Their slogan is "No live entertainment. One TV."

Ethel's is a relaxed-atmosphere eating and drinking spot.  The decor is full of local history: memorabilia from CKCO TV, and concert posters from throughout the sixties and seventies.  All the tables are old-fashioned formica topped kitchen tables with charming little extensions that can can be pulled out.  Their food has a down south flavour palette, simple comfort on a plate.  What sets them apart from other comfort food joints is that they don't deep fry anything; they don't even have a deep fryer.  If you feel like having chicken wings, baked not fried, they are available every Wednesday and on the days of the full moon.  Every Tuesday they have a great deal on tacos: two dollars for four tacos!  It is popular on Tuesday so come early or get ready to wait.

Staff has sass!

Plus there is an interesting mischievous story about the sign below ...

The man who started Ethel's had owned other bars before it, including the legendary Pop the Gator blues club.  The story of the sign goes like this: the owner was down in southern USA when he spotted the wonderful beast that currently stands out front of the bar.  He made several attempt to buy the sign from the owners, but wasn't having any luck...until the seller told him why it wasn't going well.  He was told "Ethel's was a black bar, and I'm not selling the sign to a whitey."  That kind of racism didn't sit well with him, so he made his own luck.  Legend has it that he returned later that night with some tools and a pick up truck and "acquired" himself a beautiful neon memento of the encounter.

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