News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 02, 2020
A Message to Our Readers
 9.8K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
EarthCam Time-Lapse Documents Rafael Viñoly-Designed New Stanford Hospital Construction
 41K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
Resort Town
 5.6K     0 

prosperegal

prosperegal

Senior Member
Member Bio
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Messages
1,140
Reaction score
46
For those of us who grew up in the city/suburban Toronto in the 80s and 90s: which ones were your favourites? I remember going to Lime Rickey's (I think it was on Steeles?? It was near a Toys R Us) for a friend's birthday several years in a row. We were in elementary school and we always shared a huge communal bowl of ice cream (all six or seven of us...we obviously did not believe in germs back then...hahaha). Other places: an Italian restaurant at Bayview Village (where Il Fornello is now), Max's (now O&B) and before it was Max's, I think it was a pub called Charlie's (shut when I was six or so). Of course, there a Chinese restaurant at the mall before Pearl took over (Yenching). Another place I loved was Leslie's Bakery, which was on Steeles. It was in the indoor part of a strip mall and sold bread (delicious challah!!), pastries, sandwiches and coffee. Sometimes, they'd have hot dogs, and I recall eating them with my grandmother when I was small. The same strip mall also had a Becker's, a Chinese restaurant and a few other businesses!

Other memories: Fan Sang (I think that's what it was called) - Shanghainese cuisine, served cart service dim sum style on Eglinton, west of Avenue Road (near Yitz's)

Tai Pan (also on Eglinton, I think)

A restaurant in the Bayview/York Mills open mall - it later became a Richtree (anyone remember what that was called?)
 
Last edited:
Fritter said:
I miss Ginsburg and Wong in the Village by the Grange, as well as Mr. Greenjeans in the Eaton's Centre.
Click to expand...
Came here to post Ginsberg and Wong. Glad I'm not the only one with fond memories.
 
Fritter said:
Mr. Greenjeans in the Eaton's Centre.
Click to expand...

I understand that when Greenjeans opened in the Eaton Centre in 1980 (I believe it operated somewhere else downtown for a couple of years before that), it was a big thing and a favourite of many. I assume the (widely held) nostalgia is based on those years, because by the time I moved to TO in 1996 it was cr*p.
 
Lichee Garden. I have yet to find another place that makes battered shrimp as amazingly as they did...*sigh*
 
Lime Ricky's on Eglinton was the first to come to mind. I remember having a birthday lunch at the Sussex Centre location in Mississauga and ordering the enormous "Kitchen Sink" sundae.

I vaguely remember a char-grilled burger place called Toby's in the FCP concourse.

Funky, pre-gentrified Jack Astors. Way more stuff hanging from the ceilings, wacky gags hidden everywhere. I haven't visited one in over a decade, but I think the Elvis Shrine was the last vestige of this era.

I also remember a time when Lonestar Texas Grill (Simcoe Place) was really, really good. It eventually suffered from chain restaurant disease and become disappointing (cilantro/garlic-free salsa). The location way out near the airport was good for a while.
 
Last edited:
grey said:
[....] I also remember a time when Lonestar Texas Grill (Simcoe Place) was really, really good. It eventually suffered from chain restaurant disease and become bland (cilantro/garlic-free salsa). The location way out near the airport was good for a while.
Click to expand...

Lone Star started in Ottawa. I'm guessing mid 80s. Two former Ottawa Rough Riders, originally from Texas, who decided to stay in Canada, and saw a business opportunity for real Texas BBQ. At the start, people used to drive from all over Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec because the food was that good (and, at the time, unusual for Ottawa, and probably Ontario generally). My dad loved it. I remember long line-ups out the door and around the building as a kid. I have no doubt that the one at Simcoe Place was once good, although I suspect by the time they opened more locations the slow drive towards mediocrity was already in motion.

I don't know when the ex-football players sold the Lone Star, but it's no longer run out of Ottawa. It's run by bean counters from an industrial park in Oakville.
 
A more recent example, but there's Paul's Tomato Pie on Marlee between Viewmount and Stayner (which disappeared some time during the early 2010s). I greatly enjoy their panzerotti.
 
I was all grown up when I arrived in Toronto in 1987, but I remember my visits to Bemelmans; the original Bloor Street Diner where I met my first boyfriend; the early 90s version of City Grill at the Eaton Centre; and the Daily Planet at Yonge and Eglinton. But my favourite was Truffles, at the old Four Seasons, before and after the 1990s renovations.
 
Mothers Pizza. I still remember the wood decor with coloured glass Tiffany lamps that hung over every table.
 
grey said:
Funky, pre-gentrified Jack Astors. Way more stuff hanging from the ceilings, wacky gags hidden everywhere. I haven't visited one in over a decade, but I think the Elvis Shrine was the last vestige of this era.
Click to expand...

Oh, memories of Jack Astors just as it was becoming a chain. Brampton had one of the early ones (the first was in St. Catharines). The separate bar area with peanuts for the taking in barrels (I understand why that had to go), and the more amusing decor and the original chalk drawings. It was the place to be for us in the final years of high school in the late 1990s. There are still Far Side cartoons on the walls, and that addictive pan garlic bread, but it's just not the same. I think the corner Elvis booth is still a thing, at least.

But of all the corporate cuisine chains, it's still better than most. Better beer selection than any of the Cara chains, and the entrees still taste cooked to order and not out of a can.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top