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Leslieville Diner
Categories: Restaurants Diners Restaurants Breakfast & Brunch Diners, Breakfast & Brunch [Edit]
1186 Queen St EToronto, ON M4M 1L4
Neighbourhood: Leslieville
(416) 778-4040
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Breakfast
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
8 reviews for Leslieville Diner
8 reviews in English
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Review from Jennifer M.
Toronto, ON
12/5/2010
Leslieville Diner is fine. Really. We visited on a cold Sunday morning for cheap breakfast. Spinach Omelette with very buttery toast and potatoes for $6.95. Eggs, Bacon, Potatoes and Toast for $5.80. Decent coffee.
The only negative was the lady sitting directly behind me recounting the ENTIRE Harry Potter Series in alarmingly minute detail (complete with her interpretations) non stop the entire visit. LOUDLY. So much for quiet breakfast with morning paper.
Its a greasy spoon for sure, no frills, semi casual service. Of course there are a tonnes of better options in this neighborhood, but Leslieville Diner came in at half the price.
Decent, filling, cheap morning grub, fresh coffee. Its A-OK. -
Review from David M.
Toronto, ON
2/16/2011
I've been to a lot of diners that I would put in the same category as this one. About 30, in fact (see list below). I don't mind greasy spoons...in fact, I seek them out (see list below). Keeping that in mind, there was something about the vibe of this place that I didn't like. It just didn't feel like entering a restaurant. It seemed more like some other kind of space...with tables.
That said, the food, for the most part, was perfectly fine. Up front I'll say that there were 6 of us. (A 7th came 40 minutes later, but I won't figure her service into this review.) The service and prep time was their major weakness. It was slow. Without getting into details (and I have them...I made notes), my eggs, home fries etc., came 7 minutes after my toast. The waitresses (accurately described by others), did a good job keeping our coffees filled, but otherwise seemed reluctant to take our orders. OK, one detail - our food, or rather the toast, came 25 minutes after we ordered.
I believe this only the third of 40 breakfast places I've reviewed to which I wouldn't return.Listed in: Breakfast places, Diners, Greasy Spoons and…
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Review from sarah l.
5/11/2009
My sister moved to Kingston this week to start at teacher's college at Queens. She was coming to pick me up from Niagara, and she called me from Oakville to say... well, she called to say she was in Oakville. I decided that I probably had 40 minutes before she arrived and headed down to the Leslieville Diner, pretty early (8ish) on a Saturday.
I sat down and ordered right away, because I didn't want Beth to be waiting around for me at my house. The food took a LONG time to come (over 20mins) but I forgive this issue as it was early and I was the first person there. I would rather have food take a long time to get to me fresh, than have stale heat lamp food anyday. I bet if you went later in the morning you wouldn't have to wait this long.
The waitress was old and we had difficulty communicating. I just took whatever she brought me, and it was pretty close to what I originally asked for.
The bacon was kind of meh. The hashbrowns were surprisingly okay, but they weren't the best I have ever had. They were definitely above average - hashbrowns, you can be surprised by how amazing or how horrible they are at these kinds of places. So they were on the 'good' side of that equation.
It was very reasonably priced, had a horrible ambiance, and I would probably go there again. I did not omit the word not; I will eat here again in the future. And bask in it's mediocrity. I probably wouldn't take other people there unless I didn't care what they thought of my taste in diners.Listed in: Breakfasts, List of great dumps
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Review from Kat F.
11/20/2009 2 photos
You really can't beat the value of $5.50 (including tax) for a three egg combo. Even Sunset Grill can't offer three eggs, home fries, toast and bacon or sausage for that price, unless you show up at an ungodly hour like 8am for the early bird special.
My eggs were perfectly done, toast was nicely buttered and the addition of sliced tomatoes was nice in place of meat. Homefries could have used some spices like paprika or cumin to liven them up - the texture was great but they required heavy salting and ketchuping. I didn't leave an iota of food on my plate.
I don't feel out of line mentioning that my server (who appears to be the owner's mom) was not well versed in the art of hospitality. Peter (the owner/cook) came out to ask me how my food was, but she didn't. She spent most of the time behind the counter sorting jam packets or whatever she was doing back there. There was nothing particularly egregious about my service experience but it just wasn't very welcoming or attentive - when I ordered the combo I wasn't asked how I wanted my eggs, type of toast or meat, nothing. She came back later to confirm those options but really it should have been noted immediately. At a diner I expect the service to be friendlier.
Decor, as mentioned by others, is forgettable. Think the early days of IHOP (Buffalo locations only) church banquet hall. Certainly not befitting of the "diner" name. Booths would be nice.
