Cassette

Cassette is a restaurant-and-performance room inside Toronto’s Gladstone House on Queen West. Its capacity remains publicly unlisted; the scale reads as an intimate dinner-room setting, built around a raised stage, booths and communal tables. The distinguishing detail is its address: Cassette opened in the former Melody Bar, bringing live programming back to a space associated with the hotel’s long-running bar and music life. Expect a show where food, cocktails and the audience’s tables share the same room.

A bar room gets a new name

The setting reaches back to 1889, when the Gladstone Hotel was built; the building later became a focal point for art, music and public gatherings after a major restoration completed in 2005. Cassette itself arrived on October 25, 2025, as Gladstone House converted the former Melody Bar into a retro-inspired restaurant and performance venue. Archive Hospitality Group positioned the new room as a place for local artists, live entertainment and cultural events, with a monthly dinner-and-drag residency led by Tynomi Banks at launch.

That conversion followed a quiet ending for Melody Bar, which closed at the end of 2022 after more than two decades in several forms. Cassette therefore carries a specific inheritance: it is a fresh operation in a historic hotel bar room, with programming designed to restore regular performance to the space.

Dinner tables, stage lights, late sets

Cassette’s booking mix extends beyond concerts: the house invites local and emerging artists, karaoke regulars, comedy, brunch sessions and community events. Indie, folk and rock listeners will find a natural fit in the calendar, alongside drag, soul, jazz, R&B and participatory nights. The room is designed like a polished retro diner and cocktail bar, with layered lighting, cozy booths, communal seating, a raised stage and dedicated sound setup. Come early for a booth and a martini; sightlines and atmosphere will feel most direct near the stage.