Raise the Hammer

Excited for more bahn mi options...

As far as Eat Smart goes, here are some other award-winners in Hamilton:

http://www.eatsmartontario.ca/find/workplace/46/41/20

Yum!

Looking good :)

Now if we only had a WH Stadium, the world would be at PEACE.

For some reason I am craving cupcakes and coffee! Great update - always nice to see development in the small business sector.

Kasa's Jarvis Street location, the former home of Baramibunei, also apparently features karaoke daily, 3pm-3am, on the second floor (as K Zone).

Karaoke seems to be popular in the IV these days.

Domestique-Café Cyclo Sportif in Dundas. Just off King down Miller's Lane (12 Miller's Lane). It may not be new, but I just found it. Really great coffee, really great owner.

graham, it's not new, but you're right - great spot. Thx for mentioning it. Would be great to see the IV develop a Dundas type feel someday. LRT anyone??

So hungry....have I ever mentioned that I prefer sushi to oxygen?

I've spent years trying new food downtown, and no matter how hard I try there's always more.

Downtown Hamilton: still the best food for at least an hour's drive in any direction. Thank you immigration.

Yah, I gotta say downtown Hammer has a freaking excellent selection of food, especially in the IV but along James and John in both directions as well. Something we really take for granted, maybe.

I'm jonesing for a good shnitzel right now and I can think of at least 3 places downtown to get it at.

I have friends who lived here for a year or two and moved to Australia. In fact, they have lived all over the world. Recently one of them emailed me and said the thing they miss the most in their travels is the food in Hamilton. They said they talk about it all the time.
We probably do take it for granted

good god people. Now I'm going to get downvoted by all you gladhanders, but everybody clapping at once does not equal a good show. We've got some bright spots, and Detour is now one of them, but our food scene is really abysmal. Put Dundas back where it belongs and we've really got nothing.

"everybody clapping at once does not equal a good show."

Um, have you actually been downtown to eat lately? There are tons of amazing restaurants, my favourites are Acclamation on James North, amazing mediterranean fusion, Mex-I-Can, Gate of India, Kampai, La Luna and Papagayo on King West, YaMan and Brownie's in IV, Bistro Parisien, Wass, Lo Presties, Bronzies and Boo's on James South, great pubs on Augusta, Bar on Locke, Breadbar and Courtyard on Locke......and that's just off the top of my head.

Funny there's a National Post article on Detour Roasters Cafe today:


http://life.nationalpost.com/2011/01/26/field-trip-detour-roasters-cafe/

Looks like the stadium trolls are bleeding over to other articles as well. Just ignore and move on. We who actually spend our money downtown and even LIVE downtown know how good it is. No sense in appeasing some gum flapper from somewhere else.

In the last 3 years I've noticed immense changes in the look and feel of downtown. I work and spend my pay cheque down there, and soon I'll live right in the core as well. No doubt that restaurants are the meat and potatoes of downtown business (pun intended) as we move forward.

Comment edited by MattM on 2011-01-26 11:10:24

Thanks for the new spots to check out. As long as we're talking about Cafes/bakeries - pane del sole on John St. N. is pretty awesome. Their grocery items are cheaper than Fortino's and it's a good substitute wehn you can't get to Nardini's in S. Creek. Their sausage is pretty decent. Too bad the view doesn't have a homemade sausage category -these would be my picks: (1) Nardini S. Creek (2) Beach Road (Locke St) (3) Pane del sole

Jason- great job showcasing these great places. Nice to see!

Cal

Thx Cal, I scheduled an appointment today at Detour to check it out. Very nice. Worth the trip into Dundas. I could see this place opening other locations in the Hammer someday.

Not trying to sound like an anonymous spammer here - but I have been thinking about investment property opportunities for a while in downtown Hamilton/James N and Dundas - anyone having some connections in that regard please get in touch with me at blurMEDIA.ca

LOL usually spammers want to take your money, not spend there money.

Off topic but still downtown, finally got to tour the library/farmer's market and came away significantly underwhelmed. All that money for what?

If that's what Hamilton is tooting its horn about we're in more trouble then most think. (If that's possible at all)

I too was underwelmed. Went this past weekend with the family and I have to say, the kids area in Dundas library is much nicer even though it's older. And is it just me or does the library look like Ontario place back in the seventies??

Thanks for this list Jason!

Had a really nice lunch downtown today at La Piazza Allegra with some co-workers. It was a nice opportunity to do a little bragging about downtown as a whole. I also directed an out-of-town co-worker to Mex-I-Can recently and he came back happy.

I have another group coming in from London for a lunch meeting tomorrow and I'm going to try to steer them downtown. Upper James is closer but maybe I can open a few more eyes to what Downtown is really like.

What is "IV"? Also worth trying - the Wild Orchid does a really interesting salt cod calzone. They have a Portuguese name for it, and it needs a sauce to go along with it which they don't offer, but I've never eaten anything like it.

International Village. The part of King Street between Wellington and James, roughly.

IV straddles Beasley and Landsdale: King William Street to Main East, Mary Street to West Avenue.

http://www.hamiltoninternationalvillage.ca

Thanks for this Jaason. Very informative for a resident of the Hamilton suburbs. As I've mentioned before, the one difficulty I have (and I'm never the only one) is that it's not easy (...easier now with google maps/ places) to find compiled lists like this with recommended and/or simply profiles of downtown Hamilton restaurants.

