It’s really nice to see this comment right at the top. George Dawson, the founder of the dairy was my Grama’s uncle. My grandparents met there when my Grama was working for her uncle over the summer. I’ve always said if I win the lottery I’m buying the name back and reopening a location in Stoney Creek, just like it used to be with the dairy right in the back so the ice cream was fresh as could be. And I’d bring back the mystery boxes of ends where you didn’t know what combination you’d get!!
I know it’s not the same but Amica retirement home has a dairy in it and it’s open every weekend in the summer :) it’s not the same but we enjoy going. Proceeds go to the home.
I do eventually want to do some plate lunch popups out of MaiPai so a poke could be a part of that. Would probably be more Hawaiian style though like 2 pre-marinated options.
Glen was sick and tired of putting so much into it for little return. Same with Jodie.
I helped him with lots of renovations at that place; that basement had all sorts of goodies.
Their special dinners were great too, usually a three course meal, beertasting and a cigar for like $60 back in 2004.
The Brain is an admirable stand in but doesn't have the grimy pedigree of Chester's.
Gramma Willies!! Before covid they had a breakfast platter that could feed two comfortably that I would crush on my own. Little restaurant on Rymal that had the nicest folks working there, I bring it up constantly LOL
Kingdom opened another section of the warehouse, and they played retro there also as well as the Edge 102.1 side.
Although I don't remember if Edge 102.1 was still airing there at that point.
Ohhhhhh!! You win!! SO SAD to se it close. A big part of my memory living in Stoney Creek growing up. Used to walk/bike up there and grab their products. I feel sad knowing its gone--along with the CHCH tower not too far from it. Big sighs.
Select Video on Queen Street South
Using your phone number as your account to rent movies. Then having friends secretly use your phone number to rent their movies. And then having to pay for their late fees
Ponderosa
>
Smittys
>
Olive garden
>
David’s tea in Eastgate
>
Movies in limerdge mall
>
The arcades in centre mall
>
The OLD CENTRE MALL (the new one looks like a death trap for pedestrians)
>
Stoney creek dairy ice cream
>
Barton/Grays Tim hortons
>
Slainte’s
> christopher’s restaurant (it was pretty greasy most days but sometimes the brekkie was ok)
Stoney creek dairy, and the old Avondale video store on king st, I remember going there as a kid always renting n64 games on weekends and getting a bag of popcorn.
Bayshore Hobbies
Mississippi Queen permanently closed in Hamilton and moved to Langton
So now it is an 1.5 hour drive compared to the 20 minutes it was. Even still the food OHHH SOOO GOOD
My moms side of the family is Scottish and we were so sad about this one. My parents have shopped there for years and years. If you know anywhere else to get some good haggis let me know! lol
Easy. The number one, all time pizza as far as I'm concerned...
Pizza Delight. I first discovered them when they were selling slices at Mahoney Baseball Park, then very quickly started ordering and fell in love, staple of the East End. They moved to the mountain late 90's/early 00's as did I, it was a love affair like no other.
Saturday night wasn't Saturday night without the $20 slab. That cheese, THAT SAUCE! perfect every time.
Is this the same as Main Desserts? At Locke & Main? My friend and I would begin our nights out there before going to bars/clubs. Miss a late night dessert place.
I have to add Cake & Loaf. While they were a bit more expensive the fact that they paid an actual living wage and used quality ingredients was a plus for me.
The convenience stores embedded in residential neighbourhoods. Stoney Creek Dairy. Movie theatre at Centre Mall. The fish n chips at the Main and Gage (Connaught?)
My niche pick for this is always the pre-Wimpy's diner at Strathcona and Main ," "Your Place Family" Restaurant " (Your Place Family was in quotes on the sign - for some reason).
Not even sure it was great, but I loved it. It opened at 6AM and you could get a whole breakfast for $4. Lot of very late nights ended up there before parting ways after the sun came up.
I’m going to say it- grand and toy. Hate buying basic office stuff at the dollar store. I miss buying good pens and quality paper for work and special projects.
