community News spoke to some local bars and restaurants to check in on how the tournament has impacted their businesses, and the East End community.

Over at The Stone Lion at Queen and Kenilworth, the noon kickoff for Argentina and Egypt on the afternoon of July 7 drew people taking an extended lunch break to watch the match on the big screens.  

This has been the norm for the World Cup so far, as general manager Jeff said they’ve had fans for every game. 

“It’s nice to see all the families and countries coming out. Opening day, it was nice to see Mexican jerseys out; we had sombreros out. Every country was pretty well represented here,” he said. “It’s been good. It’s really nice to see all the different countries and all the jerseys.” 

He said the Beach neighbourhood has a big following for the England and Brazil teams, so those games were popular. Brazil was eliminated by Norway on Sunday, July 6, but England is still in contention. The England and Norway quarterfinal game is slated for Saturday, July 11, at 5 p.m.

With Canada being one of the co-hosts of the tournament (along with the United States and Mexico) and the Canadian team making it to the Round of 16, local fans turned out in big numbers cheer on the home team’s games at The Stone Lion, said Jeff.

“The Canadian games were full every single game, so that was really nice to see,” he said. “The times that the games were on helped; people were able to come out and watch the games.” 

As for food, Jeff said wings and nachos are the most popular food items that are ordered during soccer matches.

The Gull and Firkin, another longtime Queen Street East destination for soccer fans in the Beach, has also seen a noticeable boost in business throughout the tournament. The pub added extra televisions to accommodate larger watch parties, with Canada and England matches drawing particularly large crowds from both local residents and visitors.

“Those games have been really busy,” says Dana Schrager, manager at The Gull and Firkin.

“We’ve had lots of tourists come through as well,” she added “It’s great, everyone’s had a really good time.”

The new crowd of visitors has been felt outside of traditional soccer pubs. At Breakwall BBQ and Smokehouse on Queen Street East, employee Kristen Bones said the tournament has introduced a wave of new customers to the Beach neighbourhood, creating an enthusiastic, lively atmosphere and plenty of opportunities to meet people from around the city and beyond.

“We have a lot of people that are coming to this neighborhood, who never would’ve come to this neighborhood before,” said Bones. “We always get people, but this has been incredible. I’ve worked in this neighbourhood for 32 years, and I’ve never seen it like this.”

With the World Cup now in the quarterfinal stage, neighbourhood pubs and restaurants have become gathering places for fans eager to cheer on their teams. Upcoming quarterfinal games will see France and Morocco play at 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 9; followed by Spain against Belgium at 3 p.m. on Friday, July 10; and then a pair of matches on Saturday, July 11, with England and Norway meeting at 5 p.m., and then Argentina against Switzerland at 9 p.m.