Saturday Dinette closes its doors for good

Photo: Saturday Dinette

That's all folks. The Dinette is closed.

That's the note that now appear at the top of Saturday Dinette's website, marking an end to a three-and-a-half-year run at the corner of Gerrard and Logan. 

The popular Riverdale diner — as much a neighbourhood darling for its healthy comfort dishes as its retro touches and animated personalities — announced on social media today that it's shuttering due to an an ongoing — and, by the sounds of it, ugly — dispute with its landlord.

"After a longstanding battle with our landlords we no longer found it to be the safe haven to us as a family and operators of a community-centred restaurant," reads a note on Saturday Dinette's website. "In particular, our staff who came from various community outreach programs could no longer muster the energy to face constant intimidation and intrusion that made it uncomfortable for them to maintain employment and learn various life skills."

The corner spot cut dinner service back in May to concentrate solely on its brunch program, which it continued with and, actually expanded, until its notice today. 

Although Saturday Dinette is now gone, owner Suzanne Barr has announced the opening of Kid Chocolate, a lunch counter and bar, slated to open this summer just a few doors down on Gerrard St. E. She's also taken on the the position of chef-in-residence at the Gladstone Hotel. 

Check out saturdaydinette.com for more information about the closure and to read the note the owners left regarding the sudden shuttering.