5 Movies Film at The Lakeview: Toronto's Famous Diner
Where else can you find Lindsay Lohan, Tom Cruise & Robert Pattinson?
BY: V.Rhodes
Hairspray (2007), motion picture, Ingenious Media.
The Lakeview
The Lakeview is an old 1930’s diner that feels like it has been frozen in time. Which makes it a great shooting location! If you’re watching a movie filmed in Toronto and they enter into a diner, this is probably it. The Lakeview has a great list on their website of movies filmed here, but it doesn’t even cover them all! While watching the Lindsay Lohan classic, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, I spotted the Lakeview! The Lakeview is such a well known filming location, that during the pandemic they were allowing amateur filmmakers to use their building for free.
THE FOOD
I’ve eaten at The Lakeview a bunch of times, even before starting this blog. It’s the perfect spot if you're craving diner classics like grilled cheese and all day breakfast. They do have some fun things on the menu like deep fried peanut butter cups and mars bars. They are also great with dietary restrictions having lots of nut free and vegan options. But this being classic bar food, you’ll be hard pressed to find something ‘healthy’, but everything will be delicious.
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), motion picture, Walt Disney Pictures.
THE LOCATION
The Lakeview is located in Little Portugal at the North East corner of Toronto’s famous Trinity Bellwoods park. If you have the time, it’s worth spending the day in this area. Trinity Bellwoods is a dog friendly park with a baseball diamond, tennis courts, hockey rinks and some great running paths. The park itself is fantastic, but also all the bars, shops and ice cream along Ossington are incredible. Bang Bang Ice Cream is easily my favourite thing along this strip. It is regarded as one of the best ice cream parlours in the city. It’s the mix of classic and unique flavours that sets Bang Bang apart from other ice cream shops in the area. Some of my other recommendations are Bellwoods Brewery, Bobbie Sue's Mac + Cheese, La Cubana, Bar Sybanne, and Blondies Pizza.
THE LAKEVIEW ON SCREEN
As I mentioned, The Lakeview has been featured in a bunch of different productions. We’re going to do a deep dive into our 5 favorites! Come for the film history, stay for the all-day breakfast!
#1
confessions of a teenage drama queen (2004)
PLOT: When excentric teen Lola Cep’s (Lindsay Lohan) family moves from New York City to the New Jersey suburbs, she refuses to kiss her broadway dreams goodbye. She gets the lead role in her high school musical beating the reigning queen bee, Carla Santini (Megan Fox). To prove Carla wrong, Lola and her best friend Ella (Alison Pill) set out to get backstage at their favourite band, Sidarthur’s, final performance.
Full disclosure, this is one of my favourite movies. There will be nothing but praise for LiLo in the blog! Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004) is one of many movies set in New York, but are actually filmed in Toronto. When Lola and Ella go to New York they unsuccessfully try to sneak into the Sidarthur concert and after party. They follow lead singer Stu Wolff (Adam Garcia) as he drunkenly stumbles out of the party. They usher him into a diner to help him sober up, this diner is The Lakeview!
You can actually sit at the same booth Lola, Ella and Stu sit in! When the girls try to get some coffee, Stu drunkenly orders a “deluxe hamburger platter, well done, and a large side of onion rings”. The last time we went we actually ordered this! The onion rings are fantastic!
#2
the shape of water (2017)
PLOT: Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is a lonely janitor at a government research facility. She stumbles upon an amphibious creature that is being held captive and develops a unique relationship with them.
The Key Lime pie! We must talk about the pie! It’s weird and gross and green, but somehow embodies the entire movie in one slice. The Lakeview Restaurant poses as Dixie Doug’s, which seems to be a diner known for its pies. Even though the rotating pie plates are very mesmerizing to watch, they are unfortunately just a prop and are not used in real life. Similarly the neon green lights were added for the movie.
Although the Shape of Water is supposed to be set in Baltimore, they do make a small nod to its Canadian location. The jerk server at Dixie Doug’s reveals that he uses a fake accent at work to maintain a southern diner illusion, but he is really from Ottawa.
#3
Cocktail (1988)
PLOT: Brian Flanagan (Tom Cruise) is working as a bartender to pay for business school in NYC. He gets recognized for his charm and flashy tricks behind the bar, and moves to Jamaica to open up his own bar with business person Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown). Brian meets waitress Jordan Mooney (Elizabeth Shue) the rest of the romantic-drama ensues.
Who doesn't love a young Tom Cruise movie? Just a couple of years after Top Gun (1986), Tom Cruise was in the iconic 1988 movie Rain Main and less iconic movie Cocktail. In fact, this movie has a whopping 7% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Both the exterior and interior of the Lakeview are featured in the movie as it is disguised as Jerry’s Diner. This is where Elizabeth Shue’s character, Jordan, works. When Brian goes to the diner to try and win her back, Jordan dumps the Chicken a la King on his head and the rest of the special on his lap. The booth that Tom Cruise sits in in Cocktail, is the same booth Lindsay Lohan sits in in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.
#4
Cosmopolis (2012)
PLOT: Billionaire Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) rides across the city in a limo, but his day is disrupted when it develops into a strange adventure featuring a collection of eccentric characters. His life unravels when faced with marital problems and a financial crisis.
Let's be honest, this movie is on this list as an excuse to talk about Robert Pattinson. Right smack dab in the middle of the Twilight hype, Cosmopolis comes out. I’m sure there were a lot of confused tweens who walked into the theatre thinking they were going to more Edward and instead got this artsy commentary on how the rich live. The greatest benefit that actors who star in big teen dramas like Twilight or Hunger Games or Harry Potter have is, is security. Once actors like Robert Pattinson have the luxury of a multi-movie, multi-million dollar deal, they can choose to act in any smaller project indie they want. They aren't forced to take bad big budget movies because they pay well, they can take smaller indie movies that mean more to them like Cosmopolis and still have Twilight money to fall back on. You can see this in his later career. Even though most people only know Pattinson as “that sparkly vampire boy”, his performances in movies like The Lighthouse (2019) and The Devil all the Time (2020) are very good.
The scene that takes place at the Lakeview shows Eric and his wife Elise (Sarah Gadon) sitting at the bar talking. Eric’s security guard is watching the crown as a couple comes in and throws dead rats at the patrons.
#5
hairspray (2007)
PLOT: In 1960’s Baltimore, Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) auditions for a spot on “The Corny Collins Show” and wins. She becomes an overnight celebrity, and uses her new clout to topple the show's reigning dance queen, Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and fights to bring racial integration to prime time television.
After Tracy (Nikki Blonsky) and her mom, Edna (John Travolta) get a full makeover at Mr. Pinky's Hefty Hideaway they end up at this diner for dessert. They run into the WYZT station manager Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her daughter Amber (Brittany Snow). The Von Tussles are incredibly mean to the Turnblads, but Tracy tries to teach her mom to have a thick skin.
Which was your favourite movie? Did we miss one? Let us know in the comments!
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References
The Lakeview Restaurant : Film
Movie Maps: Lakeview
Movie Maps: Cosmopolis
Fleischer, David. “Reel Toronto: Cocktail”. Torontoist, 06 January, 2009.
Fleischer, David. “Reel Toronto: Toronto Sings!”. Torontoist, 05 December, 2007.
Moon, Ra. “Filming Locations: Where was The Shape of Water filmed?”. Filming Location by Atlas of Wonder, December 2017.