Tag: Southside Deli

2102 Lake Placid Road: the Southside Diner2102 Lake Placid Road: the Southside Diner

November 4, 2025 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

After it opened in 1974, the Whistler Centre Building saw several changes in tenants and its appearance over the next three decades, until it found stability with the iconic Southside Diner.

The first business to occupy the building was Le Magasin Du Ski, who moved across the way (from Union 76 station) to increase their capacity. The extra square footage separated their retail and rental space between the first floor and the basement. The shop was later taken over by Dave Kirk and Val Jazic, who renamed the shop to Whistler Creek Ski Shop, as apparently the French name confused patrons.

The Whistler Centre building in 1982. *Whistler Question Collection.*

In October 1975, MacGregor Pacific Realty (which later morphed into the Whistler Real Estate Company) moved into the office space on the second floor, but was soon removed around 1977 and Capilano Highlands moved in. Drew Meredith (of MacGregor Pacific) recalls the removal justified as they were arrears in rent.

Other occupants in the building included Rozell Construction Ltd, Garibaldi Blasting Ltd, The Insurance Shop (Jim Elliott Insurance Agencies), Harry Bullen’s “Mountain Hair”, Norman Minus & Co. Accountants, Syd Young Travel Unlimited, Whistler Office Services, the Whistler Question, and more.

When the Whistler Village was constructed in the 1980s, traffic began to decrease in Creekside. Several occupants opted to move to the new hub of Whistler. The top floors and basement stayed as they were, but the ground floor changed and was revamped for the Rainbow Deli, a butcher shop previously located at the Gulf Station, where Tim Hortons is located today. The grand opening was on November 26, 1983, complete with free hot dogs.

The Rainbow Deli is better known as the beloved Southside Delicatessen and the name changed sometime in 1986. Owned by Cal Schacter and Herschel Miedzygorski, the Southside Deli was instantly a hot spot for locals, and became world-famous, with actors, musicians, and pro athletes enjoying the affordable food options. The Deli also easily integrated into the community, sponsoring events and fundraisers, such as the Fireman’s Ball and the Cheakamus Challenge.

Herschel Miedzygorski, Jan Woodside, and Cal Schacter at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Southside Deli held in 1994. *Whistler Question Collection*.

For a time the Deli shared the space with another restaurant. German Chef, Uli Schnur, moved to British Columbia as Umberto Menghi’s corporate chef. In 1992, he decided to open his own restaurant, Uli’s Flipside. He took over the Southside Deli at night, offering family and budget friendly made-from-scratch food until 1:00am. This operation arrangement continued until the early 2000s, even expanding to other locations around Whistler before officially closing the business.

Underneath the Deli/Flipside primarily held businesses dedicated to recreation. Backroads Whistler used the space in 1985 before moving to Mons. Two years later, Tim Mallone, who also owned Pumphouse Fitness Centre (later known as Whistler Creek Athletic Club), opened up the Southside Bike Shop. In the 1990s, the space saw Whistler’s first skateboard shop, Attitude at Altitude, clothing store Board of Authority, and World Pro High Performance Sport & Ski. Board of Authority recently returned to Whistler in the winter of 2023, opening a location in Village North.

The Southside Deli in 2000. In the 1990s, the Deli owners bought the building and converted the supper floors into the Southside Lodge. *Insight Photography Collection*.

After nearly twenty years of service the Southside Deli shut down in 2003. There was a quick attempt to create the space into an oyster bar, the Screaming Oyster; however, in the Spring of 2004, the Deli was reborn into the Southside Diner, with similar operations. The business expanded by opening a laundromat in the basement after the Nesters Laundromat closed in 2008, which is still the only coin-operated laundry around.

The original closure of the Southside Deli was celebrated as part of the Whistler Museum project, Vanishing Places, an effort to recognize places in town that have been lost to time. Thankfully, the spirit and history of the Southside Deli has continued through the Southside Diner.

Whistler is expected to change and grow, and it is important for us to recognize our history and reflect on how far we have come. We are proud to write weekly stories to our community, and are excited to share more about what history you can see around the valley.

