An ode to HFX Sports Bar & Grill
Downtown sports bar issued permits for demolition
It’s the day of the big game, so you and your friends decide to catch the action at a bar downtown, but the options are limited.
You could go to Durty Nelly’s Irish Pub or the Pint Public House and hope the game is on, or do the same at the Maxwell’s Plum or Oasis Pub and Eatery.
But there used to be a place where it was guaranteed that sports were always on. There was nothing quite like HFX Sports Bar & Grill. The bar boasted a massive two-storey wall of LED panels, a private lounge to rent if you’re feeling introverted and over 90 televisions spreading across the bar, even in the washroom.
The Brunswick Street location served as a sports lover’s haven from when it opened in the fall of 2013 to when it shut its doors for good in 2024.
Controversial closure
The final days of the bar were rife with controversy.
On Christmas Eve 2022, Halifax police officers found 31-year-old Ryan Sawyer unresponsive on Prince Street, outside the Halifax Alehouse. Sawyer later died at the hospital. He was from Ajax, Ont. and studied business management at Dalhousie University. In August 2023, Alehouse security guard Alexander Pishori Levy turned himself in to the Halifax police in connection with Sawyer’s death.
Levy was found guilty of manslaughter and criminal negligence on Nov. 26, 2025.
In addition to the criminal cases and civil lawsuits, both the Alehouse and the HFX Sports Bar & Grill — under the same ownership — were ordered to close for 45 days after facing penalties under the Liquor Control Act following Sawyer’s death. The bars never opened again and were sold to a commercial real estate development company.
Since the property was bought, the Alehouse was issued a demolition permit in November 2025. However, according to Coun. Laura White, the owners are working to preserve the historic building that has been at the corner of Brunswick Street and Sackville Street since 1893.
Where’s a Halifax sports fan supposed to go?
It remains unclear what will happen to the space, but what is clear is HFX Sports Bar & Grill was a casualty of bouncer violence, and there is now a sports bar vacancy in downtown Halifax. Oasis claims to be the city’s “undisputed #1 sports bar,” and the Pint says they are “Halifax’s go-to sports bar,” but they’re just not the same. There are no distinct sports bars.
Soccer fans probably have it the best in the city because you can watch any Halifax Wanderers game at Kai Brady’s, and the Wanderers opened The Footie Den this year. They throw watch parties for footie games, but what about the non-soccer fans? You may even have a hard time trying to watch a regular season Mooseheads game on a TV downtown, and that’s a local team.
HFX Sports Bar & Grill was purely sports. The Pint and Oasis are beyond that, with arcade games and dancing taking up most of the attention. The HFX bar was sports at its core — no distractions.
Even when you went to the bathroom, you couldn’t avoid the game.
