Deacon’s Corner, the new diner project from the folks who brought us Gastown’s Cobre, has now opened at 101 Alexander, just exactly one block east of Incendio. I took my youngest son down for some Mac & Cheese today and took a few snaps. It’s comfortably no frills, and though there’s still a little bit of work to be done it’s easy to imagine them doing well. We went early and it was dead (they’d just opened), but then it filled up remarkably fast with walk-ins.

If you’re curious as to how Deacon’s Corner developed over time, I’ve dug up some “opening soon” pics below for your perusal and comparison:

And here’s what we wrote when we first got wind of it back in November:

Located at 101 Main at Alexander across the street from the Alibi Room and just two blocks east of a resurgent Gastown’s gritty glitz, the joint will sling the stuff of diner legend: corned beef hash; biscuits and gravy; meatloaf; and I assume a variety of other wholesome bits of chow. It’s food we might be needing to get used if things get bad. Really, if the markets totally implode (and I mean more than they already have and Vancouver is plunged into a recession worse than the early 80’s), this stuff will be like cake. If the markets stabilise and everything is cool, Barack Obama might turn out to be faulty charm robot from the future and we may also be plunged into a war with China after Pakistan and India trade frisky nukes in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. Either way, I’m looking forward to the corned beef hash, and no matter what the next six months bring, the nearby cop shop will likely provide them with lots of trade. Always wise to saddle up to a customer base that won’t be seeing massive layoffs any time soon. Good security, too.

Deacon’s Corner was the name of an old gas station near owner Tyson Reimer’s childhood hood outside Winnipeg. “We aren’t doing anything modern,” he told me by phone tonight. “No wraps. No breakfast burritos. We want to stay true to the classic diner.”

Take a look at the menus – Breakfast and Lunch. Breakfast all day! Word.