Update – After a decade, Toronto bar Cold Tea has closed for good.

Kensington Market’s pioneering bar at the end of the hallway announced Sunday that their lease is up at the end of 2020, in arguably one of the worst years ever for local businesses.

With indoor dining banned for the foreseeable future and bar closures since March, Cold Tea is turning off the red light on its Kensington Mall location permanently and moving all its operations to its Queen Street bar.

“We knew our lease was expiring at the end of 2020 and struggled with the landlords over the last 18 months to solidify a new one,” wrote Cold Tea owners Stacey Welton and Oliver Dimapilis.

“Unfortunately, and even after being a solid tenant for 10 years, and amidst COVID, they refused to be reasoned with. This is a tough pill for us to swallow and we fought hard.”

Cold Tea tucked in an urban mall, this funky hideaway with a backyard patio serves drinks & dumplings. Dozens of maneki-neko cat figurines beckon from the entrance of Cold Tea.

Kensington’s not-so-secret bar that recently underwent a reno. The space is brighter, but the crowd is the same: women in designer mom jeans and bearded dudes sporting watchman beanies sip local beer, nodding along to hip hop.

The bar’s menu once a lone dim sum cart is now overseen by Leemo Han and features a South American–influenced interpretation of his exuberant Japanese flavours. The backyard patio is one of the ’hood’s best-kept secrets.

Sorry to hear about Cold Tea,  you’ll find a few other great munchies worth checking in and around Kensington Market downtown Toronto your going to love HERE!