Daybreak Diner

Sunday brunch after a late night is always a must. Pleasantly surprised with the diner! Went in and was automatically greeted with a smile and seated.
Got the sausages and eggs with a short stack, hash browns, toast $ 8 – 9 and a bottomless coffee $ 2.50
What an amazing deal. SO MUCH food and it was really good for the usual brekky. Only thing was that our food came really late, probably 20 – 25 minutes. The table next to us sat down half way through the waiting time and got their food at the same time. So clearly they may have forgot our order. Regardless, good food and great staff.
Attentive, delicious, sunny, homey. I’d come back!

They have a terrible customer service. The waitress brought our check before we asked which I could ignore (though I don’t like to be rushed that way!), but she got upset when we pointed out we’re qualified for the student discount. I think she was upset because we didn’t say we’re students before. But how can we if she brings the check without being asked?! Anyways, my friend showed his student card from Univ. of Waterloo, and she said «oh, the discount only applies to students in Toronto». I suspect that she made that up to not to change the bill because the sign in front doesn’t say discount for Toronto students, it says student discount. I said that’s fine because I’m a UofT student and I showed my ID. Then she said «your photo is blurry and scratched, I cannot accept this»! Excuses after excuses just not to change the bill, unbelievable! Eventually, I showed her two more IDs with my name on it to show the name matches and it’s really me in the photo. When we left she didn’t even say bye or thank you, she just turned her back with an attitude.
By the way, potatoes are uncooked and omelettes are missing the flavor so the food is not even good. They claim eggs are from a farm, but they are tasteless. There is no way that those eggs are from a farm.
We’re definitely not going back. There are a lot of other diners and breakfast/​brunch places around that area. Don’t waste your money and time there.

great place to have brunch, also every one in there is super nice, just may be a little bit of touch in there interior would make it more desirable

Ordered the Mediterranean egg white omelet with no cheese but they served it to me with cheese. Not a big deal, I figured the waiter didn’t mention it to the cook or the cook made a mistake. When I pointed this out they were nice enough to take my dish back and make me a new omelette, however, the second omelette had raw onions. I made it known that the second attempt at the omelette was not good because of the under cooked vegetables and that I couldn’t finish it. I was expecting to be comped for the meal or at least have them offer an alternative solution, such as a new dish. They did nothing about it which is a sign of poor management and training. Customer service 101 people.

We were looking for a place for breakfast and found Daybreak Diner by accident. Very friendly staff, huge dishes (for us as Europeans) and acceptable price. I’d definitely go there a second time.

The food is great here and the portions are big. I recommend the eggs Benny or Old MacDonald omelette.
The problem with this place is the service. The wait staff are pretty rush/​rush, no check ins on food, and they have one debit machine which causes a long queue to leave.
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A large sign read «all domestics beer and cocktails $ 5.50» but when we ordered, mimosas and other cocktails were excluded. They only will do bar rail — hate false advertising.
We will likely go back, but we would definitely go more if the service was better.

Automatically this place gets 5 stars because they give you pancakes with many of the combos. I got a California Benny and it was great. Flavourful hollandaise and the eggs were poached soft and nice. My family got an array of other dishes and were stuffed to the brim. The sausages are scrumptious! You can try all sorts of foods for reasonable prices. The server was very sweet and engaged my talkative parents in friendly banter. Points for sure there!

The food was OK. They sure give you a lot of it.

We started the day here. The server had a great personality. She is strong and friendly. She was handling the restaurant by herself, so was working hard. Our dishes came out quickly. My chorizo sausage was very good. Our meals were fine. They were a bit bigger than we needed. The orange juice is fresh squeezed. We had a good meal.

Everything was very good with our experience except for the price. What used to be the most economical meal of the day is no more. Don’t get me wrong, service & quality were very good but 2 people for breakfast $ 30 when it isn’t haute cuisine is not my type of breakfast. I remember when pancakes that come with all egg breakfasts used to be so big I think they were served on a separate plate and they were quite tiny now. If you are not a price conscious breakfast goer this would be great for you.

Went here today for breakfast with my friend. Now the sign on the door says they open at 7am and when we walked by at 7:25am they were still closed. The waiter came out of the back after he saw us looking into the window, we were trying to see if maybe they had closed down. He let us in without any explanation or apology for the restaurant being closed.
We bother got the 3 egg breakfast. I didn’t want the pancakes that came with it so they brought me extra slices of oranges which I was ok with. The waiter was fairly nice and attentive. I’ve been to many greasy spoon breakfast places but this one was probably one of my least favourites. The hash browns were soggy and the potatoes tasted a little stale. The eggs were cooked to a perfect over-​easy. The multi grain toast was delicious and I was surprised at the fact that you only got 1 slice! For 2 coffees and 2 breakfast it came to about $ 27.00. Was a little more of the pricey side for a greasy spoon breakfast.
All in all it was ok, but I probably wouldn’t go back unless the Cora’s or Golden Griddle in the same block were closed :)

A middle of the road breakfast diner. Not great but not bad. Had the eggs benny. What I liked was you get three eggs benny with a side of pancakes so you do leave stuffed. Prices were standard. Room for improvement would have been a more prompt coffee refill. Other than that they were good about substitutions and service was friendly.

