“Good food, good value with a casual atmosphere” is what characterizes the Southside Diner, according to owner Les Ecker, describing the Whistler institution that has been dishing up for decades from its Creekside corner. “And a little sass!” adds longtime server Kelly Anderson.
It’s all these things that encourage people to return time and time again. “Everybody comes, everybody’s welcome, everybody feels comfortable,” says Ecker.
The eclectic and diverse clientele speak to this. Visitors and locals alike — whether young newcomers or the old guard of Whistler — gather here. The Southside Diner serves up much more than savoury plates to satisfy the most voracious of appetites, from the weekend lineups that extend far beyond the front porch, with its chairlift seating, to the weekday crew of local regulars. It delivers ambience, attitude, energy and environment. A bit of nostalgia, too.
With its booths upholstered in brown vinyl, its seven circular stools sitting in front of the shiny strip of counter, its window into the kitchen and its walls tattooed with a photographic history of Southside shenanigans (of which there are many!), the place is legendary. It looks and feels like what a neighbourhood diner — now becoming a thing of the past — should look and feel like: an important gathering place. In a town known for its transience, the Southside Diner plays the vital role of community hub. At Southside, everybody is a somebody. It’s not uncommon for customers to be greeted with “You want the same?” It’s a place, for many, akin to the bar in Cheers, “where everybody knows your name.”
This past summer, the ground-floor restaurant celebrated its 21st year. Housed below a hostel and above a basement laundromat, the diner is part of a longer lineage that started with the opening of the Southside Deli in the early ’80s. After running for 18 years, the infamous deli — known for dishing out plenty of attitude — closed in 2002, leaving, as the diner’s website states, “the hungover people of Creekside in a bind.” An oyster bar moved in. It lasted less than a year. It was the deli that had filled a need and a niche, and its absence was being felt in the local landscape.
This is when Ecker stepped in. Once the manager of the former go-to club Savage Beagle, he’d left his job at the also-since-closed bar Citta’ to open the diner along with Johnny “Wishbone” Henry (skateboard-shop owner and past club-manager of Garfinkel’s). Together they started the Southside Diner. The two re-established certain aspects of the original deli but moved from walk-up counter to sit-down service. Notable Whistlerite George/Jorge Alvarez of the iconic graphic-arts studio Toad Hall was the very first customer, waited on by another longtime Whistlerite, the universally beloved Ace MacKay-Smith (DJ Foxy Moron), who served food in a ’50s-diner-girl outfit, complete with roller skates. A Whistler classic.
“The first four years were really tough,” remembers Ecker. The transition from club managers to restaurant operators came with a sharp learning curve. However, the local hub began to thrive again. Original part-owner Johnny Wishbone moved on, and other partners have joined and left the diner endeavour over the years. Ecker has been the sole owner since 2021. The place operates with a small but tight crew. When asked why she stays, Anderson — who has been serving here on and off for the better part of 20 years — answers unequivocally: “It’s family.”
And, as with all families, there are rules. Or, in the case of Southside, a set of tongue-in-cheek guidelines called “The Diner 12-Step Program.” Once a physical feature of the establishment, printed on plastic laminated placemats (which left their mark on the countertop, discolouring it where the mats rightfully took their place for years), the “rules” are in the process of being revamped. The coffee policy has been updated (the diner now prepares all manner of fancy coffees), but this small sampling of original tenets still captures the underlying spirit of fun that fosters and fuels this place:
- The only thing “on the house” is the roof, silly!
- We proudly serve great coffee here, so please finish your half caf, decaf vanilla soy latte with sprinkles that you brought from another establishment prior to taking a seat in ours.
- Having it your way is a motto of somewhere else. Special orders, modifications and substitutions may not be accommodated during peak times. Come when we’re slower and we’ll gladly put together an item of your specifications.
- Good food takes time to prepare, please bear with us if you’re not served in 10 minutes, or 20, or 30. We’ll get to ya!
Once you’re in, the food comes quickly, and it’s worth the wait, be it for the Big Ass Pancake Stack, The Usual Suspect benny or the B.E.L.T.C.H. sandwich. Each flavourful bite is packed with Whistler history in the making (or is it baking?). What you get is food with flair, a taste of old-school Whistler. Each customer, whether a local or visitor, is an essential ingredient in the unfurling mix that makes this place such a staple of the Whistler community, and feasting here fuels the continuation of Southside stories. Come for, if nothing else, the experience — and the Southside Shaft at happy hour. The Southside Diner never disappoints.
The Southside Diner is open every day, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with a happy hour from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
