Avenue Deli is the place to go if you want good home cooking, generous portion sizes at reasonable prices. Considering its hidden off a Spadina side street, its quite busy and you can see lineups out the door in all types of weather. We go there for lunch at least twice a week.
Things I recommend:
- fries w/ gravy (true diner style)
- onion rings (perfectly crisp, just the way I like it)
- mac n' cheese (generous portion served with salad)
- BLT (when I first ordered this I ordered a soup as well, thinking I'd still be hungry. Boy was I wrong - the BLT was loaded with tomatoes, crispy bacon and lettuce. Well worth the price!)
- braised short ribs (although I did have an unfortunate accident where the bag broke and I had sauce dribbling down my jacket - the short ribs with gravy and veggies were extremely tasty)
- smoked meat or pastrami or corned beef sandwich (excellent meat to rye ratio)
- western sandwich (sometimes I just want an egg sandwich doused with Tabasco for lunch, ya know?)
- jerk chicken (you're probably wondering - jerk chicken from a diner? trust me, its good stuff)
- club sandwich w/ fries (a proper triple decker)
- any of their soups (they're homemade and fresh every day)
I can keep going...but now I'm too hungry. Be sure to check out their daily specials, you're liable to find some new favorites in there!