Community comes out to The Goof to celebrate legendary waitress Hazel Hoeg’s 100th birthday

By ALAN SHACKLETON

Well-wishers packed the iconic Garden Gate (The Goof) Restaurant in the Beach on Wednesday of this week to wish legendary waitress Hazel Hoeg a happy 100^th birthday.

Hazel is an icon herself at the Queen Street East restaurant, working there for 68 years from 1952 to 2020, and becoming a beloved member of the Beach community along the way.

Speaking with Beach Metro Community News at the birthday party in her honour on March 4, Hazel remembered that she started working at the restaurant the year it opened.

She lived on Scarborough Road when she first moved to Toronto in 1950 and started working at the restaurant shortly after it opened in 1952 (and before it got its nickname The Goof due to some burned out lights on the Good Food sign out front).

“We came in here one day, my sister and I, on a Sunday and I asked the boss if they needed anybody and he said ‘No, we’re fine.’ Then the next Sunday I came in and he came to me and said ‘Did you find yourself a job yet?’ and then he said ‘If you’d like the job, you can start tomorrow morning,’” remembered Hazel of how she started working at the Garden Gate.

“He didn’t ask me if I could do it or anything. I had not worked as a waitress before but at a bake shop.”

And Hazel never looked back from that day in 1952. She worked there for 68 years and only retired due to the closures that had to take place at the restaurant (and all restaurants in the province) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hazel said she always loved working at the Garden Gate (The Goof), which is, of course, why she continued for so long. “I just loved to work and I wanted to work here.”

She said she cried her eyes out when she made the decision to retire during COVID.

“This has always been my home away from home,” said Hazel of The Goof. “The kids who came in all loved me and came down to get a hug from me and I loved to see them, just loved it.”

Hazel grew up on a farm in southern Saskatchewan with a large family and was never a stranger to hard work and a healthy lifestyle, which she said was one of her reasons for reaching 100 years of age and being able to work into her 90s.

“I was brought up on a farm and I had good food. My family had eight children and I worked on the farm until I was 17. I was baking bread when I was 11 years old. We had to work, eight kids, two girls and six boys.”

Along with restaurant owners Keith and Wendy Chau, birthday party organizers Lise Desrochers and Gail Harvey all spoke fondly of Hazel and her importance in their lives and the lives of their families.

“We were here all the time. This place was our second kitchen,” remembered Harvey. “When we came in we were always looking for what section Hazel was working. She’s just been a constant in all of our lives. We’ve had so many birthday parties here. She’s always so kind and loves life and always so positive.”

Among the many acknowledgments of her 100^th birthday, Hazel received a number of scrolls and letters including one from King Charles. Beaches-East York MPP Mary-Margaret McMahon also attended the party to present 100^th birthday greetings from the province.

Many of the customers at the restaurant consider Hazel part of their family, and that’s how she treated them as well.

“Kids and parents knew Hazel would keep an eye on them and that we were safe here,” said Ann MacDonald who came to the restaurant as both a youngster and then with her own children.

“This is such an iconic place as well and a lot of that is because of her. Everybody just loves Hazel.”