f you've been driving west on Harbord, you may have seen The Roxton’s sign to your left as you near Ossington. Its urban design of glinting metal and warm red signifies what's inside, artistic flair blended with cocktails and, oddly enough, particularly tasty fare. A somewhat new bar and restaurant to this neighbourhood (it opened in the spring), The Roxton is mostly populated by colourful personalities and professions that make Harbord Street what it is.

The Roxton would be this year’s marginally underrated Barrio, Leslieville’s equally charming-in-its-own-way bar-eatery-meeting-grounds. Substitute Harbord Street scenery for Barrio’s east-end landscape and you more or less have the same bar. And since Barrio’s detractors regarded it as a modified knock-off of the original Kubo... well, you can see we are getting a few generations away from the source.

Giant windows flung open to Harbord breezes display happy diners tossing back brews, as drivers cruise on by. The interior has a tightly-packed lounge vibe, with sultry lighting, a quasi-hip Harbord Street patio and a CD rotation that is surprisingly upbeat. Think Lana Turner chic: a cramped, retro design with a raised level packed with puffy black vinyl booths and Formica tables. The outdoor patio is cheerier, though the traffic detracts.

As a dining destination, it isn't much. As bar, its heart is certainly in the right place. As a neighbourhood drinking-on-the-patio experience, it's a sweet dream. The Roxton is pure neighbourhood and fun-spirited, a guilty pleasure amidst an intersection (Harbord and Ossington) that’s anything but Clubland. Keeping a balance between the subversive restaurant range and its fundamental bar-room rage, the owners wisely picked a neighbourhood that sees good drive-by traffic and receives a good chunk of pedestrian traffic.