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Random Ontario retail nostalgia

On the way to Killarney for camping last summer, we stopped by the Lick's Homeburgers at a service station outside Parry Sound. Pretty good quality burgers at that location and made me reminiscent of when they had a larger presence.
 
I ate at Lime Rickey's up there, at Yonge & Eg, at the Eaton Centre, and across from Square One at the Sussex Centre. Those were the days when I was apparently on a 10-year sugar high.

Lick's started going downhill as soon as they lost the will to sing camp songs behind the counter, but yeah, those were good burgers, no matter the location. The most lamented lost location would be the original one in The Beach.

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AlbertC said:
On the way to Killarney for camping last summer, we stopped by the Lick's Homeburgers at a service station outside Parry Sound. Pretty good quality burgers at that location and made me reminiscent of when they had a larger presence.
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It's still there. The Seguin Trail access interchange a few interchanges south of Parry Sound.
 
jojee said:
Who remembers Lime Rickey's at Hilda and Steeles? And Licks at Yonge and Dundas :)
Click to expand...

A friend of mine from elementary school used to have her birthdays there. She'd order a gigantic sundae and all of us would share it (yes, all 6-7 of us!!!). Who knows what we're now immune to thanks to the communal bowl.
 
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The former Mr. Greenjeans restaurant at the Eaton Centre:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1457801831048876037

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I somehow just stumbled on this thread after all these years; and only now have learned:

a) @AlbertC goes camping
b) @interchange42 was seen as far east as Yonge and north of Bloor back in the '90s
c) @JasonParis was once seen doing something 'mainstream' in dining at Toby's

I will report on my nostaglia in the post below.
 
Northern Light said:
I somehow just stumbled on this thread after all these years; and only now have learned:

a) @AlbertC goes camping
b) @interchange42 was seen as far east as Yonge and north of Bloor back in the '90s
c) @JasonParis was once seen doing something 'mainstream' in dining at Toby's

I will report on my nostaglia in the post below.
Click to expand...
Yes, I had a passport back then!

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First I'll start with my thoughts on places mentioned above (in no particular order)

1) I remember Knob Hill Farms, mainly Cherry Street, but also the 2-level store at Carlaw/Gerrard that is now, in part a No Frills and various other things as well. I remember it as the place my grandmother went w/my step-granddad to buy things in bulk, including cases of 24 cans of pop when that was just beginning to be a thing; notably, among her purchases was RC Cola, the formula for which became the basis of President's Choice Cola.

1667509925114.png

from: https://www.deviantart.com/theladyblackwolf/art/Can-of-RC-Cola-1970s-80s-594634282

I also remember almost/all meat was sold from the butcher counter (long case) you still see this in Adonis brand supermarkets in the GTA.

2) I remember Consumers Distributing. Or 'manual Amazon' as I called it when Amazon was new. LOL It was the place one got the day's version of IKEA bookcases, before IKEA was a thing here. (put it together yourself); and was also
a spot for Christmas toys among other things.

3) Kresge - evolved into KMART, (in Canada) later bought by Zellers, whose leases were sold to Target.

What stands out there for me was bulk candy bins before Bulk Barn was a thing; the Toy department, I remember the lunch counters too, though don't remember eating at them much. When I was little they were still at Eglinton Square Mall, and on Danforth by Woodbine among other spots.

4) Lime Ricky's - One of the first 'restos' where I went myself without my folks or with friends; remember the slushy drinking and big servings of deep fried shrimp, that at the time, seemed edible (I'm not sure I'd still feel that way)

5) Lick's, hated it as a kid, the singing thing gave me the creeps, wasn't big into ice cream and the burgers didn't fit in my mouth! But later came to love them for their grilled chicken sandwich, made with actual chicken breast, cooked from raw, fresh on an actual grill, and then slathered with 'guk' (garlic-mayo) . Too bad they went down the proverbial toilet. But as they expanded they went away from all those things that made them good, started down the path of frozen everything, pre-cooking food for rushes, and the business management went completely sideways.

6) I remember this doughnut shop......it used to have passable coffee, freshly made doughnuts on premise, didn't try to do too much, but managed coffee in mugs and was half-way decent, some locations even did birthday cakes..........oh, what was that place called? Hmmmmm, started with a T..... something named after a hockey player...... LOL
 
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I remember the giant milk dispensers, diners and lunch counters had on the counter. I think it was either Baker's Dozen's donuts or Robin's Donuts, one of those defunct donut shops had them too.

The milk used to be ice cold with a nice thick layer of bubbles on it. It was so tasty.

The high school i went to had one these in the cafeteria, with an old school soda fountain left over from the 1970s, by grade 11 or 12, the cafeteria was renovated everything was replaced by cartons and cans and plastic bottles. Which is unfortunate, because the milk and soda before the renovation, was served in reusable plastic cups which cut down on a lot of waste.

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Additional retail nostalgia:

Places I miss:

1) Mother's Pizza, really good pizza, root beer in proper frosted mugs, and giant cookies. Tried the comeback version in Stoney Creek a couple of years ago and thought they mostly got it right, save and except for the 'house' music on the speakers and the missing silent films screening on the walls. Too bad it didn't stick.

2) Olive Garden. Lets be frank, the pasta and sauce was second-rate at best; and the decor a tad kitsch. But the soup, salad and bread special for lunch was a fabulous deal. The Pasta Fagiole was actually a decent soup; and the salad, while cheap was great with crunch, and dressing with bite and pepperoncino peppers (pickled) giving you great lipsmack! All with unlimited warm garlic sticks. Also the first Resto to serve me a glass of wine, when I was 14 and strolled in on a Sunday afternoon, by myself, Globe and Mail under my arm, having just come from a movie purchased with my allowance, LOL I remember being surprised when I was offered a wine list........ and then happily having a glass of Lambrusco with my meal.

3) Spring Rolls: really more recent, but until those last couple of years was really quite good value-for-money and honestly had one of the best Singapore Noodles I've ever tasted, and it helped they would make it extra hot to order for me!

4) Lichtman's books. Several locations, but the one I most often frequented was in Atrium on Bay. A place I developed my love of foreign newspapers in........I would wander in and look at papers from Chicago, New York, L.A, Montreal, London, Paris, etc. and which ever one had the most interesting stuff I wallked out with (paid for) LOL.

5) Grand and Toy. Nothing fancy about the smaller version of Staples that was a staple of every mall. But it had an awesome selection of pens, most of which you can could buy just one of, and open pads of paper you could test them on to see how they wrote. Loved that.

6) Marks and Sparks - Mostly didn't like'em, not a huge fan of most of what they carried here......but in my teens, developed a taste for their Spring Onion Crisps (potato chips). I don't recall ever seeing any other chips that went straight for an onion flavour w/o sour cream or something else.

7) PRO Hardware - think Canadian Tire, but you could fit in 5% of the space, and actually had staff who knew what you needed and could find it in 30s or less.
 
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