The Blackfoot Truckstop Diner turned 67 in 2021. That’s nearly seven decades of service to Calgary’s families and communities. Edna Taylor moved to Calgary in 1948 from a farming town close to Wimbourne. 

Full of determination and just six years after moving to Calgary, this young woman opened her own cafe that has proven to be a timeless classic in Calgary culture. In June 1956, this young woman opened the Blackfoot Truckstop Diner (then known as Royalite). It was the first truckstop in the city limits. There were a limited number of cafes outside of the downtown core. And a few years after opening, it was the city’s first 24-hour diner.

While the Blackfoot Truckstop Diner has become a well-known Calgary institution, it hasn’t survived over six decades just because of its shepherd’s pie and turkey dinners. Customers and other long-lasting staff members will tell you…