Restaurant Review: Route 99 Diner
ROUTE 99 DINER 8820 99th Street ~ route99diner.com Instagram: @route99diner Co-Diners: The E.A.T Crew
Edmonton is home to a handful of classic diners and one of the best is surely Old Strathcona's Route 99. Voted #1 Best Breakfast 2018 in VUE Weekly, you know that they're gonna serve a solid meal without much fuss. They're easy to spot, right on 99th Street, a red building with huge signage. I'm not sure when they originally opened but once you enter the doors you will be transported back to the 50s with their heavy amounts of kitsch and decor. License plates and street signs all over the walls, booths wrapped in weathered red vinyl, album covers literally everywhere, and a real working traffic light. There's a huge vibe at Route 99 and it screams old school diner in a most wonderful way. The servers manage to strike an ideal balance between friendly and surly which suits the atmosphere perfectly. Seated at a sunny booth by the window, I could've spent a lot of time looking around at everything but forced myself to the task at hand and began to flip through the multi-page menu. I was visiting for breakfast, which is likely the most popular meal of the day at Route 99, however they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Do not expect a fancy coffee here! This is the kind of place where a server walks around with a coffee pot offering top-ups. A tea girl myself, I ordered Tea ($2.25) and simply requested whatever black variety they carry (which is almost always Red Rose in these situations).
An individual pot of hot water arrived and I placed my tea bag (indeed Red Rose) inside, allowing it to steep. I usually request milk but forgot and used the table creamer instead. A completely straight forward tea experience which was hot and comfortingly familiar. The breakfast menu sticks to the classics. This is a bacon and eggs kind of place. Omelettes are a safe bet as well. They do have an eggs benedict on the menu but this really isn't the time or the place to order a dish like that. I highly recommend keeping things simple. I went for the 2 Eggs with Bacon or Sausage or Ham ($9.50). Classic.
I requested the bacon and asked for it to be extra crispy. I chose the toast and hash and was offered white, brown or rye bread. I picked rye. I had my eggs cooked over medium. Our plates of food arrived so lightening quick that it seemed impossible. I'm not sure that our server even had the time to tell the kitchen our order... And suddenly we were eating. Everything was cooked to my specifications and was the ultimate in a classic, comfortable, Canadian breakfast. The eggs were just runny enough, the bacon was nice and crispy the way that I like it, the toast was nicely buttered (I spread strawberry jam on it), and the hash was delicious with great crispy parts (I got some ketchup happening on there). Every part of the dish was simple but done well. The rest of the menu is pretty extensive and they serve a full array of burgers, sandwiches, and even liver and onions - which somehow sounds right for this place. I detected a bit of a Greek influence in the menu as well, which is interesting. I want to return for dinner because I've only ever visited for breakfast. I hear that the milkshakes are amazing. If you're looking for one of those classic diner experiences, you won't need to look any further than Route 99. This is the kind of place where the spoons are greasy, pretention is at an all-time low, and you'll leave with a full stomach (and an oddly full wallet).
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