Hamilton

Photo reprinted by permission from fotoshift.com.

Hamilton is located at the west end of Lake Ontario, between Niagara Falls and Toronto. With a population of a half million, it is the eighth largest city in Canada. Hamilton is an industrial centre and has earned the nickname, Steeltown. The city is framed by the harbour and lakefront on one side and by the Niagara Escarpment on the other. It is a short drive from Toronto, or you can get there by taking the Go train.

There are two vegetarian restaurants and a vegetarian group based from McMaster University. With its proximity to farms, Hamilton has a good local food scene championed by Hamilton Eat Local Project (HELP).

Affinity Vegetarian Restaurant
87 John St. S. (s. of Main), Hamilton, 905-529-2598
Authentic Asian cuisine. Menu features soups, entrees, combination specials and more. Weekdays 11:30am- 3pm, 5pm-9pm, Sat noon-9pm, Sun 5pm-9pm.
   Sherry reports: “This place is very large and can accommodate large groups. It is very tastefully decorated, complete with linen table clothes. The waiter is dressed for finer dining in a burgundy apron. Excellent quality food, a variety of 60 different flavors of fresh loose leaf tea, bubble tea, lunch and dinner combination platters, rice and noodle dishes. I had a Spicy Chicken Kung Pao combo and it was most excellent.”

Bread & Roses Cafe
27 King William St, (between James and Hughson), 905-777-8102
This cafe is a project of the Sky Dragon Community
Development Co-operative, dedicated to local produce from organic area
farms, as well as fair trade products. Great vegetarian and vegan
options, as well as gluten-free and raw items. 

Laura and Andre wrote us: "It's one of the few restaurants offering vegetarian and vegan options in Hamilton. They also help fund raise a food drive every Sunday called "Food not bombs" that serves vegan food to the homeless. Not to mention they publish our animal rights articles pertaining to factory farming. They are also into environmentalism, organic products, gay/lesbian rights, freedom of expression, art, and so many things that society condemns. Most of the people who work there are either vegetarian or vegan and don't wanna serve the chicken or shrimp, which is the only meat product on the menu. I'm sure you know that Hamilton is a tough sell on vegetarianism"

The Himalya Restaurant
160 Centennial Parkway N., Hamilton,  905-578-7400
Small Indian vegetarian restaurant. Reviewers at Restaurantica.com say: "I absolutely love it. It is so reasonably priced and the food is amazing." "Not fancy - a hole in the wall but what a treasure."

Closed: Hamilton Vegetarian Association
Update (March 2008):  The founder emailed us: "I graduated from McMaster University, so no longer have the resources from OPIRG to run the group.  I did not have anyone to pass it onto."

Simply Zen
143 Locke St S (at Hunter), Hamilton, simplyzen@sympatico.ca, 905-529-1998
www.simplyzen.ca
Operating as a web-based store since 2003, our exciting new Hamilton storefront is now open! Simply Zen is a small Canadian company dedicated to providing you with the finest natural, eco-friendly, organic and vegan products for every aspect of your life. Come in to see us and learn more about our selection of organic and raw foods, natural body care and wellness tools.