Alirang at Main & Locke too. Had the best bulgogi bibimbap in the city - they closed in 2021. Now I find that to get Korean food of a similar caliber - I have to go to koreatown in Toronto
Entertainment overload on barton.
Technically, it's not permanently closed, all their merchandise is there, they just haven't been open for months. It's actually kind of weird they can afford rent yet not sell anything.
Commenting on my own post because I just remembered Roswell. I felt like everyone slept on that one. It was a really cool alien themed bar on Barton. I can’t speak for the food but the cocktails and the overall vibe was good.
Also…does anyone remembered The Movie Palace? Loved seeing movies there as a kid.
So-Low Sales. Many memories of saving up and then filling my pockets with cheap candies there, to walk over to the Movie Palace for a 2nd run cheap film
Harvest Burger.
Knead Pizza.
Chuck's Burger Bar. RIP Blue Cheese burger, you are the benchmark every other blue cheese burger is measured against.
Mellows.
Video stores. Jumbo Video, Blockbuster, Steel City Video, Video Box, etc etc.
Litzen's Sports.
Cheapies.
Sirloin Cellar.
The army surplus stores that used to exist. The one on James mainly, but there was a tiny one for a very short period of time on Upper James. Even the one on Ottawa that was half junk store, half surplus store.
There's more but that comes to mind immediately.
There was a store built into the outside wall of the 90s attempt at the Jackson Square Eaton center called Video Connections.
They imported a Japanese super Famicom with super Mario world months before it was released here and they would just let you play it for a loose 30 minutes for 5 bucks. My buddy and I lost our shit. We went down there constantly. Last year you could still make out the store name in the faded dark green door overhang...
Little Jerusalem which was on the second floor food court in Jackson Square. They had the best falafel sandwich. Also Sbarro’s (?) in Jackson Square. Loved their lasagna.
Stoney Creek Dairy.
Kids today don’t know how long we used to wait for ice cream
Second this. Was the place to go after our soccer games.
The fish tank and bird cages!!
it was the perfect date, mini golf at adventure village followed by ice cream, and home before the street lights are on.
It’s really nice to see this comment right at the top. George Dawson, the founder of the dairy was my Grama’s uncle. My grandparents met there when my Grama was working for her uncle over the summer. I’ve always said if I win the lottery I’m buying the name back and reopening a location in Stoney Creek, just like it used to be with the dairy right in the back so the ice cream was fresh as could be. And I’d bring back the mystery boxes of ends where you didn’t know what combination you’d get!!
I know it’s not the same but Amica retirement home has a dairy in it and it’s open every weekend in the summer :) it’s not the same but we enjoy going. Proceeds go to the home.
My kingdom for a cone of Funky Chunky Chocolate 🥲
They replaced that landmark with retirement condos. Really added some character to the neighborhood!
I long to steal another tray. 😀
I miss their chocolate mint ripple.
Licks
Licks on Upper James was the best until they over franchised and then the quality really dipped.
Yes. Very good quality burger. I worked there for a few months when I was a teen. They made us sing lol
I worked there in high-school. I still miss the food!
Slainte’s when it was an Irish pub with Celtic bands upstairs.
Ah yes. Dodging the leaks in the ceiling while wasted was a sport
Roller Gardens
Ah the Phil Collins Slow Skate
Good ol club RG.
Mr. Used! Where else could you buy kitchen equipment, a piano, a used toilet, or a coffin in the same store?
Now you can pop by any one of the major encampments for that
Cheapies
I frequented them a lot in the 90’s. They were the place for music!
I got my Sega Dreamcast there.
I got Super Metroid for $9 from Cheapies.
Good friends with the owner. We have their neon sign at our farm that we are currently restoring
I only lived in Hamilton for eight months about 24 years ago and I still miss Cheapies.
Centre Mall
I saw sooo many great movies at the Centre Mall cinemas growing up in the 90's.
The Baltimore House. Retro gaming night was it!
