DUNNVILLE—You may not realize it when walking through the front doors, but in addition to enjoying tasty diner fare at reasonable prices, patrons of Dunnville’s newest eatery Passmores Diner stand a good chance of their order being taken by an internationally known artist.
While the name Levi Passmore may not immediately strike a chord, millions of online fans will instantly recognize his online avatar, ‘Leviathan’. Under the name, Levi released a Fortnite parody song called ‘Chug Jug With You’ four years ago that has since risen to incredible heights of popularity across a variety of online platforms.
“When I was about 12-13, I made a parody song and posted it on a few social media platforms. I didn’t think much of it; I made it for friends. I thought they would find it funny. I checked in a day later … it blew up,” recalled Levi on his unexpected rise to fame. “I was a little confused by it. It had about 100,000 views. I remember thinking ‘that’s a lot of people’. About a month or so later it had reached about 1 million.”
Now with 37 million views on the original YouTube post, 23 million plays on music-streaming platform Spotify, and over 600,000 TikTok videos made using samples from the song, it’s fair to say that Levi’s song hit a cultural nerve.
“People often hear my name, and then they hear the song and go, ‘that was you?!’,” said Levi.
In the time since, he has earned enough money from the song to take a chance on chasing a dream to own and operate his own diner in the community he has called home his whole life.
“I wanted to do something with (the money from this song); I didn’t want it to sit in a bank account. I didn’t want to buy a car or a house. I wanted to do something for my community,” said Levi.
He recalled wanting to take his dad, former mayoral candidate Dick Passmore, out for breakfast one morning.
With a line out the door at Pothos Café and nothing else open, the idea for Passmores Diner was born,“There was no place to get a waffle in Dunnville and I wanted a Belgian waffle,” laughed Levi.
Passmore’s is located in an iconic Dunnville location, the former Knowles Restaurant. The iconic location first opened it’s doors in 1862, serving as a confectionary and a groceteria before transitioning first into Veterans Cafe in 1920 and later the same year, the Seto Cafe, specializing in Chinese food.
The establishment was originally purchased by Bill and Vi Knowles in 1952. It operated under their name until 2020 when then-owner Dorothy Knowles had to shut the doors due to health concerns and the impacts of Covid.
Dick recalled going to the diner as a child, “The 40s look that it has now is how it looked when I was a kid in the 60s and the 70s. Bill and Vi were well known for the pies they would make here…. The place used to have jukeboxes at every table.”
Levi strived to capture that old-school spirit when renovating the location, adding, “We’ve gone by our hearts. We’ve done what we thought would make people happy.”
He continued, “I think it really shows, not just in the way that it looks, but the way you feel when you come in, when you hear people talking to you, there’s a lot of love in it.“
Re-opening was a family effort, with Levi’s mom Lisa and dad Dick firmly in his corner, and a ton of sweat equity poured into painting, designing, and turning their vision into a reality.
Levi said that without his family’s help and support, Passmores Diner would not exist: “That’s why I put the name Passmores on there. People ask me why I didn’t keep the name Knowles – it’s because we aren’t the Knowles. We’re the Passmores.”
Levi said that while the process has presented challenges, it has been rewarding to see everything come together: “The only things we changed were things that helped. The floor before was eye-catching, but not in a good way. The ceilings and paintings were covered in nicotine…. The bathroom walls were caving in. Getting this place usable was a tough start, but getting it to look as authentic as possible was my main goal.”
The menu at Passmores is a combination of Levi’s vision for a place he “would want to eat at” and input from his cooking staff.
With reasonable pricing and employees earning a living wage, patrons have asked Levi what his secret is.
He responded, “There is no secret. I have enough. I don’t want to have a full bank account; I just want to live. I’m happy, my employees are happy, people that come in here are happy – that’s really all I want to see.”
Levi has heard great feedback from patrons since opening the doors.
“I think people are really happy this place is back open.… When people pay $8-9 at a diner, I don’t think they’re expecting a lot. When they get something gourmet on their plate, it’s nice.”
“If you want good service, good, cheap food, and you want to support a business that is helping people live, this is the place to go,” concluded Levi. “We’re Passmores. We do things right.”
Passmores Diner is open seven days a week from 7-7.
