Retro Toronto Thread for Nostalgia Purposes.
- Thread starter black booty lover
- Start date
I always wondered what was so special about Shopsys? I predate that eta it appears but it’s fondky remembered amoungst older friends.
Tell me?
There’s nothing really special now, but you need to remember that when it opened there weren’t a lot of Jewish deli restaurants in Toronto. I remember being taken to the original Shopsy’s downtown and Moe Pancer’s up North (Bathurst Wilson area). Other than that Toronto was pretty plain vanilla for food. Only a handful of Chines restaurants too. Shopsy’s was bought out and the brand sold and the original Moe Pancer’s closed but was reopened by the kids.
Anyone remember John Andersons Burgers? I came from a small town, and I used to think the toppings were so exotic, and the fact that they put them on in front of you was so high class! Good burgers too as I recall. Also, all the arcades that were open air on Yonge St. I swear I must have gawked at this hot girl for about 10 minute while she played Centipede before I finally figured out she was a street walker. This was early 80's when the street scene was all I knew about, before someone mentioned the ads in NOW magazine. Memories!!
If you're' reminiscing about restaurants, I'd throw in Sai Woo on Dundas. Every suburbanite's idea of a "real Chinese restaurant".
I remember the Hayloft. And the Ports of Call. Another bastion of "big city sophistication" back in the day. Anyone remember The Generator disco at Yonge and Eglinton in the early 70's. It was my frustrated teen loser's dream to go there with a "hot date" on a Saturday night.
So John Anderson’s is still n business, and I don’t think they’ve changed the menu or decor....
There was one on Yonge south of Finch and one on Vic Park north of Shepard.
I remember John Andersons, was on Yonge around Dundas. "The Power-Playce" lol
How about "Heavens" disco at Yonge and Bloor,
How about "Heavens" disco at Yonge and Bloor,
The original John Anderson's was near my house. I thought it was okay but never liked it as much as everyone else seemed to.
If you look at some of my original posts with the youtube videos, you'll see the arcades on Yonge st.
When my friends and I first got our licenses, we used to drive down to Jarvis and Gerrard to stare at street walkers....lol. It was so fascinating to us...lol.
My regular SP that I still see to this day, I found in Now mag. I used to love coming home from downtown drunk on the Yonge 97 bus checking out Now mag...lol.
The original John Anderson's was on Yonge close to Sheppard, about 5 years ago moved to Yonge near Finch, but it looked totally different.
The place at Sheppard and VP is "Johnny's". Complete different place/owners.
There is a John Anderson's on VP but closer to finch.
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There is still one in Mississauga on Dundas and Erindale Station Rd....still the original place no changes complete with pics of him on the wall.
I went to Erindale and went there fairly often
Oh yes, remember it well for it’s great selection of posters and bootleg live albums
Oh yes, Le Strip, I loved that place such a great seedy vibe....would definitely go if it was still around. Would be great to find a similar place today however likely wouldn’t survive vs all of the strip joints and mp’s
Not sure if it is even still there but there was also a John Anderson's on Van Horne at VP.
Here's another blast from the past: Don Valley Ski Center.
This was a 120 ft vertical (at most) ski hill at on the South East of where Lawrence Ave and the DVP cross. It was run by the Miller Construction company during the winter and had lights so you could ski until 10 pm every night except Sunday. It had a very short, slow ropetow beginners hill and then Hills 2, 3, and 4. 4 was the general recreational ski hill served by a Poma lift and 2 and 3 were slightly steeper served by a high speed rope tow. Most people had heavy duty leather glove protectors to use the high speed rope (which would shred regular gloves) and if you timed your release properly at the top - you actually got air as you let go.
Believe it or not, this little hill saw at least 3 National team level skiers who were weekday regulars when they were kids at various times: Paul Carson, and later the Podborski Brothers (Craig and Steve). Also Rob Safrata who eventually skied on the 1976 Olympic team. Lot's of development team racers too over the years. I was a few years behind these guys but used to go there several night a week when I was in Junior High just to train - I could walk there from school then my Dad would pick me up later. There would usually be at least one 4 or 5 gate course (bamboo gates back then) on Hill #3, and you could literally go non-stop without pausing - by skiing the course, grabbing the rope-tow and shooting to the top to do it again. Always a lot of fun and actually pretty good training. Don Valley had a very competitive ski team in the Southern Ontario Division at one time. Even if you skied for another club, it was a great place to go after school to get some gate time. It had early snowmaking too, but pumped water out of the river - so it often stank. The other memory was the old lift operator for the Poma lift - always a semi-drunk running commentary about all the people falling off the lift that that was hilarious. If the rope tow wasn't working - my friends and I would always just ski above this guy and grab a spare Poma on our own - to much swearing from the lift operator.
I think it closed in the late '70s. You can still see the vestiges of the hill if you drive East along Lawrence or North along the DVP. The entrance is often used as a radar location to catch speeders on Lawrence.
This was a 120 ft vertical (at most) ski hill at on the South East of where Lawrence Ave and the DVP cross. It was run by the Miller Construction company during the winter and had lights so you could ski until 10 pm every night except Sunday. It had a very short, slow ropetow beginners hill and then Hills 2, 3, and 4. 4 was the general recreational ski hill served by a Poma lift and 2 and 3 were slightly steeper served by a high speed rope tow. Most people had heavy duty leather glove protectors to use the high speed rope (which would shred regular gloves) and if you timed your release properly at the top - you actually got air as you let go.
Believe it or not, this little hill saw at least 3 National team level skiers who were weekday regulars when they were kids at various times: Paul Carson, and later the Podborski Brothers (Craig and Steve). Also Rob Safrata who eventually skied on the 1976 Olympic team. Lot's of development team racers too over the years. I was a few years behind these guys but used to go there several night a week when I was in Junior High just to train - I could walk there from school then my Dad would pick me up later. There would usually be at least one 4 or 5 gate course (bamboo gates back then) on Hill #3, and you could literally go non-stop without pausing - by skiing the course, grabbing the rope-tow and shooting to the top to do it again. Always a lot of fun and actually pretty good training. Don Valley had a very competitive ski team in the Southern Ontario Division at one time. Even if you skied for another club, it was a great place to go after school to get some gate time. It had early snowmaking too, but pumped water out of the river - so it often stank. The other memory was the old lift operator for the Poma lift - always a semi-drunk running commentary about all the people falling off the lift that that was hilarious. If the rope tow wasn't working - my friends and I would always just ski above this guy and grab a spare Poma on our own - to much swearing from the lift operator.
I think it closed in the late '70s. You can still see the vestiges of the hill if you drive East along Lawrence or North along the DVP. The entrance is often used as a radar location to catch speeders on Lawrence.
There was one at Yonge and Bloor and one in the Eaton Centre, used to dine there quite regularly...
or how about "Lindy's" at Yonge and Gerrard?, they made a great chopped steak.
or how about "Frans" at Yonge and Gould st.