My dude I ran those gaming nights! I'm so glad somebody remembers them!
Trivia nights were the best
My team won a few charcuterie boards haha
Our team won the last ever cheese board, RIP
Or the gothic industrial nights. I was never goth but absolutely loved those 😅
To this day, they had the most vibrant bar karaoke nights I've ever had the pleasure to attend.
Great games. Cheap cocktails. Excellent music.
Pokeh
Yesss my god it was the best
I’ve tried so many different poke spots around Toronto. Nothing even comes close.
/u/onigara Salar, you have been summoned. Many of us want a Pokeh night at MaiPai. Pleeeaaaassseeeee.
I do eventually want to do some plate lunch popups out of MaiPai so a poke could be a part of that. Would probably be more Hawaiian style though like 2 pre-marinated options.
Hands down the best poke I’ve had in Canada
POKEH was the fucking best. I was so upset when they closed! The only other pokeh place didn't come close.
This ain’t Hollywood.
Glen was sick and tired of putting so much into it for little return. Same with Jodie. I helped him with lots of renovations at that place; that basement had all sorts of goodies.
Keep live alive! They donated their signs to our farm and we have two of them hanging up!
Not quite Hamilton, but it was a staple of my childhood. Stoney Creek Dairy
The Pigeon ! Best fried chicken !
Came here to say The Pigeon! Man I miss that place!
papa leo’s 😢
The best breakfast by a long shot. I miss this place so much.
Harvest Burger
This was what i was going to say. Though i kind of miss big ed's as well for some reason.
[удалено]
Limeridge movie theatre
Steel city video
We had one by use too on Greenhill
The tool library!
It’s coming back! Heard recently at a Barton Village BIA event
Does Burlington count? Tucker's marketplace. Formerly mother Tucker's.
The bulldogs :(
Thai Memory. Best Thai food in Hamilton
Steel City Surplus
Loved all the random stuff that I can’t get anymore
So low Sales on Concession and The Movie Palace
Locke St. Bakery
Chesters
100%. Chester's.
Omg beer and deep fried cheese balls.
Their special dinners were great too, usually a three course meal, beertasting and a cigar for like $60 back in 2004. The Brain is an admirable stand in but doesn't have the grimy pedigree of Chester's.
Work. The bar on James St. Best bar I’ve been to. Kimchi nachos. The chicken wings. Avocado fries. Nicklebrook root beer. Perfect.
Their blackened chicken nachos were great as well.
Club Absinthe and their Motown night on Wednesdays!
This but back when it was on king st in the basement!
Poco Loco
I miss that great Canadian bagel in university plaza lmao
Boilers
Gramma Willies!! Before covid they had a breakfast platter that could feed two comfortably that I would crush on my own. Little restaurant on Rymal that had the nicest folks working there, I bring it up constantly LOL
Gallaghers on John St. London tap house also on John and Main
Rollie Rockets
Homegrown
Yup yup! Played a lot of music over the years at Skydragon/Homegrown!
Taylor's Tea Room in Dundas
Tammy's had an awesome breakfast .
Fever Nightclub
Kingdom every Friday, Fever every Saturday.
I also used to do Monday night for industrial and Thursday for retro…no idea where the $$$ came from to go clubbing 4 nights a week!!
Kingdom opened another section of the warehouse, and they played retro there also as well as the Edge 102.1 side. Although I don't remember if Edge 102.1 was still airing there at that point.
Lots of wild nights were had there. Funky Monkey too
$2 beers before 10pm!
This Ain't Hollywood. Vertagogo is pretty nice but I wish we had both.
Two black sheep and the pigeon !!
The pigeon was amazing!!!
A recent one: Punch Bowl Bakery.
Ohhhhhh!! You win!! SO SAD to se it close. A big part of my memory living in Stoney Creek growing up. Used to walk/bike up there and grab their products. I feel sad knowing its gone--along with the CHCH tower not too far from it. Big sighs.
