The George Street Diner

FROM REGULARS TO NEVER COMING BACK. — and never bringing our friends here either.
My partner and I used to be regulars; but after terrible treatment, we are not coming back. We received terrible treatment from an older blond woman, who seemed to possibly be the manager/​owner of the place.
On Jan. 3, 2016 we wanted to introduce 3 friends to this place; eat together to bond and catch up before the holidays ended. All tables were full when we arrived for brunch (no problem). The older blond woman said we could sit at the bar and I politely said we don’t mind waiting for a table. She rudely remarked with, «it’s the same food wherever you sit.» (I guess she didn’t understand that we also came for the social experience of enjoying food and being able to talk with friends and face each other at the same time.)
Now a group of 6 people entered and they are waiting behind us. They also did not want to sit at the bar.
The blond woman’s rude attitude had put a damper on our spirits so we decided to leave. The worst part was, as we were leaving and the door closing behind me, I heard the same older blonde woman say, «Well that worked out!» (She meant it worked out for the new group of 6, but it also made my friends and I feel very unwelcomed. She was happy that we had left her diner.) How rude! We are never coming back, nor will we be recommending the place or introducing any more friends here.

I was excited to try this place since I heard it was a great breakfast spot. I was disappointed. Long line in a cramped front entrance. They sat us at a table at the back which smelled awful, like sour milk. The food was nothing special. I make a better breakfast at home and I’m no chef. And foe the pricepoint there are much better options around. Definitely would not return.

Great service, great food and great atmosphere.
Everything is open concept. Booths and sit-​down bar you can see the kitchen from where your sitting. Usually when its busy I can over hear some customers asking where their food is, chill out cause you can totally see that the chef is busy. Soda bread is tasty, different. Banana chocolate pancakes are nice and fluffy. Portions are large for a good price. Servers are always welcoming !

The food is just alright. Nothing is amazing. The price is a bit high in terms of the food quality. I’d rather go to the Senator.

This place used to be my favourite place to eat last year, I am so heart broken to see how the quality has run down A LOT over these months.
The service was in your face as usual, however except for the dish washer nobody wore appropriate attire to be handling food.
I came in an hour before closing, hoping it would be alright, i immediately ordered my favourite meatloaf with mash potatoes salad and gravy, I heard them saying they didnt have any gravy left.
When i got my dish i was ASTOUNDED by what I recieved, there was absolutely no gravy, I had enough gravy to maybe eat a quarter of meat loaf, it was thick pasty and pretty much the buttom of the pot, the meat loaf was difficult to eat I caught multiple DISGUSTING pieces of meat which almost made me vomit, the salad dressing was NOT stirred or shaken enough and all i had was oil on pieces of green. and while i was eatten horrible burnt smell lingered everywhere, their cooking counter top was burning from left over food but the chef continued to cook ontop of it.
I loved this place so much, and I have so many fond memories from here, but this experience was by far the worst. I really do hope they improve, I am so disappointed.

A wee bit disappointed. First off, the atmosphere is truly vintage 50’s and currently decorated for Christmas which I loved. I fully expected Jimmy Stewart (It’s a Wonderful Life movie) or Santa himself to come through the door. Had ham and over easy eggs, beans, home fries, fried tomato and toast. The toast which was Irish soda bread was fantastic. The beans were from a can which I saw but that’s OK, the eggs were very much over easy and lacked any kind of substance, The ham was kind of a shaved Mapleleaf sandwich ham slices. So needless to say I was disappointed with the breakfast. I need to try it again.

I have personally eaten at The George Street Diner many times and three things are always consistent!
1. The service is generally always friendly, slow, but friendly
2. The food and service is consistent
3. The food is always FABULOUS
Without doubt, a wonderful place to eat and a restaurant I always enjoy returning too! I hope you enjoy and have as good a meal and experience as I do.

Excellent diner experience.
Food is good, service is great.
Can get hot inside
Coffee is good

Fine, I’ll let you Unilocalers in on one of my brunch secrets. The George Street Diner is this really hip and cool brunch place that looks like it’s operating out of a trailer. Farm fresh eggs, like the real farm fresh eggs where you can tell it’s straight from the farm because the yolk is dark orange — that’s just one thing that sets this place apart from your usual breakfast place. The other things that sets it apart include freshly squeezed orange juice, the real stuff from real oranges and not that Tropicana BS that gives you acid reflux; and the amazing baked soda bread. My favourite breakfast dish is the huevos rancheros, which is a Mexican style breakfast that comes with a tortilla, beans and guacamole. It’s huge and I can’t finish it.
There’s not a lot of seating in this place, as it has those old style booths and little stools at the counter. It wouldn’t be ideal to come here with a group larger than 4. Surprisingly I don’t see line-​ups out the door, but the restaurant is usually quite full.

Greasy spoon, rough around the edges kind of diner. The food was great, but the servers are kind of assertive and in-​your-​face. When a baby started crying, our server was all like, «oh boy, don’t do this to me» and signed in frustration. The cooks looked like they were having a great time though! I love it when I see chefs having fun. I enjoyed my breakfast, finished every last bit. The place is kind of dirty, so if you don’t mind the gross-​ness and unkempt feeling of this diner, go for it… just don’t expect a spotless, renovated place. It’s got charm and age.

I’ve been here a couple of times, and the food is pretty good, nothing amazing, though I do like their Irish soda bread. My main issue was with the service we received on our last (attempted) visit. It was a late lunch and I was waiting for a table for two and was told it wouldn’t be long, and it wasn’t. A few minutes later a table opened up and when the guy came to seat me, he asked if the person I had come with was with me. I told him he was just parking the car, and would be in in a minute. The guys reply was «well he’s not really here then» and he then gave the table to the couple who had just walked in behind me. I’ve never had this happen before, and he was really rude about it, so we left and won’t be returning. There are many other options in the area and I’d rather not be treated like that at any restaurant, especially one that’s supposed to be a friendly little diner.

