Author: Russell3

One thing I will say about COVID is it’s severely limited the number of public toilets available. We were in urgent need of washroom facilities while ambling down Kitsilano. We spied a Dairy Queen across the street and thought it would act as our saviour....So as to meet the status of “customer,” we’d intended to purchase a classic DQ soft-serve; however, upon entering the establishment, we noticed the washrooms were actively blocked off from public use. Oh my! Now that’s quite the pickle! Knowing there was no publicly accessible washroom heightened our need 10-fold! Making a quick exit, we took note of the Sunshine Diner, which was basically right next door. “Table for 2, please, and where’s the washroom?” SAFE! Relief washed over me like an awesome wave. So, that’s the rather humorous context to our unscheduled visit to the Sunshine Diner. Not wanting to be rude and simply use the facilities, we settled into our red vinyl booth and perused the menu for a relatively light bite (“light” because we’d already had brunch barely 2 hours earlier). The menu notes that breakfast is served all day, but there are also burgers available + other comfort classics. In short, the menu very much reflects the 1950s-60s vibe felt throughout the diner. There are no fancy Lobster eggs benedict here, or herbed French fries. It is, instead, the proverbial greasy spoon . . . as it should be! We eventually settled on a salmon lox bagel with Sunshine Diner’s signature shoestring fries, but more on the food in a moment. The overall atmosphere of this diner is a lot of fun – even COVID can’t ruin that. At the diner’s entrance you are greeted by two life-size statues of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. To be hip for the times, Elvis is even donning a facemask! The statues are fun and hint at what’s to come inside: The moment you walk in the door, you’re hit with bold primary colours. Blue walls with red trim and red vinyl booths smack you in the face (metaphorically, of course!). The walls are adorned with 1950s-1960s era memorabilia like Coca-Cola Classic signage, license plates, car models, and black & white photos of Elvis, Marilyn, James Dean and other stars from the era. To top it all off, classic tunes play overhead. If this doesn’t make you feel as though you’ve stepped back in time, then I don’t know what will! In terms of food, we found our dish to be quite acceptable. The side salad was vibrant, fresh and bright; the shoestring fries were easily the standout given that they were crispy and sans grease. The salmon lox, though, was disappointing. The cream cheese was a little scant and, more significantly, I just found the salmon a tad too salty for my liking. FOOD: 3/5 SERVICE: 4/5 VALUE: 4/5 RECOMMENDATION: While we didn’t find our bagel particularly noteworthy, we’d still consider returning for breakfast since that’s apparently what they’re known for. At the end of the day, the retro vibe is a lot of fun; service was good; and they were a proverbial life-saver (haha)! Recommended. PS: If you found this review helpful in any way please consider hitting the "helpful" button!More