The quintessential diner experience. Whether you’re there for brunch, dinner, or a late-night bite after a night out, the food is always great. The atmosphere is cool, retro, and well-preserved, creating a nostalgic vibe. The service was fantastic, and we’ll definitely be back!

Lakeview, a gem in downtown Toronto. A restaurant where legendary films like
*The Shape of Water
**cocktail and Confessions of a Teenager* were filmed. The music transports you back to the '50s, '60s, and '70s. They have the best milkshakes ever,the burgers are delicious, you can come with family or friends, and the service is exceptional—always attentive and exceeding expectations. Marvi took wonderful care of us. See you soon!

We had a great lunch at the Lakeview.
We are fans of Guy Fieri and his Triple D TV show.
Pat was our server and helped us with what Guy ate when he was at the Lakeview. She was super friendly and attentive.

Excellent lunch! We would return weekly if we lived in Toronto. Service was excellent. Pat was fantastic!!

Great diner! Love this place. It's a go-to for late night, after clubbing, food. Also, friendly service too. Toronto needs more comfy spots like this.

Recently brunched here with family. Great menu with unique twists on comfort foods. Great Toronto diner, a staple with a retro vibe, warm and friendly service, and the food was delicious.
Super welcoming atmosphere makes it a great meeting place for couples, friends and families.

Great old school dinner!! Love the atmosphere and classic feel. Staff were super kind and service was great would definitely recommend for all day breakfast!!

Today we visited the Lakeview diner,you can find the restaurant on one of the busiest street in downtown Toronto. We went to the Fest festival and found this place. Our server Marvi was very attentive she sat us at one of the most famous table at Lakeview (Tom Cruise was sitting there when he filmed the movie cocktail) this restaurant has an incredible atmosphere,something that reminds us of the past. She offered the dayli specials my husband asked for "Monte cristo Sandwich " it was an amazing choice. I ordered Lakeview club sandwich so tasty. I really enjoyed the place,the amazing food and the great service from Marvi. We will back soon. Thanks Lakeview

Today we spent our morning at Lakeview diner restaurant . We ordered a special benedicts, an omelet and apple pie milkshake (the most famous shake at Lakeview) everything was amazing 👏 our server was Marvi she told us why the restaurant is very famous. Many movies were filmed there. I can't tell you how special was our visit. The restaurant has special vibes,old school music,furnitures,pictures(actors,actresses) so beautiful. Thank you Marvi for the great service and amazing food. See you soon!

A great place any time of day or night for those who know. Great ambiance, original decor, and a good mix of creative and classic menu. Big portions. Great for families and visitors to Toronto to experience some true Toronto history! Step back in time at The Lakeview...

Wonderful food, wonderful decoration, wonderful history, and wonderful server, Marvi. I recommend this place every time I tell people about my trips to Toronto.

So The Lakeview is a short tram ride away from downtown Toronto and it’s definitely worth the trip.
There’s a ton of Hollywood history here which is cool, and you wouldn’t necessarily know it when visiting (though there’s plenty of clues!)
The food was good and I made sure to save room for the apple pie milkshake, which is excellent.

What an establishment! Quite embarrassed that having been in living in the city for 15 years and it has taken me this long to uncover this gem of a place for brunch. What I love about this place is the ambience and how spacious it is - the wait is almost non-existent or short even on weekends. The food is delicious, generous portions and please do yourself a favour and get their apple pie milkshake. The servers are amazing and food comes out pretty quickly. 10/10 this is one of my favorite spots for breakfast/brunch.

What an establishment! Quite embarrassed that having been in living in the city for 15 years and it has taken me this long to uncover this gem of a place for brunch. What I love about this place is the ambience and how spacious it is - the wait is almost non-existent or short even on weekends. The food is delicious, generous portions and please do yourself a favour and get their apple pie milkshake. The servers are amazing and food comes out pretty quickly. 10/10 this is one of my favorite spots for breakfast/brunch.

I had a really good experience at Lakeview diner, my Server Siraj E was very nice and amazing!
friendly, Attentive, helpful. The food was really good delicious! Good Size portions.The milkshakes are so good! I was very happy and hungry 😋 I loved and enjoyed the Atmosphere music, with that Classic and Vintage style the diner has. Beautiful! I had a comfy spot seat all to myself. I would definitely come again.
Thank you Teresa

I had a really good experience at Lakeview diner, my Server Siraj E was very nice and amazing!
friendly, Attentive, helpful. The food was really good delicious! Good Size portions.The milkshakes are so good! I was very happy and hungry 😋 I loved and enjoyed the Atmosphere music, with that Classic and Vintage style the diner has. Beautiful! I had a comfy spot seat all to myself. I would definitely come again.
Thank you Teresa

This ‘meal’ of two grilled cheese and two side of soup and two sodas cost $78. In what world, at a diner, should a grilled cheese and side cup of tomato soup (tasted like it was just poured out from a can) cost this much. I feel like we should’ve been told that it would cost this much or been offered to sub the fries for soup, instead of paying for both a sandwich and side of fries (and not receiving the fries). The service was fine, nothing special and the places feels like it’s fallen somewhere they can’t bring it back from.
Too expensive