Leslieville Diner has only been in the neighbourhood since the beginning of the year, and with an improvement in service (perhaps hire some young, peppy waitresses who'll put a smile on the weekend breakfast crew's faces, yeah?) I can see it sticking around! -
Review from Paul R.
Toronto, ON
5/9/2010
In any other part of Toronto this place would rate higher as an ok place to get a good cheap breakfast.
But there are so many other excellent places to eat in the area that I would give this one a pass. The food was ok and cheap but took forever to come. The place was noisy and the service was friendly. Like most places in Leslieville, it's cash only.
You could do worse. But you could do better too. -
Review from Nolin L.
Toronto, ON
2/9/2009
We were actually sitting at the table behind yours that morning, Jimi. I was watching your story unfold pretty much as you told it, and felt bad for you (and especially your wife).
I agree with most of what you've said. I've written a shorter review on http://leslieviller.com where I essentially described everything as mediocre/average, but the food is home-made and very well-priced.
I've been three times now... I find if I stick to going for simple food (i.e. burgers, breakfast special, homemade soup, homemade pie), speak loudly for the waitresses, and pay more attention to my newspaper than the decor, I leave pretty satisfied.
To contrast, we had breakfast at Okay Okay this past Saturday. We probably paid 50% more for the same food (an order of pancakes, a classic eggs/sausage/toast/potatoes breakfast, coffee, and tea), sat at a counter with our knees crammed up against the underside, and were served McDonald's style hashbrown patty.
So as far as cheap, home cooked food goes, Leslieville Diner will probably get more of my money than Okay Okay. -
Review from Jimi S.
ON
2/1/2009
i was never really looking forward to trying this place all that much to be perfectly frank. the sign looks like no thought was put into it. half the tables and chairs match each other and the other half match as well, but are a different style. they have these peach coloured walls that dwarf the few small unremarkable paintings they have posted up around the space. this is all to say that it looks boring and lacks character from top to bottom.
nonetheless, its new in my hood so i decided the night before as i passed it going home that i would go there the next morning for breakfast.
both waitresses that were working were in their fifties to sixties and the one that was helping us, though she seemed nice, was obviously flustered with her position. we ordered simple stuff. my wife ordered a mushroom omellete, and an oj. my order was the same except it was a spinach omelette. neither came with cheese inside which we both found disappointing. moreover, when we brought it up, she didnt even suggest that the cook could put it in or that she'd ask.
a few minutes later our orange juices come and they were gross concentrate minute maid crapola. i actuallly dont know what i expected any different. i shouldnt have ordered it; it reminded me that i dont mind at all to pay for freshly squeezed or at least something like tropicana.
then my spinach omelette arrives, and a minute or two later my wifes western omellete arrives. wait a second....thats right. we both spotted the offending ham inside the omelette and no mushrooms. when we brought it up with the waitress she said my wife ordered the western omelette. this of course is absurd and virtually impossible since my wife is a vegetarian. shes probably never said the words "western omelette" in her life. the waitress was so inept, she said she was going to go over to get her pad to confirm. LIKE IT REALLY MATTERED. just take it away, say sorry, and get the new omelette right away.
the food. pretty bland, but plentiful. i ordered a side order of bacon. 4 pieces at 2.65. their hash browns were okay. homemade with slices of potato. they were sparsely spiced, so ketchup was in order. both the spinach and mushroom omelettes were about as tasty as we expected considering the lack of cheese.
at the end of the meal, we were brought an indecipherable meal that seemed to not include the price of one our omelettes, yet somehow managed to hike itself up to some kind of total that included it. when i went up there to try to get some answers, the other waitress, who seemed to be the one in charge, couldnt make sense of it either or me.
total waste of time. i could easily think of another three places that are simple diners - same food, better, and more character, and more professional service - in my neighbourhood in a second. -
Review from Sarah O.
Toronto, ON
1/5/2010
i'm new to the neighbourhood and because we were pressed for time, we hit this place for convenience's sake. it looked like it'd be fast & cheap & our ability to foresee the future was spot on. i wasn't in the mood for eggs so i settled for the grilled cheese & onion rings (breakfast of champions). it's diner fare so i didn't expect to have my tastebuds blown and no, there were no explosions in my mouth. the onion rings reminded me a bit of harvey's onion rings (this isn't a bad thing) and the toast was in the frying pan a couple seconds too long (this is). the server we had was attentive and our food came quickly. my breakfast companions had no complaints about their food. the bill didn't break the bank so all in all, i'd go back again!
