Loud hip-hop, hot sauce and bourbon. Bring. It. On. We want all those things in our face, and now. Which is how we ended up down on this cool little corner of Parkdale aka party-dale at the Grand Electric. It’s a tequila-toting taqueria with some fat tunes.

This place smashed 2012 to pieces with queues around the corner every night and rave reviews. Toronto hadn't seen anything like it and they couldn't get enough. Such was its popularity they've now opened up Electric Mud around the corner, which has somewhat stolen the hotspot crown from its brethren, but we're okay with that. Means the queues are slightly more bearable, especially now they're open by day for a more chilled out lunch slot.

The deco is junk shop hip with mounted skulls with glowing red lights for eyes and a great white shark suspended from the ceiling donning a pair of antler horns. There's a long list of bourbon up on the wall and moonshine being aged in a barrel behind the bar.

They serve the best tacos in town on tin plates with a dishcloth for your sticky fingers. It’s more of a foodie place, but you can sit at the bar and knock back your pigs head fries with a bunch of $3.75 Wild Turkey shots. Your night will be off to a winning start.

Photo credit: Tyler Wetherall