Toronto bar loses licence after buying stolen liquor to ‘keep peace’ with thieves

A Toronto bar has lost its liquor licence after an Ontario tribunal found its owner and manager knowingly bought alcohol stolen by people connected to a nearby homeless encampment.

A Licence Appeal Tribunal ruling released last week found that John Theodorakakis, the owner of Southside Johnny’s Bar and Grill in Toronto’s Etobicoke area, and manager Yasmin Gomes purchased stolen liquor from encampment residents over several months in early 2025.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario issued a formal notice that it planned to revoke the bar’s liquor licence in December, which Theodorakakis contested.

The ruling says investigators saw the thieves steal bottles from LCBO stores and then walk directly to the bar’s back door to hand them off to someone.

It says Theodorakakis testified he began paying for the stolen goods only after refusing led to retaliation, including slashed tires, a stolen licence plate and thousands of dollars in property damage.

The adjudicator, Bruce Stanton, accepted that Theodorakakis was trying to “keep the peace,” but found that did not excuse buying stolen property, noting Theodorakakis never called police about the harassment.

Stanton said there wasn’t enough evidence to find that the bar served and sold stolen liquor to customers.

Even so, he said in the decision, Theodorakakis and Gomes admitted to using some of the stolen alcohol and goods for personal use and should have known buying and having stolen goods is against the law.

The tribunal also found the bar violated liquor storage rules by pouring leftover alcohol into unmarked “overage bottles” instead of serving from the original containers.

Before this, Theodorakakis held liquor licences for 40 years with a clean record.

The bar’s Facebook page says it is “temporarily closed” for renovations, promising “an exciting new chapter” without mentioning the ruling.

Monique Kasonga, The Canadian Press