Lopan is the hidden second-floor cocktail and snack bar above DaiLo on College, where chef Nick Liu's kitchen sends up late-night bites until 2am and Thursday means karaoke. Bird cages on the ceiling, $16 late-night cocktails, and one of Little Italy's best-kept not-so-secrets. Full rundown below.
The sceneYou climb a steep flight of stairs off College and come out into a warm, dim room with a collection of bird cages hanging from the ceiling and seating hugging the walls. It's spacious for a hidden bar but intimate in feel, built for groups of two to six settling in over cocktails and Asian-fusion snacks. The energy is conversational most of the week, then flips playful on Thursdays when the karaoke mics come out at 10:30pm.
It's known as the upstairs id to DaiLo's downstairs ego: same 503 College address, same chef pedigree, way looser format. The Big Mac Bao (the burger reimagined as a steamed bun) is the signature order, and the late-night menu of $16 tax-included cocktails is one of the better after-midnight deals in Little Italy. Compared to the College strip's louder bars, Lopan is where you go to actually taste your drink.
Quick factsThursday is the flagship: karaoke from 10:30pm with rotating hosts, and the room gets loose fast. Friday and Saturday run as the busy cocktail nights, filling after dinner as the DaiLo crowd migrates upstairs and College St spillover finds the staircase. The golden window is late: after midnight the pace mellows, the $16 late-night cocktail menu is in effect, and snacks run until 2am. Come before 10pm on weekends for wall seating, or lean into the midnight-to-2am chill shift.
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503 College St at Palmerston, a block west of Bathurst in Little Italy. The door is easy to miss: it's the entrance beside DaiLo's ground-floor dining room, then up a steep flight of stairs. If you hit the College and Bathurst corner you're one minute away. No signage theatrics, which is half the charm.
Second-floor hideout with a collection of bird cages hanging from the ceiling and ample seating that hugs the walls, leaving the middle open. It reads spacious yet intimate, dim and warm, more living-room lounge than bar-bar. Sound sits at conversation level except karaoke night, when the room becomes the entertainment. Heads up: the stairs are steep and there's no elevator, so it's rough for mobility issues.
Late 20s through 40s: date nights, small friend groups, food-world people who know the DaiLo name, and College St regulars who've graduated from the louder rooms. Karaoke Thursdays pull a younger, rowdier mix. It's a talk-and-taste crowd, not a scene crowd, and the staff treat you like a regular by round two, with reviewers repeatedly calling out the manager comping tastes and steering drink picks.
The late-night value is real. A $16 tax-included cocktail menu after hours, with snacks flowing until 2am, beats most of the strip. The kitchen is a chef's kitchen: Nick Liu's Big Mac Bao and the aloe sake sherbet are genuine destination orders. The cocktails are craft-level, with builds like the Pepinorita and Tom Yum Booze earning a 4.6 rating. Service gets singled out constantly, friendly, generous, recommendation-happy.
The stairs are no joke: steep climb, no elevator, so plan accordingly. Hours have shifted around since opening, with sources listing anything from Thursday to Saturday up to Tuesday to Sunday, so check their Instagram (@lopan.to) before a midweek trip. Thursday karaoke transforms the room, so if you wanted the quiet cocktail experience, pick another night. It's a seated lounge, not a standing bar, and prime seats go early on weekends.
Do dinner downstairs at DaiLo, then migrate up for cocktails, the classic one-address night. Order the Big Mac Bao no matter what else you get. Thursday, show up by 10pm to get a seat before karaoke kicks off at 10:30. After-midnight on weekends is the insider window: $16 cocktails, kitchen still open, room at its most relaxed. Trust the staff picks, this is a bar where asking the bartender pays off.
No DJ program; the soundtrack is playlist-driven and set to lounge volume so the room stays talkable. The exception is Thursday karaoke from 10:30pm, with new hosts rotating weekly and a crowd that commits to the bit. If you want dance-floor energy, this isn't the address; if you want to argue about your friend's song choice over a Tom Yum Booze, it's perfect.
Smart casual, nothing enforced. The room pulls date-night fits and post-dinner dress, but clean sneakers and a jacket read fine. You're climbing steep stairs to a warm second-floor room, so skip the heavy layers. Nobody's running a door policy up there.
No cover, including karaoke Thursdays as far as anything published shows. Entry is just finding the door beside DaiLo and climbing the stairs. The only entry strategy is timing: before 10pm on Thursday for karaoke seats, after midnight for the late-night menu sweet spot.
19+ as a licensed cocktail bar. Bring government photo ID; standard carding applies.
No bottle service or club tables. It's lounge seating along the walls, first come first seated, and it works fine for groups up to about six. For bigger parties, message @lopan.to on Instagram ahead of time; DaiLo downstairs takes conventional reservations if you want a guaranteed table for dinner first.
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