Jack’s Snack Bar
Hardware store

Henry’s Convenience

Joe Stickley

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Michael R. Durret
Anyone remember Jacks snack bar on the corner of Weston rd. and Oxford? Andy was one of the best short order cooks in the city. It was in the early 70's. He was the fast. In fast food. Used to go there after school when I was a kid. I can still taste his Homemade Burgers and fries. Mmm good.

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Patti McArthur
yeup, every Friday when I got my allowance, I went and bought a cheesburger deluxe. Eventually, I would help him when it was busy, he paid me with a plate of homemade apple crisp

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Lewis Young
I delivered milk to that place in 1983 to 85. He closed up and retired.Andy was a nice man

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Bonnie Bell
My Mother worked for Andy for years she opened at 6:30 worked till 3:00. Jeannie Logan. He was the nicest man and his wife was lovely.

At the corner of that street (Oxford Drive), there was Jack’s Snack Bar which as a boy I would bend a piece of flat wire in half and scoop up nickels from the Toronto Star coin box on Sundays and at nights when the place was closed, a nickel was like a quarter is worth today, well inside the doors there was this small snack bar run by this Japanese Canadian guy named Andy. He was tall and gangly sorta like his appendages were on wires, his head too, he was very pleasant and welcoming and he always wore a white long sleeve shirt with a black bow tie, the place was pretty busy, he would be behind the counter, flipping eggs and making grilled cheese sandwiches and shoe string French Fries and bacon was always cooking he was really very fast at preparing meals, I mean like lightning fast, not thinking fast but doing things fast, he could break an egg in one hand, flip the pancakes with the other and talk to you about how your day was going all at the same time, we’d go there a lot, just to watch him work and for his snacks which were smaller portions than at most places but priced accordingly, for staff he had these older ladies who wore those yellow nylon waitress smocks and white shoes, every hair was in place as if they’d just come from the beauty parlour they were the kind that would show up for work carrying little wicker baskets with flowers in them covered with doilies, they were there only at lunch time, the busy time and they took the table orders.

There were only about six tables and I think there were at least three waitresses the tables were made of formica I think and there were chrome legged chairs with brown padded vinyl upholstery and there was the open kitchen at the back with about eight stools with everything stored in cupboards and fridges below and above the large grill, there was a small steam table, deep fryer and service area where Jack was always pouring the old coffee into the top of the freshly brewed coffee on the two burner Bunn machine, a menu was printed on a large blackboard with the Daily Special printed in a different colour of chalk, things like, Liver and Onions $3, Soup and fried Egg sandwich, $2.50, Hot Beef with Mashed Potatoes and Homestyle Gravy $3.25 (beef was more expensive than liver) then in even bolder letters the words in green chalk, FREE Rice Pudding or Jello with all meals! There was a glass display on the left as you entered the place it was full of gum and ten cent chocolate bars, so many kinds of chocolate bars, Kit Kat, Cadburys Milk Chocolate, Mars Bars, Nielsens, Big Turk, Crispy Crunch and several types of Hostess chips in five cent bags on the left as you went in and that is where you paid your bill, Jack always had a bit change sitting on a worn ribbed rubber mat that said Chiclets on it to save time when making change.

I’ll never forget the one time I was there it was a Saturday morning in the early summer of 1979, we were hung over I was with Pee Wee and Vern and one of the old maids came to the table to take our order, it was the night after the incident at the Beverly Hills. Pee Wee ordered first, he said, “I’ll have a glass of water and a large orange juice, and bacon and eggs with brown toast, not to many home fries and I would like them crispy, not burn’t, crispy, and I’d like my eggs sunny side up and a cup of coffee with triple cream and lots of sugar and I’d like the water the coffee and the orange juice now, no hold it, make that a large water, and I want it now”! and he pointed to the place on the table where he wanted these drinks delivered to. It was the funniest thing Pee Wee asking for the drinks, now, like ‘go get them please, forget the other table guests’. It was the funniest thing.Then Vern picked up the Toronto Sun from one of the tables and wow, what a shock, three people had been murdered up at Weston Road and Lawrence a fourth person was half dead, we knew them all, were friends with them all, wow, our friend Bill the Greek was one of them and this rounder named Stan something or the other and Bills younger brother Paul, I think their last name was Iantzakis or something like that! Wow, was that ever an Instant Karma moment.