1150 Queen Street West 416-561-5042 [see on map] Official site

THE DRAKE is a hotel, a restaurant and live music venue that transformed the West Queen West entertainment scene.

Standing since 1890, the building was named the Drake in 1949 and made its name in the music community in the early 1990s as a space for independent local bands to hang out and play.

In 2001, Jeff Stober purchased the Drake and re-imagined it as a boutique hotel and artists' meeting place. The chic multi-million dollar overhaul had some locals criticizing the terraforming of their 'hood (perhaps best expressed by the spraypainted "Drake you ho it's all your fault" on the new Starbucks down the street). But the Drake's overhaul of the basement, officially dubbed The Underground, has attracted talents big and small.

It continues to attract starving artists and jet setting hipsters alike.