Sam Louie kept Toronto’s venerable Grossman’s Tavern hopping with live music

In the mid-1970s, an enterprising Chinese immigrant attempted to buy a car wash on Toronto’s Spadina Avenue. After the deal fell through, he walked across the street one Saturday afternoon and heard music playing at Grossman’s Tavern. In 1975, he and a partner bought the place, lock, stock and 12-bar blues.He was Sam Louie, noodle maker, restaurateur and trading company proprietor. Grossman’s was a grungy but beloved saloon and music venue in the garment district, opened by the namesake family in 1948 as a cafeteria.