Hamilton Cuisine

[ihateittoo]

Originally Posted by pEte fiSt iN Ur fAce

'Canadian cuisine...foods from everywhere...with a heavy center on French and Asian flavours...'

The only part I understood is 'craft beers.' The rest of it sounds like gibberish.

Here's what I understand him to mean: 'Hey there. I'm opening a new restaurant on James North and I've got no f*ckin' clue what I'm doing. We're gonna serve whatever our dumba*s 18-year-old cook can manage...'

Personally, I think a restaurant's menu should be small and focused. I know it's too early to say but this guy sounds like he's all over the place.

He's been working at and running restaurants for years. He also will be the cook because he is doing this all on his own dime and effort. I understand your criticism of an unfocused menu, but how about you wait and see what it has to offer before making these imaginary scenarios in your head.

Quotes from facebook, twitter and etc. are whatever, be patient and then criticize. I have high hopes for this project it's been in the works for a long time.

[movingtohamilton]

WORK posted that food service starts tomorrow.

I have high hopes for this place. The menu should be adventurous.

[Wigs]

Are you guys excited that the first Canadian location of the Anchor Bar is opening up in downtown Hamilton on Friday?
http://www.thespec.com/news/business/art...bar-ready-for-downtown-hamilton-wingding

I think it's pretty awesome. As someone who lived in Hamilton (briefly attended Mohawk College 2000-2001) and later Buffalo for college/university I'm pretty excited for you guys. While not the epitome of wings, they are the benchmark by which all other chicken wings should be measured (and better than Duff's IMHO). Hopefully the Hammer location will have live music like the original Buffalo location. They have some great jazz musicians on Thurs/Sat nights.


edit: holy expensive wing prices (even original Buffalo location has raised their prices since I last went in 2008. I guess popularity translates into whatever market will bear)
Buffalo Anchor Bar - 10-$13, 20-$20, 50-$41(82cents/wing)
Hamilton Anchor Bar - 8-$12, 16-$23, 30-$42, 50-$65($1.30/wing!) price gouging in effect!

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by WIGS

Are you guys excited that the first Canadian location of the Anchor Bar is opening up in downtown Hamilton on Friday?
http://www.thespec.com/news/business/art...bar-ready-for-downtown-hamilton-wingding

I think it's pretty awesome. As someone who lived in Hamilton (briefly attended Mohawk College 2000-2001) and later Buffalo for college/university I'm pretty excited for you guys. While not the epitome of wings, they are the benchmark by which all other chicken wings should be measured (and better than Duff's IMHO). Hopefully the Hammer location will have live music like the original Buffalo location. They have some great jazz musicians on Thurs/Sat nights.


edit: holy expensive wing prices (even original Buffalo location has raised their prices since I last went in 2008. I guess popularity translates into whatever market will bear)
Buffalo Anchor Bar - 10-$13, 20-$20, 50-$41(82cents/wing)
Hamilton Anchor Bar - 8-$12, 16-$23, 30-$42, 50-$65($1.30/wing!) price gouging in effect!

I'm excited and planning on going when I get back to Hamilton in a week. Thanks for putting up the prices differences as I was wondering about that. Granted Buffalo's median income is way way lower than Hamilton's and there's a lower minimum wage to boot, but those are some expensive wings.

[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by drpgq

I'm excited and planning on going when I get back to Hamilton in a week. Thanks for putting up the prices differences as I was wondering about that. Granted Buffalo's median income is way way lower than Hamilton's and there's a lower minimum wage to boot, but those are some expensive wings.

My wife had lunch there today. Doors opened at 11:30, they were at capacity at 11:40.

The White Pizza is proving to be an early favourite.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by drpgq

I'm excited and planning on going when I get back to Hamilton in a week. Thanks for putting up the prices differences as I was wondering about that. Granted Buffalo's median income is way way lower than Hamilton's and there's a lower minimum wage to boot, but those are some expensive wings.

I now live in Calgary which has one of, if not the highest median income in Canada and prices here are typically $11-13 for usually ~10 wings.

However most bars/restaurants here need to get with the program and offer bleu cheese with the wings. Who in Western Canada decided that Ranch dip was an acceptable accompaniment with wings I'll never know!

from growing up in Niagara and later attending post secondary in Buffalo I've been spoiled with decent wings. However my friends will tell you that the best wings in Calgary come from WIGS' house (occasionally I have a wing night wednesdays at WIGS'-I thank my Buffalo "training" for that)

I hope the Hamilton Anchor Bar can offer a similar experience to the original even if the prices are on the steep side and look forward to reading your reviews!
just wingin' it,
WIGS

[palace1]

I have nothing against the Anchor Bar and wish them luck, but they seem to be getting more than their fair share of free press from the Spectator, with a banner across the front page and almost a full page inside on Wednesday.
Most new restaurants don't get a mention at all.

The original hype seemed to be that we should be celebrating an American restaurant deciding to invest in a Hamilton location. But the article explains that it's really two business partners from Burlington and Oakville who purchased the Canadian rights to the name (hopefully the recipes too).

And don't forget, an existing bar/restaurant Waltz was forced out of the space in order for the Anchor Bar to move in.

[matt602]

When I walked by around 2 I was actually surprised to see a few empty tables and nobody waiting to be seated. I kinda expected a line up.

[LikeHamilton]

Locke Street Bakery sold

A Hamilton bagel landmark has been sold.