This ‘meal’ of two grilled cheese and two side of soup and two sodas cost $78. In what world, at a diner, should a grilled cheese and side cup of tomato soup (tasted like it was just poured out from a can) cost this much. I feel like we should’ve been told that it would cost this much or been offered to sub the fries for soup, instead of paying for both a sandwich and side of fries (and not receiving the fries). The service was fine, nothing special and the places feels like it’s fallen somewhere they can’t bring it back from.
Too expensive

the ambiance is really great — very classic diner, chill, comfortable — and the staff is very very friendly ! the quality of the food is about what you’d expect for a diner (but prices are on the higher side)

the apple pie milk shake is quite unique and a really nice treat . it’s sweet but the flavour isn’t too strong, with a good apple taste and very subtle cinnamon-iness that didn’t overpower it at all. the best part was that you could taste the remnants of the apple pie — chunks and slices of tart, softened apple, and thick, lumpy crumbles of the pie crust.

the lakeview clubhouse with double chicken was absolutely STACKED. it had many components that made it unique, like the thick, soft, toasted, slightly sweet challah bread, and the nicely-fried chicken coated in cornflakes, giving it an extra crisp. the first few bites were delicious, but honestly i found the chicken to be really dry in the end, and the THREE layers of bread (appreciated, but a bit much) made it just a bit too heavy. the juiciness of the tomato and mayo helped a bit, but it also made the chicken/bread soggy. the onion rings were super duper good though — really, really crispy and fresh, great with the mayo dip.

the ambiance is really great — very classic diner, chill, comfortable — and the staff is very very friendly ! the quality of the food is about what you’d expect for a diner (but prices are on the higher side)

the apple pie milk shake is quite unique and a really nice treat . it’s sweet but the flavour isn’t too strong, with a good apple taste and very subtle cinnamon-iness that didn’t overpower it at all. the best part was that you could taste the remnants of the apple pie — chunks and slices of tart, softened apple, and thick, lumpy crumbles of the pie crust.

the lakeview clubhouse with double chicken was absolutely STACKED. it had many components that made it unique, like the thick, soft, toasted, slightly sweet challah bread, and the nicely-fried chicken coated in cornflakes, giving it an extra crisp. the first few bites were delicious, but honestly i found the chicken to be really dry in the end, and the THREE layers of bread (appreciated, but a bit much) made it just a bit too heavy. the juiciness of the tomato and mayo helped a bit, but it also made the chicken/bread soggy. the onion rings were super duper good though — really, really crispy and fresh, great with the mayo dip.

Lakeview Restaurant is a true 24 h Toronto classic, serving the city since 1932. This timeless diner is full of retro charm and old-school character, making it a favorite filming location over the years, including movies like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Hairspray. A must-visit landmark that feels like a living piece of Toronto’s history. 🍔✨

Overall this is a great restaurant. I’ve been before and will come back again I’m sure. If you don’t have kids this may well be a 5* place.
Maybe they’ve changed the kids menu recently but I was very disappointed with the pancakes. For $6 the serving, on what looked like a teacup saucer, was no more than 3 bites for both the 4 and 6y/o I was dining with.
We ended up ordering the adult pancakes on top, which they shared, for an additional $19, and that’s probably where we should have started. For $19 the adult pancake stack is a very generous stack of 6 pancakes, each more than 6” diameter, as well as whipped cream and maple syrup.
I ate the dry rub chicken club which was very good, particularly liked the freshly prepared chicken breast and the very fresh bread. A little small compared to other diners but you can’t argue it isn’t filling.
Atmosphere is 5/5 - this is a proper old school diner with mostly booth seating and period features
The staff were friendly and attentive, service was good overall. Only knocking off 1 star as perhaps the server could have played a role advising on how small the kids meals are.

Overall this is a great restaurant. I’ve been before and will come back again I’m sure. If you don’t have kids this may well be a 5* place.
Maybe they’ve changed the kids menu recently but I was very disappointed with the pancakes. For $6 the serving, on what looked like a teacup saucer, was no more than 3 bites for both the 4 and 6y/o I was dining with.
We ended up ordering the adult pancakes on top, which they shared, for an additional $19, and that’s probably where we should have started. For $19 the adult pancake stack is a very generous stack of 6 pancakes, each more than 6” diameter, as well as whipped cream and maple syrup.
I ate the dry rub chicken club which was very good, particularly liked the freshly prepared chicken breast and the very fresh bread. A little small compared to other diners but you can’t argue it isn’t filling.
Atmosphere is 5/5 - this is a proper old school diner with mostly booth seating and period features
The staff were friendly and attentive, service was good overall. Only knocking off 1 star as perhaps the server could have played a role advising on how small the kids meals are.

Happy to have found this historic diner ( since 1932) in Toronto. Who knew this existed here? It a great classic diner from the exterior to the menu. The menu does have a couple of local twists on it but really it's mostly diner fare.
We ordered a few different things and all of it arrived in decent time and all enjoyed their meals. One of my party was vegan and they found something to eat here too. Anyways I had the Lakeview Clubhouse. it was great, everything was fresh and tasty. Our server Alisha was great as well. If you like classic diners this is the place.