The former owner of the iconic Midtown Tavern, Doug Grant (86), passed away on Sunday.

Doug Grant was actually a teetotaller and didn't drink. But he had a love for amateur sport, and The Midtown became one way he could support it, according to his obituary. Teams and fans would often stop there on their way to a game, or to celebrate after. It was also "a melting pot, where judges sit cheek by jowl with longshoremen and students," according to the Toronto Star.

From the Chronicle-Herald:

“We never change,” he told a reporter in 1999, the 50th anniversary of his employment at the tavern. “The steak you get today is the same steak you’d get 15 years ago.”

The Midtown also hung on to its rec-room style decor, including the famous fake rocks on the walls. A women's washroom—located up behind the bar—wasn't added until the1970s.

The Midtown opened in 1949 at Prince and Grafton and women weren't allowed in, according to the Toronto Star. But Doug Grant seemed universally liked. One regular "remembers watching Doug quietly feed university students lunch, even if they didn't have the money," and said: "You can find people around the world that still owe him $2.95 for a steak dinner."

The Tavern moved in 2009, to Grafton and Carmichael. Video of their "last call" at the old location:

Visitation for Doug Grant starts today at the Atlantic Funeral Home on Bayer's Road.

Doug Grant carts a beverage tray outside the Midtown Tavern. (Atlantic Funeral Homes)