Actually, I should rephrase. There probably is, but since it doesn't hit me over the head, it's a less-than-simple task to find them, then determine which fall within my relative taste parametres in order to go and check out.

Currently, I rely on this site, primarily, and what I see in the Hmmm magazine, whenever that arrives.

Would be cool if there was a comprehensive downtown online portal that showcased all the attractions with a profile and then lead you to their own website. This is sorta what the BIA sites are, but those are a bit disjointed and aren't in the business of really 'showcasing' anything. More of a semi-directory.

I think our downtown shows a lot better than most give it credit. Especially when a little bit of writing and art direction are used. (The aformentioned Hmmm and the condo ads/ websites are a testament to that.)

Just a thought -- and I know it'd be a pretty big undertaking. Which, of course, costs money. But, would certainly boost the awareness and, in-turn, erode some negative perceptions that some (especially those who live outside of downtown) may hold.

Comment edited by slodrive on 2011-01-26 16:39:42

...and here's what a bit of googling got me...not bad.

http://www.hamiltonmagazine.com/sitepage...

Shout out to two favourite restaurants on King William St.

Thai Memory, beside the Lister block.

Dalina, between Hughson St. and John St., serves Egyptian food and has been there many years already.

Dalina is a place I am hoping I can take my wife the next time we are down for a Bulldogs game. I lunched there 8-9 months ago and the food was absolutely brilliant.

A short list of interesting, affordable and tasty food downtown: Affinity, August 8, Harvest Burger, Harvest Moon, Mex-I-Can, Papagayo, Sushi Day, La Piazza, Capri, Street Meet BBQ, My-Thai, Wass Ethiopian Foods, Bonanza Bakery - and more falafel shops than I can count. Blow all of these up and I suspect there still wouldn't be anywhere closer than downtown Guelph or Niagra with a competing assortment of food.

Atomic Cupcakes will have a hard time replacing Karlik Pastries, denied its space in the market by ill-fated bureaucratic attempts at Market gentrification.

Too bad the view doesn't have a homemade sausage category -these would be my picks: (1) Nardini S. Creek (2) Beach Road (Locke St) (3) Pane del sole

Ahhh, Nardini sausage. This stuff is legendary. My Italian father-in-law will only ever buy Nardini sausage and serves it for occasions both great and small. Best sausage in the city hand's down.

@Undustrial, I agree that downtown has come a long way and the diversity of food available is exciting and improving but it's a little excessive to say that the restaurant scene has surpassed Toronto!

I've seen most of my favourite restaurants listed, and 0i encourage you all to try each of them at least once. For tje year I worked in Hamilton I made it a point to go out for lunch almost every Friday with my non-Hamilton co-workers and we always had a great time, no matter where we went.

One place I don't see mentioned above is Incognito on John St. Which I would recommend. They have (or had) decently priced lunch specials, great service, and tasty food. They also have a prix fixe special deal with the Hamilton Philharmonic if you want to make an evening out of it. It's probably comparable to Boo's in terms of feel/price.

Recently some friends invited me out to the Keg on a Friday night, without having made reservations. Needless to say that after being told there was a two hour wait I suggested Incognito. They were sceptical of downtown Hamilton, but they thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant!

Incognito is a terrific spot for lunch! Especially for a client lunch or dinner, actually. Fantastic spot.

For cheap yet satisfying Chinese, I recommend the Jade Garden on James at Vine. I love that place. Not too many people seem to recommend it though.

Jade Garden is awesome. As is Harvest Moon, across the street.

I never said it surpassed Toronto, just everything to about that radius (about an hour from our borders). And other than Toronto, how many cities in the region compare?

Downtown Hamilton has an unbelievable density of tasty restaurants, and this is nothing new.

I'm still looking for confirmation, but have been told that http://www.panefresco.ca/ is coming to Locke South, across from the West Town.

Loaf Street South?

just received confirmation. Pane Fresco isn't opening on Locke, but one of their employees is opening a pizzeria on Locke.

Corner of Locke and Hunter would be nice.

I can't confirm location, but the house across from the West Town is what I was told.

Another good addition is the consignment shop "Modify Your Closet" at 205 King East. I'd seen it open for a while now but only went there last week. Very nice - great quality merchandise and reasonably priced.

It's worth a look even if you don't plan on buying anything - very clean, lots of repurposed furniture and racks they've built themselves. Original wood floors, white walls above exposed brick. Good lighting (also made themselves, or made from vintage lighting they've rewired or reworked). Excellent organization and display of the merchandise too, without overcrowding.

Currently it's only women's clothing and shoes, they are looking to get men's as well.

Skirts were half-price, so a few example items I looked at were a Tristan and Isolde wool tweed skirt for $30 ($15 with the sale) and an oxblood leather just-past-the-knee skirt from the Gap (original price $15, with the sale $7.50). Great prices for that quality and what seems to be a carefully curated selection. Most other items were, I think, buy one get the second half price - and no tax.

(edit: left out the word "floors" when I first wrote the post :))

Comment edited by Meredith on 2011-01-30 15:38:27

There's also a barbershop that's opened up at 2--? King East on the same side - in one of the buildings with the blue awnings. I usually see a half-dozen or so people there when I walk by and they have a sign for $10 haircuts on Tuesdays.

I think I saw Sean Gibson (Ward 3 candidate from the last election) in there the other day, so it's likely one of his.

"It's a short-term trend and we're starting to see a real saturation," he adds. "Demand is flat. And quite frankly, people can bake cupcakes."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324345804578425291917117814.html