Far from the friendly gathering places they are today, early pubs served as disreputable haunts for flying nannies and smarmy chimney sweeps. Relive the sooty charm of the public house with today's Groupon: for $15, you get $30 worth of pub fare at The Brassie Pub in Ancaster.

With its wood-panelled walls, dartboards, and impressive collection of draft beers (not included in this Groupon), The Brassie Pub brings all of the pocket-watch and penny-farthing panache of a British public house to Toronto. The alehouse menu serves up North American favourites alongside traditional English pub eats.

Appease petulant palates with an order of dusted wings, sprinkled with a combination of seasonings and delivered with a sidecar of any number of sauces, ranging in heat from mild to the self-immolating suicide sauce ($9.55 for one pound, $18.39 for two). The Brassie Overload burger compromises a bun's structural integrity with a mountain of mushrooms, bacon, swiss cheese, and crisp onion straws ($11.50), and the smoked-and-seasoned pork-back ribs pacify tempestuous tummies with a slathering of Guinness barbecue sauce ($14.95 for a half rack, $19.50 for a full rack).

Meanwhile, pond jumpers can chase away hunger pangs to Yakety Sax with such Anglo-inspired grub as bangers and mash ($9.25), Guinness pie (beer-braised beef and mushrooms engulfed in puff pastry, $13.25), and four types of Yorkshire pudding ($12.25–$12.95).

Reviews

The View magazine reviewed The Brassie Pub, and eight Restaurantica reviewers give it an average of 3.4 stars:

• The Brassie offers a small selection of “Yorkies.” These are giant Yorkshire puddings that are filled with mashed potatoes, meat and/or vegetables and gravy or sauce… This Yorkshire pudding featured roast beef and mushrooms topped with gravy. The roast beef was very subtly seasoned, allowing for a rich, natural beef flavour to shine through. – Leanne Kemmler, View
• I've been to the brassie numerous times and have not been dissappointed [sic] by the food. It can be a bit noisy at times but thats [sic] because so many people go there! The menu has a lot of options too. A nice restaurant to try thats [sic] something different from all the Chain restaurants. – emmyalice, Restaurantica