Cooking Up WhistlerCooking Up Whistler

December 26, 2023 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

While food may not be the first thing that many people associate with the Whistler Museum, the abundance of baking and celebratory meals this time of year recently had us looking at three cookbooks that are kept as part of the Museum’s reference section. Whistler Recipes, Festive Favourites, and The Whistler Weekend Cookbook all contain recipes, as expected, but they can also tell us about what businesses were operating in Whistler, who was working in the valley, and what was being eaten at the time of their publication.

Whistler Recipes is the first of two cookbooks published as fundraisers by the Whistler Museum & Archives Society’s Cookbook Committee. Published in 1997, it includes recipes gathered from past and then-present residents of Whistler and Alta Lake, as well as a few recipes from a cookbook published by The Vancouver Sun in 1940. Whistler Recipes included recipes like Yorkshire Puddings from Ann Bright, Myrtle’s Muffins from Myrtle Philip, Granny Cosgrave’s Scones from J’Anne Greenwood, and Lemon Loaves from Elaine Wallace, which we even tried making when the museum was closed in 2020.

The Whistler Museum and Archives cookbook committee, April 1997: Janet Love-Morrison, Florence Petersen (founder of the Whistler Museum and Archives Society), Darlyne Christian and Caroline Cluer. Whistler Museum Collection

The second book published by the Cookbook Committee in 2001, Festive Favourites, tells us less about the individuals who contributed recipes, but makes up for it by including food trivia and tips throughout. Many of the recipes and festive tips appear to focus on the December holiday season, with instructions for preparing The Scent of Christmas, Spiced Yule Cake, and more alongside a short history of Christmas trees and stockings, though there are also some recipes for other holidays, such as Halloween Spicy Hot Chocolate.

Festive Favourites also suggested different ways to share meals with friends, proposing a “Dine Around Party,” which is “great for a small group of friends who live close together” as the group walks over to a different residence for each stage of the meal, and providing ideas for entertaining and involving children for “When Adults and Children Party Together.”

For anyone interested in the history of restaurants in Whistler, The Whistler Weekend Cookbook compiled by Diane Nicholson in 1987 is a very useful resource. It begins with a list of all restaurants and delicatessens in Whistler at the time, of which seven are still operating under the same name today. For every recipe contributed by a chef at one of the restaurants, their name and place of work are credited. For example, Rolf Gunther of the Rimrock Cafe supplied his version of Mahi Mahi with Bourbon Pecan Cream while Toshi Saito of Sushi Village provided his Tempura Toshi.

A sunny game of volleyball outside the Highland Lodge, today the location of the Highland Lodge. Whistler Question Collection

It is made clear by the sections of the book, such as “Mid-day & Apres Ski” and “Goodies & Supplies for Your Pack etc.,” that the book caters to a population that spends quite a bit of time on the mountain. Each recipe is also accompanied by a difficulty rating in the form of a circle, a square, or a diamond, symbols that could easily be interpreted by most skiers.

The recipes and their contributors also reflect the prevalence of sports in Whistler. Dave Murray provided instructions to make his Breakfast of Champions (oatmeal with nuts and apples) while Leanna Rath and Richard Kelly of Lifestyles Adventure Company included their Mountain Bike Greek Salad and Rob Boyd supplied his recipe for World Cup Granola Bars (cooking must a family affair, as his mother Molly Boyd’s Sunshine Pie can also be found in this book).

Molly Boyd receives the plaque honouring her as the Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Saturday. Brian Walhovd, 1983’s winner, announced to the crowd that Boyd was the 1984 winner for her involvement and extra commitment to the community. Whistler Question Collection

Like the cookbooks published by the Cookbook Committee, The Whistler Weekend Cookbook was also a fundraiser, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Whistler Public Library to purchase New Age/Self Help books. Today, the books produced for such fundraisers can tell us more about the people and food in Whistler at that particular time. They can also be very helpful if you’re trying to recreate a meal you once had at your favourite restaurant, whether you miss the Southside Hot Antipasto Hero from the Southside Deli or the wings that you used to get at Dusty’s Cantina.