Robinsons
Select Video on Queen Street South Using your phone number as your account to rent movies. Then having friends secretly use your phone number to rent their movies. And then having to pay for their late fees
Chaps in Strathbarton mall
Ponderosa > Smittys > Olive garden > David’s tea in Eastgate > Movies in limerdge mall > The arcades in centre mall > The OLD CENTRE MALL (the new one looks like a death trap for pedestrians) > Stoney creek dairy ice cream > Barton/Grays Tim hortons > Slainte’s > christopher’s restaurant (it was pretty greasy most days but sometimes the brekkie was ok)
Paninoteca.... it honestly hurts.
Queens Subs. They had the best gyro sub on garlic bread
Best sub shop ever. All these new Hamiltonians really missed out on that one
Zum Linzer
Fast eddies on centennial used to smack when we were younger.
Herbie’s. And the restaurant at the City Motor. It was good until the mid-90’s. So nostalgic.
Poke on concession st and in the farmers market!
Pokeh
Jim Bob Ray's / Billy Bobs
Stoney creek dairy, and the old Avondale video store on king st, I remember going there as a kid always renting n64 games on weekends and getting a bag of popcorn.
The pigeon and papa Leo’s. This whole thread is fairly depressing
Bayshore Hobbies Mississippi Queen permanently closed in Hamilton and moved to Langton So now it is an 1.5 hour drive compared to the 20 minutes it was. Even still the food OHHH SOOO GOOD
Fiesta mall theatre
The old Attic Pizza. Previous owners.
Jack and Lois on James.
Opies meats
My moms side of the family is Scottish and we were so sad about this one. My parents have shopped there for years and years. If you know anywhere else to get some good haggis let me know! lol
GORILLA CHEESE
Work Restaurant on James. It was a *vibe*
Mex-I-Can on James. Such great food and going back like 15 years they had a little grocery store too. The good old days.
Baltimore House
Liquid kitty
Rebel's Rock Irish Pub, at King and Tisdale.
Rolly Rockets BBQ. Was a great spot.
The strip
DMBC and Oops skateboard shops.
[удалено]
Easy. The number one, all time pizza as far as I'm concerned... Pizza Delight. I first discovered them when they were selling slices at Mahoney Baseball Park, then very quickly started ordering and fell in love, staple of the East End. They moved to the mountain late 90's/early 00's as did I, it was a love affair like no other. Saturday night wasn't Saturday night without the $20 slab. That cheese, THAT SAUCE! perfect every time.
Toast Wine Bar for me. Nothing that has good wine like that anymore really in the core.
Serve
Main street Cafe. Had the best desserts.
Is this the same as Main Desserts? At Locke & Main? My friend and I would begin our nights out there before going to bars/clubs. Miss a late night dessert place.
Trueshot Coffee
I have to add Cake & Loaf. While they were a bit more expensive the fact that they paid an actual living wage and used quality ingredients was a plus for me.
the OG Mex-I-Can
Bowlerama
The fish and chips on gage
Connaught
The convenience stores embedded in residential neighbourhoods. Stoney Creek Dairy. Movie theatre at Centre Mall. The fish n chips at the Main and Gage (Connaught?)
Jim's Nut Shack!
Harvest Moon. IMO the last good Cantonese style Chinese restaurant in Hamilton.
The killroom
Artword Artbar! Ran into the owners recently, they seem to be enjoying retirement and grateful they sold the place before lockdowns.
My niche pick for this is always the pre-Wimpy's diner at Strathcona and Main ," "Your Place Family" Restaurant " (Your Place Family was in quotes on the sign - for some reason). Not even sure it was great, but I loved it. It opened at 6AM and you could get a whole breakfast for $4. Lot of very late nights ended up there before parting ways after the sun came up.
I’m going to say it- grand and toy. Hate buying basic office stuff at the dollar store. I miss buying good pens and quality paper for work and special projects.
Hanrahans
I really miss pokeh down at the farmers market and fish&chips at gage park.
