Since it is the last holiday weekend of the summer (we're told) and I have been dealing with a lot of heavy-duty stuff lately, I thought today I would take a delicious detour off the information highway and offer a sweet taste of the past, a very early version of social media if you will you might still be indulging in this weekend.
I must admit I have a soft spot in my heart for classic dairy bars. Yes, it's true. If I am driving along a country road somewhere and I come across one, I simply have to stop in. Not just to see it, but to experience it. My purchase of choice is almost always a chocolate shake, or if available, chocolate malt. I know, I know, it is not the healthiest choice but being a reluctant vegetarian now I think I am allowed to treat myself every now and again in the nicer weather. So let's hop in the car and explore some of my favourite dairy bars around Ontario I have experienced and if you have a favourite not listed here, by all means message me about it and I might include it in a follow-up column.
Avondale Dairy Bar Still the local champ for people in Niagara, and locally owned and operated on Stewart Road in the heart of wine country near the Welland Canal. When I began working in St. Catharines in the spring of 1981, I had a call from a listener at CKTB Radio after I talked about this very subject on the air and he told me I simply HAD to discover the Avondale Dairy Bar. He even arrived at the station during my shift one day with not one but two chocolate shakes for me to try! Now that is a devoted fan. When I finally hit the road to find it I got hopelessly lost, being new to Niagara at the time, but eventually did and yes, it was a little bit of local nirvana for your humble scribe.
Baskin-Robbins Yes, a corporate entity with locations all over the place, but I still have memories of double chocolate fudge milkshakes growing up (and also out, apparently). In fact, when I moved to St. Catharines and wasn't getting lost looking for the Avondale Dairy Bar, I remember driving down Geneva Street and seeing Baskin-Robbins to my left. Yes, I had to stop, thinking this city is really quite civilized, you know? Sadly, it closed some years later and the location is now a computer store, but Baskin-Robbins is back in the Garden City with a new location in the little plaza next to the swanky new LCBO store in the Fairview Mall. Yes, as an investigative reporter I had to check it out. It is good, but no double chocolate fudge ice cream that I could see.
Ricky's Big Scoop Snack Shop Located in downtown Thorold on Front Street with a snazzy new setup after leaving their former location on Pine Street, this is still one of my favourite local hangouts. Ricky actually owns and runs the business, and takes great pride in offering great quality and fair prices. I love the retro look and the chocolate malt shakes, and you always get lively conversation whenever you visit. It is a happenin' place in downtown Thorold with lunch items ranging from pressed 'sammiches' and wraps to burgers and even a butternut squash & quinoa burrito. Still have to try that one of these days.
Hewitts Dairy Bar The undisputed king of dairy bars in my humble opinion when you are travelling outside of Niagara. Located on Highway 6 just north of Jarvis on your way to Hamilton, it is the quintessential meeting place for local folk who have breakfast, lunch and even dinner there at the iconic counter with very reasonable prices. I have been known to make the drive to Hewitts just to go to Hewitts, and enjoy the drive through the countryside there and back. Still about the best chocolate malt you can find anywhere, still served in the metal mixing cup with a straw, the way it should be. There is also Hewitts health food store in the heart of Jarvis where you can buy all sorts of great things, but the dairy bar is the social hub of the community and where you have to be. I am just getting the urge to drive there now as I write about it...
Reid-Riverside Dairy Bar The dairy bar of choice in Eastern Ontario. There is a smaller location on Highway 2 between Cobourg and Port Hope, but for the full-on Reid-Riverside experience you take the main exit off the 401 at Belleville and follow everyone in town to the massive Reid-Riverside complex just a few kilometres off the highway. It is styled like a castle with lots of family-friendly activities during the summer, including a giant cow in the dairy bar with a big red button you press to hear it moo. Yes, it is popular with people taking pictures and my girfriend at the time is in a pic I took years ago when we stopped there on the way to Montreal one summer. I lived and worked in Belleville briefly before moving to St. Catharines and it was one of my favourite discoveries in the Bay of Quinte area. The best part? You can still get a small shake for only a dollar. It's true! Worth the trip for just that...
