A step back in time to the 1950s and 1960s, the Mercury Cafe and Grill has red leather booths and a lunch counter like the diners of old. As you drive down 13th Avenue in the Cathedral District of Regina, you cannot miss the rocket ship on the roof. I also enjoy seeing the old black and white photographs of the neighbourhood on the walls. The same buildings are there, just updated. The cafe used to be a hardware store. The Safeway store across the street has just undergone an expansion and refit and it is nice to see the old version above the window overlooking the new storefront.
Apart from soup and some salads, you won’t find anything particularly healthy on the menu, but that is the point. It is a diner in every sense of the word. Burgers and fries, and sandwiches, are what most people want. On a recent trip, I had the chicken fingers (with honey dill dipping sauce) and fries with gravy on the side ($11.75) and my friend had the sandwich special which was egg salad ($8.50). A particular treat was sodas in bottles ($3.25), the way they used to be served before cans became popular. They open for breakfast at 8:00 am and I have been a few times for a ham and egg start to the day. I have not tried the baking but it all looks good.
Like many establishments in this neighbourhood, the cafe is not open on Mondays. There is live music on Friday and Saturday nights.
For a bit of nostalgia and some good food in a casual atmosphere, you can’t go wrong.
“Website”:http://themercurycafe.ca/main/