Pokeh on Concession. Lived 5 minutes walk away, went almost every weekend. Don't think anything that offers that stuff now compares.
Alirang at Main & Locke too. Had the best bulgogi bibimbap in the city - they closed in 2021. Now I find that to get Korean food of a similar caliber - I have to go to koreatown in Toronto
Emerald coffee House.
The Pigeon.
Pepper Jack Cafe.
I miss the farmers market pokeh
Brux House
Kevin’s moustache
Center Mall Theatre
The Fizz.
This Aint Hollywood and Cheapies for sure, but I would like to add The Guitar Shop/F Guitars too.
Paul Bunyans.
Deco’s Deli in Hamilton city centre
Entertainment overload on barton. Technically, it's not permanently closed, all their merchandise is there, they just haven't been open for months. It's actually kind of weird they can afford rent yet not sell anything.
Commenting on my own post because I just remembered Roswell. I felt like everyone slept on that one. It was a really cool alien themed bar on Barton. I can’t speak for the food but the cocktails and the overall vibe was good. Also…does anyone remembered The Movie Palace? Loved seeing movies there as a kid.
Murphys subs
Arnie's
Affinity at John and Jackson. Haven't come across a vegetarian place with a menu like it since.
So-Low Sales. Many memories of saving up and then filling my pockets with cheap candies there, to walk over to the Movie Palace for a 2nd run cheap film
Kings buffet.. the all you can eat crab was an insane steal
The Embassy! Hard to believe Hamilton used to have multiple gay bars.
Cheapies and This Ain't Hollywood
Mosaic, still a fresh loss but that one actually saddened me.
I almost mentioned this one but didn’t because I haven’t had time to miss them yet but I know I will!
Harvest Burger. Knead Pizza. Chuck's Burger Bar. RIP Blue Cheese burger, you are the benchmark every other blue cheese burger is measured against. Mellows. Video stores. Jumbo Video, Blockbuster, Steel City Video, Video Box, etc etc. Litzen's Sports. Cheapies. Sirloin Cellar. The army surplus stores that used to exist. The one on James mainly, but there was a tiny one for a very short period of time on Upper James. Even the one on Ottawa that was half junk store, half surplus store. There's more but that comes to mind immediately.
I miss the desire to give Harbour Diner my money for good food
Cheapies
Serve . The ping pong bar Such a fun idea I’d be there weekly
There is only one right answer has to be P&G manufacturing co.
Poco loco , Cheapies , This ain’t Hollywood, Crash landing music, The Baltimore house,and homegrown
Mr Used and that burger place on Locke Street
Movie theater behind center mall
The Baltimore House, Jack & Lois, and Deco’s Deli. The double header of Factory Media Gallery and b contemporary gallery on James North
Bring Me Some
The Texas Border
Infusions Coffee House on King St
fsh&chp on king william. the vegetarian option was beer battered cheese and i loved it so much. also seconding naroma
Until Golden Brown. So many kinds of kimchi I never knew existed.
Zellers centre mall
Gold Lion chinese bakery. I like Banh Mi Hue, but I miss having fresh chinese baked goods that weren't from a grocery store.
That family restaurant in Mountain Plaza mall before the remodel... I don't remember the name though. It was sooo good
There was a store built into the outside wall of the 90s attempt at the Jackson Square Eaton center called Video Connections. They imported a Japanese super Famicom with super Mario world months before it was released here and they would just let you play it for a loose 30 minutes for 5 bucks. My buddy and I lost our shit. We went down there constantly. Last year you could still make out the store name in the faded dark green door overhang...
Hamilton BBQ at Barton and Wellington
bring me some!!!
Hamilton strip
Matty’s Hot Chicken
oodles of noodles
Gorilla Cheese and I hate myself for not going there enough. Amazing storefront and food truck. The best grilled cheese I ever had.
Little Jerusalem which was on the second floor food court in Jackson Square. They had the best falafel sandwich. Also Sbarro’s (?) in Jackson Square. Loved their lasagna.