For 21 years, Ada’s Diner was the typical mom and pop restaurant.
But just a few months after Wilf and Ada Laham retired and said goodbye to their popular Bank Street business, their legacy lives on in the new name of the eatery now run by Ion Aimers, former owner of The Works and creator of the local ZaZaZa Pizza chain.
With a quick renovation, Ada’s Diner — located at the corner of Bank and Arlington — was transformed into a more modern, “scratch” diner, meaning everything that goes onto the plate is made from scratch. The diner re-opened at the beginning of January as Wilf and Ada’s Scratch Diner, a tribute to the couple’s reputation for both customer and community service.
The restaurant is a small place with about 35 seats. It’s a close-knit environment and guests have the opportunity to see the kitchen staff prepare their food..
With a strong sense of tradition lingering in the diner, Aimers says his goal is to maintain that at-home feeling.
“There’s something very hospitable for me about a place that has history and is a pillar in the community,” says Aimers.
“Calling the diner Wilf and Ada’s maintained the historic roots, added a little bit of a change, and brought it into the millennium.”
For new managers Jessie Duffy and Dominic Paul, keeping the memories of Wilf and Ada’s ownership era alive is also a main priority.
“I do feel like we are serving their name well,” says Duffy.
“We want to live up to the institution that they created. We are branching off in our own way, but at the end of the day we want to maintain that comfort and familiarity.”
Duffy says that with the change of ownership, some customers were lost, but many were gained as well.
“When I used to go in there for breakfast I didn’t even have to order, and Ion has done a great job at making sure it is still a very people-friendly place,” says Rob Moffatt, a loyal customer for 10 years.
The Lahams were also good friends with the staff and students at nearby Glashan Public School while serving up their favourite meals at lunch time and after school. The closing of Ada’s Diner was even marked by the school with a goodbye assembly.
“When you have a place like that where Glashan students have been going for so many years, it was highly appropriate that we paid tribute to them,” says principal Jim Tayler.
“Certainly the response of the students when they walked into the gymnasium with a standing ovation, it was a very touching moment. The kids recognized that something was changing, and they respected that.”
Duffy says the restaurant will continue to partner with the school in the future for special events.
Quietly present in the background are the Lahams themselves, who say they are very happy that their legacy continues, but are making the most of their time away from the diner.
“We’re enjoying retirement day by day,” says Wilf Laham. “No hassles, no hard work, and we’re just enjoying it.
He adds: “We miss everybody, we miss the people that used to come to the restaurant, but it’s about time. We worked 21 years, 10 hours a day, seven days a week and it was tiring. It’s time to go.”
In fact, the Lahams have not returned to the restaurant since the completion of the makeover, which Aimers says has been embraced by longtime regulars.
“The neighbourhood has been great to us. You try to predict these things when you’re going to open and think who your clientele will be, it’s a very inexact science,” says Aimers. “The greatest thing in a restaurant that you can have is repeat clientele, and they’ve all been the most welcoming. They appreciate that we have kept some traditional value.”
Aimers says he has no plans to make the restaurant into a chain, but adds that he intends to add patio seating and a dinner menu in addition to breakfast and lunch from Thursday to Saturday.