New Centretown diner offers comfort food in mini portions

Centretown's newest diner has a big menu of small foods. 

Pudgyboy's Diner opened on Bank Street in November and is offering breakfast, lunch and dinner options — all mini-sized. Their menu includes a long list of sweet and savoury comfort foods, from burgers and corn dogs to doughnuts and waffles. 

The diner is the newest offering from restaurateur Corey Sauve, whose other eatery, Flapjack's Canadian Diner, opened in Little Italy in 2015. 

Sauve, and his business partner, Max Anisman, launched Flapjack's as a food truck in the Glebe before moving the business into a bricks-and-mortar restaurant on Preston Street.

Sauve said the duo have been wanting to build a new brand for a while and that the location for Pudgyboy's became available at the right time.

The idea for the new diner's brand came from a nickname Sauve's grandmother had for him. 

“My grandmother always called me her pudgy boy. That's how it kind of started,” he said, standing in the 1950's-style diner, where pink flamingo wallpaper adorns the walls and a small army of vintage radios cover the back wall.

“When I was little, I liked eating everything in mini-forms,” Sauve said. 

The concept behind the miniature portions was that the diner could offer fast food in sizes that would not make customers too full, said Andrew Johnston, the diner's manager. He said the smaller sizes will also mean that food will be fresher than other fast food restaurants because it will take less time to cook. 

“When people leave a restaurant, if you have too big of a portion, you're generally over full, you feel weighed down and tired,” Johnston said. “With a nice proper portioned meal from here, you don't feel that way. You leave full, but you're not exhausted.”

He added the diner's food is naturally prepared and has no MSG in it.  

The diner's location at 311 Bank St. has seen some significant turnover, having been the home of three different businesses in recent years. But Sauve is confident that Pudgyboy's will be successful because of its affordable prices, long hours, diverse menu and quick cook times.

“It's not your standard pizza or shawarma place that's popping up everywhere in Ottawa,” he said.

Sauve said his plan is to regularly add more options to the menu, including specials and ice cream. The restaurant also uses electronic kiosks, where customers order and pay for their food before picking it up at the counter. 

The diner had its soft opening in November to work out kinks and inconsistencies before holding its grand opening on December 1. Sauve said if all goes well, the plan is to open Pudgyboy's locations in other neighbourhoods and cities. 

“We just want everyone to enjoy mini-everything,” he said.