Spend a Day in Riversdale with Craig!

Arts & Culture, Entertainment, Families, Food & Drink, Outdoors & Adventure, Sports

Posted By Craig Silliphant , May 21, 2025

Living in Nutana, we’re lucky that it’s just a short stroll over the Sid Buckwold Bridge, making it the perfect little getaway without actually getting away.

Saskatoon has no shortage of cool, eclectic neighborhoods, and Riversdale is one of the best. So, in the spirit of exploration (and eating), I wrangled my wife and our two kids for a full-day adventure --- shopping, dining, and soaking up the vibes in this historic part of town.

Breakfast at Hometown Diner

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so we kicked things off with brekkie at Hometown Diner. It’s a bright, modern spot on 20th Street where everything is made from scratch with fresh ingredients. It’s the kind of place that feels effortlessly cool but still warm and welcoming --- a great energy to start our day with.

While Jenny went light with some fruit and a side of sausage, the kids went big with blueberry pancakes and bacon. Fluffy, buttermilk stacks drenched in syrup, finished with a hit of lemon zest. I went all-in on the Ukrainian Brekkie: perogies, sausage, ham, and a sunny-side-up egg, all piled onto a glorious mess of caramelized onions, sauerkraut, lemon zest, chili flakes, and Grand Padano. Washed down with a rich Americano? Chef’s kiss.

Exploring 20th Street

Properly fueled, we hit the shops. There are a ton of great stores along 20th Street, including Anthology Home Collection, in the historic Adilman Building. This place is a treasure trove of stylish furniture, home décor, body products, jewelry, and gourmet treats. It’s also home to Blossoms, one of Saskatoon’s best floral shops, so naturally, we spent a little too long admiring the arrangements and pretending we had a reason to buy fancy candles.

Escape Sports: A Playground for All Ages

From there, we veered over to 19th Street to check out Escape Sports, next to Bar Stella. If you’re imagining some generic big-box sporting goods store, let me stop you right there. This place is for the adventure seekers, the weekend warriors, and anyone who prefers their outdoor gear with a little more personality.

There are actually a few great, local sporting goods stores in the area (Al Andersons Source for Sports and Olympian Sports), but what sets Escape apart is their focus on outdoor adventure and alternative sports and activities. I have never seen as many disc golf supplies in one place! You need roller skates? They’ve got you covered. Skateboards? Yup. Scooters? Surfskates? Electric onewheels? Yup, yup, and yup. Escape Sports also stocks camping gear, quality apparel, and the kind of footwear that makes you feel instantly more outdoorsy just by trying it on.

Dinner at Primal Pasta

After a full day of wandering, shopping, and keeping up with the kids, it was time for some adulting. We dropped them off at Grandma’s, got dolled up, and headed to our reservation at Primal Pasta, one of the province’s top-tier dining spots.

Chefs Christie Peters and Kyle Michael have taken everything they learned while honing their craft around the world and brought it back to the prairies. Primal’s menu leans Italian, but it’s infused with local ideas and ingredients, plus creativity, making for a dining experience that’s equal parts rustic and refined.

Jenny started with a glass of prosecco, while I went full-on Bond villain with a martini. We can never resist ordering some fried bread to share with our pre-dinner cocktails. For mains, I had the tagliatelle with braised duck, walnuts, olives, chives, and parmesan --- pure magic in pasta form. Jenny went with the spaghetti all’amatriciana, featuring homemade noodles, tomato, pancetta, chili, and pecorino.
Let me tell you --- we visited Italy last year and I would easily hold Primal up to some of the best restaurants we visited in that venerable foodie country. Primal is seriously next-level.

The Perfect Ending

After dinner, we walked back home to Nutana, put on some records, poured a couple of nightcaps, and let the day settle in. I won’t lie; I probably ate more in one day than I usually do in a week. But some meals --- and some days, in the right neighbourhood, with the people you love --- are just worth it.

Arts & Culture, Entertainment, Families, Food & Drink, Outdoors & Adventure, Sports

The Author

Craig Silliphant

Craig Silliphant is a Saskatoon writer, critic, journalist, broadcaster, filmmaker, and creative director. He is sometimes known as Craig Silliphant, The Movie Geek. His work has appeared in both mainstream and underground outlets like CBC Radio & Television, CTV Television, Post Media and The National Post, Global Television, Rawlco Radio, CFCR, and a variety of other websites, magazines, and radio stations. Craig wrote and co-produced the Global TV/Fahrenheit Films documentary, Stolen Sisters, about missing and murdered Indigenous women. He has published two locally best-selling books: Exile Off Main St., about Saskatoon’s music scene, and a short story collection called Nothing You Do Matters.