Bar Details

Lawrence Avenue is dotted with forbidding little bars where Yelpers fear to tread, their tinted windows concealing huddled groups of drinkers trained to drop conversation and stare the instant the doors open. CTA looks the part from the outside, but beyond the black glass is a spacious room dominated by a pool table and a small back bar overseen by the smiling Princess Melissa. The playlist when regular Umberto is on the iPod: Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and Gypsy Kings.