At Dad's Diner, a Regina chef is doing right by his German ancestors
Local foodie eats his way through Regina to share his take on what’s good
A new German restaurant in Regina's Heritage neighbourhood is serving up all sorts of schnitzel and getting rave reviews.
But the chef — or should I say, the dad? — behind Dad's Diner at 1419 11th Ave. is accustomed to high praise. He operated an award-winning food truck called The Frying Deutschmann for years before launching his first brick-and-mortar restaurant in November 2024.
"I've always liked cooking," said Tim Philp, owner and operator of Dad's Diner. "It's just a really great way to communicate with people and to make people feel good."
Philp grew up on a farm near Souris, Man., but didn't grow up eating German food. Focusing on German cuisine, including various schnitzels, spaetzles, bratwurst and currywurst, has been a way for Philp to get in touch with his roots.
"My grandmother's family originally came from Bavaria in 1750 and settled [in Canada], so [through the food truck] I've been getting a little bit in touch with the food of my ancestors."
Philp has worked hard to perfect his recipes. The Zigeunerschnitzel, or Hungarian schnitzel, is a dish he's particularly proud of. He was looking for different schnitzel sauces online and found recipes for a tangy Hungarian sauce generally made from tomato sauce, red bell peppers, paprika, onions and chicken stock. Philp combined the best parts of a few recipes to come up with his own.
"I've had some very warm customer reviews," he said. "People who are directly from Hungary, where that originates from, said it just transports them directly home to their moms' and grandmothers' kitchens. So to be able to elicit that kind of a response from somebody, it's the best."
Philp takes great pride in making everything from scratch. The schnitzel, for example, begins as pork loin, centre cut.
"The main muscle," he explains. "We trim all the fat off of it, cut it into cutlets and then we hand pound it into the schnitzel with an aluminum mallet, and then bread it and fry it."
The spaetzle, a German pasta-like dumpling, is made fresh as well.
"We make an egg batter, pass it through a sieve into hot water where it forms little strings and balls, and then we pan fry that. And for the cheese spaetzle, we also toss it in a cheese sauce."
It's not all German fare at Dad's Diner. Like many of us growing up in the Prairies, he is familiar with Ukrainian food too. Perogies and sausage made it on the menu. There are also schnitzel sandwiches, burgers, chili, chili cheese fries, poutine and a rotating soup of the day.
For dessert, you can choose between Mom's Chocolate Cake or cinnamon buns. His three children are especially fond of his cinnamon buns.
If you ask Philp for a burger recommendation, it's the chorizo one, which is rare to see on menus.
"I make the chorizo from scratch, I toast the peppers, I grind the peppers, I mix the meat by hand. It's the heart and soul."
Dad's Diner is the latest stop in a long journey of restaurant work for Philp, which began when he moved here in 2005 to study international business at the University of Regina. He bounced between Boston Pizza, The Copper Kettle, Ramada Hotel, Grekos and more in between.
All of that was separate from his experience operating food trucks, first in 2014 with Nacho Fiesta and then in 2019 with The Frying Deutschmann, the latter which continues to operate during the summer season.
Philp said that if he could speak to his younger self, he would encourage him to take the same path.
"I'd say start earlier, do it faster. Take that leap five years ahead of time and just get going. This is my first opportunity to be out on my own and I wouldn't trade it for the world," he said.
"It makes my day just to see somebody enjoying a meal that I made. No better feeling."
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