The Lighthouse Restaurant — Restaurant in Ontario

This is our go-to breakfast in Picton. We come up for day trips/weekends all the time, I've been maybe 7 or 8 times with my wife and family/friends.

I'll shoot it straight.

If you don't go super early, you're likely going to have to wait for a table. We've been lucky before and been seated right away, longest we've waited was 45 min to get in. Joining their waitlist helps bypass that issue or show up 15-30 min earlier from the time you'd actually like to eat. You are also very likely going to wait a decent amount of time for the food to come out. Definitely longer than most diner style places, they take their time.

That said, very well worth the wait. The food is great, it's classic breakfast/lunch diner food. Never had any issues/things to send back on all my orders, I'm cool with waiting every time because it's always perfect and tasty. The staff is incredibly friendly, very serviceable, diligent on their coffee refills and making sure you're happy.

The atmosphere is lovely, it's small but warm and you feel the welcome vibe upon entry and while seated. It's the perfect spot. Only callout on atmosphere, it's not a big restaurant, there's only like 10 or 12 tables total, so if you come with a big group good luck. 2 is easy, 3-4 is doable as well but if you got like 8 maybe split up 4 and 4, makes it easier on the small place + you'll likely get in faster.

Couldn't recommend...

We were a little unsure of the entrance to the restaurant as there were no signs, but it is the same door used for the office.

We arrived a little after 8am on a Saturday and were seated promptly. It did start to get busy at around 8:30, with people having to wait for tables. If you come with a group of more than 4, definitely arrive early, because they do not take reservations.

I ordered the smoked salmon eggs benedict, which came with potatoes, mushrooms, and onions. It also came with a few orange slices and I asked for no capers. It was delicious. The salmon was so fresh and the eggs were poached perfectly.

My husband ordered the western sandwich which was simple but very tasty. Coffee and tea was added to our meals for $1.50 each and included free refills.

Overall, a very simple straightforward menu but deceptively good and very affordable. The service was also great, very friendly staff, no issues and we were able to get help from whoever was passing by our table.

You can't go wrong with this place for breakfast. Just come early...

Staff was very friendly. Food was ok. It was exactly what you'd expect a diner breakfast place to be. The wait for food was a long time. There's was 2 of us and we ordered before a good chunk of other people and from start to finish we were there for an hour and a half, if not longer. So if you don't have that type of time to spend then I would say go somewhere else but if your looking for a cheap breakfast then yeah this place would be good for that

One thing I would like to add: I have IBS and it's hit or miss in what irritates it. I tried to order something that wouldn't be too bad on my stomach but I immediately had diarrhea within 20 minutes of leaving which is abnormal for me (if something irritates my stomach, it usually takes a couple of hours). My partner also had diarrhea within 30 minutes of leaving this place and he has a strong stomach. Not sure what that means for the food - it was cooked fresh and hot but maybe something in what we both ate had...