Sunnyville Grill: Home-style Meal Cooked by Mom with Love

Photo Collage: Sunnyville Grill
Make everyday 'sunny' with a great Breakfast!
Culinary Gem in Corso Italia Toronto
2011 © wobuilt.com

Where on Corso Italia would you go to find good home-style cooking and good value for breakfast or lunch - just the way your mom would have made it for you? Well, when we first moved to the area I read a number of restaurant reviews on Toronto's food pages online and what tops the list there is Sunnyville Grill at 1218 St. Clair Avenue West.

Working in the area, I eat out a lot. So reading the praise of the Internet foodies doesn't make me a believer. I need to go and check it out myself. And, to my surprise, it was a better eating experience than I read about or even expected.

On weekdays or weekends, when you are looking for a good breakfast or lunch and you want to enjoy the hot cooked love of mom, you have to go to Sunnyville Grill. First you will notice a cast of characters up front. The owner, Louie Reppas - a really big guy with an equally big heart who makes you feel welcome. And then you will find two very attractive and talented servers, Angeline and Daisy. (If you have ever been to His Majesty's Feast you may have seen Daisy serving up food there where the horses and knights put on a good evening show.) But over at Sunnyville Grill, in the back, where the bacon meets the grill is where you find the engine of this restaurant - Mom, Vivian Reppas. She is a power in the kitchen and a woman who REALLY knows about good flavours!

The day I came by for my first visit, I really didn't know what I wanted to eat. It was late for breakfast but early for lunch and despite having a large menu with great options for both, I couldn't decide what I should have. So, sensing my dilemma, Vivian made for me a wonderful combination burger. This burger had everything I was looking for even though I wasn't aware I was looking for it. The meat was light but cooked to a caramelized brownness. The bacon was crispy and added a tangy salty twist. Condiments included a sweet Videla onion slice and home grown garden tomato that tasted like summer. My appetite went from undecided to overwhelmed.

After I inhaled the burger, fries and salad, a desert arrived unexpected to my table, one that Vivian had been working on for her husband for later that night. It was a cross between a cake and a pudding, drizzled with chocolate. That pastry just finished me off. I was fed, happy and ready to go back to work.

Since that day, I've been back to Sunnyville Grill often and have even used their services to cater office meetings. They bring their wonderful menu (and even things not on the menu) to our office for our lunch meetings and right after lunch, the dishes and trays disappear without a trace. We have come to really enjoy the food and the folks at Sunnyville Grill.

And, in closing, let me issue a special note of congratulations to Louie and his wife Marijana on the birth of a beautiful baby girl Liana. Like any good dad, Louie has lots of baby pictures on his iPhone to show you. Just ask him to see his baby pics.

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This article was contributed by Ari Berman, a Management Consultant from Toronto, Canada, with a specialization in operations and process change. He has helped companies spanning aircraft builders to soda drink manufacturers to increase their value - finding and improving important details that never got attended to in past. His work in the construction industry includes overseeing commercial construction projects in retail shopping malls across Canada. He can be reached at 647-235-8181 or via e-mail on ari.berman@cmc-advisor.com.

links:
wobuilt: A Little Culinary Gem in Corso Italia: Sunnyville Grill
wobuilt: Building the Friendship of Neighbours in Business
wobuilt: Agio’s New Brunch: Community Starts at Home
foodpages.ca: Reviews on Sunnyville Grill
foodpages.ca: Sunnyville Grill - All Day Breakfast
chowhound.com: Hidden gems on St. Clair W?