For the price, it could have been better. Also, seasonal fresh fruit garnish was nonexistent. Menu got my hopes up. Perhaps it does not apply to take-​out orders or they really had nothing seasonally fresh? Disappointing. Less wallet damage than Cora’s but it still left me SMDH.
Anyway, their sausages are amazing & I am so glad I got the combo platter with two bangers. I really like that thing they do with the 3 eggs in one small 8″ skillet ‘cuz I don’t get excess egg white overhang (being a much bigger fan of yolks). Then again, a lot of diners do this. Imbiss, Corner Kitchen, Sunset Grill (according to pictures), etc. I had plenty of delightfully fattening ‘yellow gold’ to dip my toast in, even if my eggs were done over easy.
I resented the fact that they only gave me one slice of bread/​2 diagonally-​cut triangular slices of toast. My breakfast costed almost $ 10 before taxes. One slice of bread (even with a flapjack) is a frigging joke. The little nibble of Western omelette with a nice piece of ham I stole from my sister was amazing though.
Oh, & the hashbrowns? They were so soggy, I had to shove them into my toaster oven on a bed of foil & rotate them every once in awhile– for 10 whole minutes.
All in all, I have lots of hangups about this place & find it a tad silly that a restaurant called ‘Daybreak’ opens about 2 hours after sunrise… especially since McDonalds & most major restaurants start breakfast at 5 a.m. One major upside: I spent much-​needed & appreciated quality time with my adorable little sister & consider myself very fortunate for any amount of time or opportunity spent with her.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything Jason R. said below (since I was with him at the time). I get the feeling that this place is only good after many drinks well past midnight. The food was not good, although the fresh orange juice was one victory for the place.

Update!
So I was craving hashbrowns, and I find they are hard to come by at restaurants. Most places have homefries, and to be honest, I prefer hashbrowns. Anyway, Daybreak was the only place I knew around me that had hashbrowns, and while I swore I would never come back here I thought I would give it another chance.
As you may have read, the last two times I have been here I have not had much luck with them getting my order right. This time, my order was right (thank goodness!), but I was charged for substituting olives for my tomatoes in my omelette. I don’t recall them ever charging me for a one-​for-​one substitution in the past, but nevertheless I would have preferred being told that there would be a $ 2.50 charge b/​c then I would have just asked for no olives and been done with it. Plus, the feta cheese in the Fat Greek Omelette was seriously lacking.
The service was better than usual — but that could have been b/​c the worst waiter ever (who I’ve had on most of my bad experiences here) was not working.
I’m giving them one extra star b/​c this experience was certainly better than my last few. The food was better, but the experience as a whole still sub-​par. I think I’ll just learn to make my own hashbrowns.

I went there with three other people and we had a great breakfast. The only reason for the 3 stars was that the service was very slow. We believe that someone may have called in sick or something, but it was still so slow that we couldn’t believe it (2 hour breakfast). However, it was a great place for food overall and everyone left full or satisfied. I had Eggs Benedict and they were delicious.
Everyone was satisfied with the quality of the food, and we will all definitely return (hopefully a little faster next time).

I am a fan of Daybreak.
It’s a fairly average breakfast place with average service, but I have been here many times and I have never had anything (and nor have the friends that I have been with) that isn’t really, really good. My favourite by far is the ham and cheese crêpe. Their orange juice is also very delicious (although that might have to do with the hangovers I have had when I have eaten there!)
All in all, you get plenty of food, on the side of too much, and there’s nothing overly negative about the place or the food!

I took a Vegetarian friend of mine to this place simply because they have a somewhat large menu with some veggie-​friendly choices.
This place always seems packed and had to wait for our table for about 10min. Okay, no problem with that, most brunch places are like that. However there is something low-​rent about Daybreak. The place looks old, and lacks that breakfast vibe you get in some places like Cora’s or *some* sunset grills.
Now, I am pretty indifferent about whether I like Cora or Sunset Grill better, however I wanted to expose my friend to a new place and we were not going to go to the Golden Griddle on Carlton as that place is just depressing looking.
Now I have not been here for a few years, and my three eggs came without much fanfare and although the shredded potatoes were decent, I was not too keen on the free pancakes, as *I did not order pancakes* for a reason. As such both my friend’s and my pancakes went wasted and back to the kitchen, which to me, seemed like a waste of food. I mean, I understand what they were trying to do but they should ask customers if they would want then added at the time of ordering. I mean, what do they do with them if they go back? Give them their freedom? Shuck them in the bin or recycle them?
Sadly, the quality of the food was not bad, their coffee was not bad but everything was just «Meh.»
If I am in the area, and there is absolutely no other option to go to for brunch, then I will come here, otherwise, I will go elsewhere.

Let me begin by saying I’m not the biggest fan of Cora’s or Fran’s! Many a nights spent at various residences on College/​Carlton St. has made me realize little excites my taste buds on this street east of Spadina.
This makes Daybreak a teeny tiny little gem by comparison; there isn’t much of a wait time, the service is good, and the prices are reasonable.
First thing to mention is that you should go here hungry! Daybreak serves possibly the largest brunch portions of any diner I have been to in Toronto! The standard Benedict will come with 3 large poached eggs, toast as well as English muffins, hash browns, and surprise pancakes! Yes, the famous surprise pancakes are real and you do seem to get 2 large fluffy pancakes with some of the meals (this is a big bonus as I’m always stuck between choosing sweet or savoury items at brunch!)
Overall, The most impressive part of Daybreak for me are the freshly shredded potato, non deep fried hash browns! Beyond the sides, I would recommend the eggs Benny and Chorizo omelette from what I’ve tried so far, and advise looking elsewhere if you are interested in salads.
Check it out if you’re in the area, not necessarily worth traveling across town.

Sooooooo gooooooooood.
I’m not sure who wrote their menu, but they left out some pretty key details. For example, the «three eggs» breakfast is actually 3 eggs, two pancakes, hashbrowns AND toast. Huuuge meal for super cheap, and the service is fantastic. They were very accommodating when we had to move to a bigger table, and kept the coffee refills coming, which is key on a bright sunshiney possibly hungover Sunday mornin’.