New owners hope to bring El Mocambo back to its rock ‘n’ roll roots

The owner of a popular Parkdale bar is set to breathe new life into one of the city’s most iconic live music venues, the El Mocambo.

“We’ve gotta do this. We’ve gotta do this for the music and for the history of rock ‘n’ roll in Toronto,” Sam Grosso, owner of the Cadillac Lounge, said.

Grosso and partner Marco Petrucci, owner of 99 Sudbury, have big plans for the storied space on Spadina Avenue, just south of College Street, that has hosted rock legends including The Rolling Stones, Blondie, U2, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lou Reed and The Ramones.

The partners say their “back to the future with a twist” project for the El Mo will see the bar open seven days a week with a band on stage every night.

“We’ve got plans to do a rooftop patio that would be open to events,” Grosso said.

“We’re really going to try and make this what it was and even better than what it was.”

Abbas Jahangiri bought the legendary bar in 2001 and transformed it into a dance studio. It was shut down again, renovated and hosted acts from various genres of music. Grosso and Petrucci are hoping to bring the venue back to its rock roots.

“The El Mocambo in the old days, it was the club in town,” musician Jon Bouvette said. “It had a certain allure to it. It wasn’t the prettiest, it wasn’t the biggest, but the minute you walked in, you knew it was special.”

Grosso and Petrucci estimate it will take six to eight months for the El Mo renovations.

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