A Parkdale favourite, The Skyline Restaurant is home to anyone in search of a cozy breakfast nook or spot to throw back a few beers after the day has run you ragged. Fairly unassuming to passersby (minus the giant glowing neon sign), the diner boasts a experience that’s both very unique and bursting with pizzaz, yet somehow terribly familiar—in all the best ways, of course.
Strings of coloured Christmas lights drape down from the ceiling of the retro bar as you walk into the dimly-lit restaurant. A handful of red leather-lined booths and checkered tablecloths indicate that this is in fact a diner, but the painted pheasants and fowl lining the black chalkboard walls hints that this might just be a diner with a little something extra—what this is exactly, you’ll have to experience for yourself.
Open daily, the locale serves up all-day breakfast specials of eggs, home fries, toast and bacon. There’s even a breakfast poutine for the real Canucks out there. Most importantly though, The Skyline has the great honour of boasting what’s touted as “the best peameal sandwich” by a guy who knows what a good peameal sandwich should taste like….and that means a lot.
Omelettes, sandwiches, burgers and the like all make up the standard menu, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t game-changing daily specials. Whether it’s a plate of fried chicken, a meatloaf dinner or fish and chips, the meal set in front of you is sure to feel like your grandma’s the one in the back kitchen cooking up something special for you.
Now onto bevvies!
Along with brewed coffee and glasses of orange juice, it isn’t rare to find your fellow breakfast diner enjoying a mimosa or maybe even a pickled onion and pepper-skewered Caesar that packs a punch. But it’s in the evenings that The Skyline turns into the ultimate destination for “drinkies” like craft beer and cocktails that taste like you want them to (read, boozy).
Between trivia nights, live music and plain ol’ good company, there’s always something interesting happening at The Skyline that you won’t want to miss. Just be wary that the locale doesn’t take reservations; it’s luck of the draw when visiting but that’s all part of the fun. The other half of the fun is never knowing who you might bump into, like Andy Shauf….
Ok, so we didn’t actually see Andy Shauf there. BUT, the Canadian singer-songwriter is known to pop by the diner frequently, sooo frequently that all the tracks off of his album “The Neon Skyline” were written within the four walls of the restaurant. How do I know this? Well, this is all information I learned during a breakfast date meant to prep me for a Shauf concert later that evening.
As I write this, still stuffed from a glorious breakfast and still high off of the melodic soundtrack of Andy Shauf, I can confirm that The Skyline Restaurant is indeed where magic transpires. Good food, good drinks, good people, these are the things that give a diner with heart and make it a place that incites whimsy while simultaneously making you feel like you’re finally home.
If you find yourself on Queen West, definitely follow the glowing neon light to The Skyline Restaurant and stay a while; you never know what adventure you could be in for!