Save-on-Meats

It's no secret that I think Mark Brand is the second coming, and his latest outing has proven to be another safe bet for dining on the East Side. Happily, Save-on-Meats is a lot easier on the wallet than my favourite arm of his multi-pronged business. After two visits, I now feel qualified to comment on the diner side of things. I can't speak to the other aspects of the reborn Save-on-Meats, but my trust in Brand runs deep, so I'm sure they're great.

For reasons I can't quite pinpoint, the food here is almost secondary. It's certainly good enough, and you simply can't argue with the prices. Save-on-Meats is more about the experience and the atmosphere, and they've nailed both. A, E and I had a collective girl crush on our server Kelcie, and we would have been happy to have her hang up her metaphorical apron and sit a spell with us. A friendly fellow behind the counter let us sample a bacon chocolate chip cookie before we committed our dessert calories elsewhere. The space is airy and spare, save for the many charming old-timey posters by local artist Dan Climan.

Biking there and back to work off the large portions topped off a truly perfect summer evening. I hadn't been to the original, but I think this incarnation deserves at least as long of a run.