Kawartha Lakes Dairy When Sophie and I vacationed in Huntsville this past June, I discovered this beautifully kept gem on the main highway just on the edge of town, even equipped with a drive-through window. What a concept! But of course I had to go inside to experience the true dairy bar magic, and I encourage you do as well. Lots of gift items and things to buy as well as ice cream, which is exceptionally good. You can buy the ice cream locally at your Avondale store, by the way.
Jenn & Larry's This is a fairly recent addition to downtown Stratford, located on York Street just behind Ontario Street in the heart of town. I have gone in the last couple of years and it is a great little place. The old-style interior is so retro you have to smile; the shakes are excellent, but I have no idea how they have been able to avoid the long arm of Ben & Jerry's for so long, since I am sure that American ice cream maker would not be pleased by the similar sounding name. But wait, it is a genuine name with roots in small Sebringville, just northwest of Stratford. The original Jenn & Larry's location was a going concern for many years but I never had a chance to experience it unfortunately. But the new location in Stratford is great fun to visit and always worth your time when you are in town.
St. Clair Dairy Bar Located in east-end Toronto and if I remember correctly actually on St. Clair Avenue, this one I hope is still there. It is about 10 years since I was last there and it was such a pleasure to discover. Not the best decor you will find in a dairy bar, but hey, you're there for the ice cream, right?
So, where is Stoney Creek Dairy on this list you ask? Actually, my discovery earlier this month it is no more is what prompted me to think about this column and get it together for this weekend. I was in Hamilton for a meeting earlier this month and on the way out of town I decided to stop at the Stoney Creek Dairy Bar located just outside the downtown core. What I found was an empty lot with fencing all around it where the dairy bar used to be. I did some searching online this past week and discovered it was this weekend last year they closed for good. It had closed before, but reopened to much fanfare a few years ago and seemed to be doing great whenever I was there. It truly was one of the focal points of the neighbourhood in Stoney Creek. According to the article in the Hamilton Spectator I read, it is now going to be home to a seniors complex. Too bad, really. I mean, we sure do need more affordable housing for seniors, but where are they going to go for ice cream on those warm summer nights?
Another casualty in the last few years was for a long time my personal favourite, the Christie's Dairy Bar in Grimsby and Beamsville. I used to go to the location in Beamsville almost weekly back in the 80s, and loved the archaic look of the place. I was told at the time the elder Mr. Christie came in for lunch every day and they simply kept it open for him. When he passed away a number of years ago, they promptly closed the dairy bar shortly afterwards. Then you had to drive down to Grimsby for the main Christie's location complete with convenience store attached, but that too was closed some years ago. I always preferred Christie's ice cream locally, and although you can still find it in stores around the Region, the diary bar is now long gone. Too bad.
Oh, and of course, we can't forget the local social hangout in downtown St. Catharines for generations, the iconic Diana Sweets which closed for good back around 1996. It was a full-service restaurant as well as having the classic soda bar setup you always remember from the movies. It was THE place to be in St. Catharines, especially after the annual Grape & Wine Grande Parade in September. It fell on hard times in later years and eventually opened only for breakfast and lunch, but I remember fondly my last visit there about a month before they closed in 1996, when I sat at the soda bar and just drank in the history along with my shake. It was a gem of a place and nothing else will ever compare to it. The interior was gutted and much of the gumwood booths and such the last I heard were still in Buffalo in an antique store basement. The soda bar was sold years ago, I'm told. The location is now a fast-serve eatery and Diana Sweets is still on the inlay at the entrance but that is about all that remains now, unfortunately.
So there you go, my totally arbitrary, steeped in tradition memories of dairy bars old and new around Ontario. You certainly will have your favourite, so let me know if it didn't make the list. I'd love to hear from you! Now I have an urge for a chocolate shake somewhere soon...
August 31st, 2013.
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