Amazing breakfast! I ordered the croque monsieur which was a french toast sandwich with ham ane cheese, it was delivicious! Had a nice salad and baked beans with it too. Definitely comfort food Service is friendly and I will def be back for this again!

We finally got the chance to make it into the George street diner for breakfast. It was raining pretty badly which meant we didn’t have to wait long for a table. The service was very prompt which was great (being pregnant I was starving by the time we got here and I had already picked out what we were ordering ahead of time).
We both ordered coffee and orange juice (freshly squeezed which was a bonus). My fiancé ordered the huevos rancheros and I got the spinach eggs benedict with a side of French toast and bacon to share. All thought the place was packed the food came out fairly quickly. The portions were a good size and everything was delicious but what really made the food stand out was the Irish soda bread the eggs benny was on. I’ve never had anything like it! Our bill arrived right after we cleaned our plates which again was great because I needed a nap.
We will be recurring customers here for sure. I’ve got to try some of the deserts, they looked fantastic.

I work close by to this diner. I have tried different dishes atleast on three different days. I didnt like the food. Quality was quite bad. I dont know how they manage to get that many customers during lunch.
The chicken roll i tried was ok. Their beef burger was terrible.

If you’re going to make a deal with the devil, this is the place to do it. I mean that in the best possible way. It has the humorous laissez-​faire attitude you’d find in a diner setting in a Neil Gaiman novel. We happened to wake up early, so we were the first ones in this morning. The Kinks were playing on the stereo, and there were tongue-​in-​cheek bits of memorabilia collected around the place that you wouldn’t notice at first — a Virgin Mary night light, a «zombies inside» sign on a boarded up door, an old marquee from another bar. There are big booths along a wall of windows and a classic counter with comfortable yellow stools.
The wait staff welcomed us in by cracking snarky jokes and singing songs. They all knew their stuff. For each table, if anyone needed changes or substitutions, they already knew what they wanted and then would one-​up you. Challah toast? Let me bring you home made jam. No potatoes? I’ll give you extra beans. Vegetarian? I’ll add in extra veggies in place of the ham. Once the place filled up, almost everyone seemed to be regulars. They greeted each of them by name and asked about their lives. And if a curious stranger wandered in or someone happened to be eating alone, they made them feel completely at home.
The fare on the menu is standard breakfast and lunch, but the real gems are what they make day to day. The preserves I had were homemade blueberry, and the challah bread was fresh baked like I make at home. They use real butter, real cream and real maple syrup. Home fries are big soft baked chunks of seasoned potato. Pancakes came with a blackberry apple compote that was divine, and the fruit in it changes day to day. I had an omelet (today’s special) with arugula, asiago, figs and garlic (they voluntary subbed mushrooms in for prosciutto for me). I spotted a deep dish pie on the counter, but was too stuffed to eat anymore. I may come back for it and a coffee after dinner. The coffee, by the way, was smokey and delicious.
We’ve tried a lot of diners and brunch spots in Toronto, but this one immediately became my favorite. We’ll be back again, with or without a deal to hash out.

Crazy busy lil’ place. Not bad food. Fun-​loving staff there. Would love to see a jukebox there to add to the nostalgia!

Worth our walk from the hotel in 16 degrees! We both ordered the Irish Breakfast, based on the Unilocal reviews, and we were not disappointed. The food was cooked perfectly but the star of the show wast the Irish Soda Bread. This is standard diner fare but the options on the menu are diverse in how it’s prepared. There is definitely a spin towards Irish cooking. The employees were very pleasant and laughing amongst each other the entire time we were there — just having a great time serving all of the customers. It’s a very hometown feel in the diner and you can tell it has regulars. The food was great and we loved the ambience. Very small so if you have a large party it may not be accommodated — booths and counter seats only. Don’t expect fancy décor but expect a great meal and laughter.

Food: 7.5÷10
Atmosphere: ⁷⁄₁₀
Service: 6.5÷10
Overall experience: ⁷⁄₁₀
There is not much to say about this place. In both a good and a bad way.
I went for brunch. The food is standard, the service is standard diner (a bit rushed, a bit rude, but more in a «this person has been doing this for way too long but isn’t a bad person» kind of way), and the cleanliness is what you would expect in an older diner.
The bottom line: standard, nothing special.

I have been dropping by The George St. Diner for 14 years, back when it was called «The Florida Tea Room», and each owner has maintained a high level of quality in what they serve.
This is a straight up 50’s style diner that hasn’t changed much since it was built. It’s clean, has the standard counter with stools, as well as booth’s, it’s sadly not to big so on weekends you often have to wait for a seat. The wait is always worth it. They mainly are open for Breakfast and Lunch, Open Early, close early type place.
Their breakfasts are amazing, the home fries are soooo good :)
The have a lot of speciality items that they make in house too such as Irish Soda bread and amazing frittata’s. This is one of my favourite places on earth for breakfast, great atmosphere, great food and service. Very consistent.
I love coming here :)

I’d been meaning to come here for ages and finally dipped in today with a pal. The music was great (lots of 70’s soul), the atmosphere was very friendly and the staff managed to upsell me from a simple chocolate chip cookie to an improvised ice cream sandwich (two cookies with a load of vanilla in the middle, on a plate with some small bits of strawberry).
I’m not a guy who generally lets himself be upsold on anything, anywhere, so this alone impressed me!
I felt neither chased nor under-​attended and the only reason I’m not giving them a five star review is because I don’t feel comfortable doing that for a place whose menu I still every much need to investigate — something I absolutely plan to return and do.