Locke Street Bakery, a quintessential neighbourhood hot spot is now owned by one of the
partners in two other popular city hangouts, the Mulberry Street Coffee House and My Dog Joe.
Roger Abbiss confirmed to The Spectator that he has purchased the Locke Street Bakery,
famous for its New York-style bagels, specialty cream cheeses and roasted coffee. The deal
closes at the end of March.
Abbiss says he will have partners and that he plans to keep making bagels, though the
equipment could be moved offsite.
“We want to continue that tradition,” he said.
Peter Giorgini, owner of Locke Street Bakery for about 13 years, says he listed the bakery with
some regret.
“It was a tough decision. There were a lot of sleepless nights.”
He said he’ll miss the customers and the camaraderie with neighbours and staff in the oftenpacked shop.
“It was like Cheers, with the customers and employees.”
And he says there’s no way he would have sold to a chain.
Mulberry Street Coffee House opened several years ago on James Street North in what was
once a laundromat on the ground floor of the seriously dilapidated Hotel Hamilton. The
building has been transformed into studios for artists and the coffee house quickly became packed with the James Street North arts crowd, students, professionals and
longtime downtowners.
The eclectic My Dog Joe has developed a following for its savoury muffins and its fair trade, organic, shade-grown coffee.
Abbiss is also a partner in a coffee delivery business called Coffeecology that delivers by bicycle.

The Hamilton Spectator

http://www.thespec.com/news/business/article/879785--locke-street-bakery-sold

[SteelTown]

Ugh! One of my favourite places in Hamilton.

Sounds like they might mass produce the bagels now.

[thistleclub]

Mother’s Pizza rising again in east Hamilton
(Hamilton Spectator, Meredith MacLeod, Feb 2 2013)

Fans of Mother’s Pizza soon won’t have to rely on memories of root beer floats, Tiffany lamps and cheesy pizzas served on pedestals.

All the warm, gooey nostalgia will come back to life at a location in Hamilton’s east end.

Two partners behind the revival of the pizza and pasta chain, Brian Alger and Geeve Sandhu, hope to have the restaurant open at the beginning of April. It’s on Queenston Road, west of Eastgate Mall, in a former Tony Romas location.

Sandhu and Alger both look back fondly on visits to Mother’s as kids.

“We are very cognizant of people’s memories of it,” said Sandhu. “We need to nail it. We are the keepers of a pretty special brand. We don’t want to mess it up.”

Alger is a veteran of brand resurrection. He’s the guy behind bringing the The Pop Shoppe back to life. He bought the two trademarks at the same time and put off the Mother’s project until the beverage business was solid.

About a year ago, he found an operational partner in Sandhu.

Alger says there is great pride in reviving strong brands and connecting people to them.

“As we get older, I think there is a fondness and soft spot for these former brands. There was nothing about the brand that caused them to leave the market. It was mismanagement at some level.”

It’s appropriate Mother’s be resurrected in Hamilton, since the first one opened in Westdale in 1970. The chain eventually grew to about 120 locations in Canada, the United States and England.

Several generations will remember birthday parties and school field trips at the restaurants, which featured gingham tablecloths, tables made out of sewing machines, flashing marquee signs and swinging parlour-style doors. Patrons sat on antique-style chairs and silent movies played on a screen.

There will be plenty of reminders of the original restaurants, said Sandhu, including red and white checked fabric on seats, pitchers of pop, Tiffany glass panels and a projector playing black and white films.

But the ambience will be updated, with a standup rail in a bar area, old barn beams, stone walls and distressed oak. Sandhu likens the blend to that of the modern Ford Mustang, with a look both vintage and modern.

“If Mother’s had stayed around, it would have changed over the years,” said Alger. “We are trying to recreate that, like it’s never left the market.”

Sandhu, an Ancaster resident, has plenty of restaurant experience. He worked for Jack Astor’s for many years, and now owns three pubs, including the Black Bull and Ye Olde Squire, both in Burlington.

There is much more restaurant competition these days than the original Mother’s ever faced, he says. But he thinks there’s a niche in a kid-friendly place with good pizza.

“That will be our wheelhouse. Great big portions and it will all be homemade.”

The partners are working with a former Mother’s franchisee and trying to perfect the pizza dough based on the original recipe. They are bringing back the floats and the big mugs, too.

Alger says he’s a pizza buff and Mother’s was the best.

“It was true parlour-style pizza. I don’t think there was a better pizza out there.”

There is no big corporation behind this venture, says Sandhu. He and Alger are risking their own money. They are already scouting for their second location.

Grey Sisson, one of the three founders of Mother’s and the president during its heyday, says he will be watching the success of the restaurant closely.

“I love to see people bringing back a concept and reviving it. I’d love to see them do really well with it,” said Sisson, who is now chair of the board with Service Inspired Restaurants, a Burlington-based company that owns Jack Astor’s, Alice Fazooli’s and Canyon Creek.

SIR Corp. is headquartered in the former Mother’s Restaurants office on Burlington’s South Service Road.

Sisson and partners Ken Fowler and Pasquale Marra sold their stake in Mother’s in the mid-1980s, after taking the company public. The buyer began to franchise the operations and revenue began to plummet. Little Caesars bought the Mother’s chain out of receivership in 1989. Locations began to close a few years later, including the landmark first one in Westdale in 1992.

Mother’s had a very strong brand, says Sisson, who frequently has people sharing their memories of the restaurants. But a lot has changed on the restaurant scene, he says.

“There is so much competition out there. They have to be good out of the gate.”

[NortheastWind]

Originally Posted by WIGS

Are you guys excited that the first Canadian location of the Anchor Bar is opening up in downtown Hamilton on Friday?
http://www.thespec.com/news/business/art...bar-ready-for-downtown-hamilton-wingding

I think it's pretty awesome. As someone who lived in Hamilton (briefly attended Mohawk College 2000-2001) and later Buffalo for college/university I'm pretty excited for you guys. While not the epitome of wings, they are the benchmark by which all other chicken wings should be measured (and better than Duff's IMHO). Hopefully the Hammer location will have live music like the original Buffalo location. They have some great jazz musicians on Thurs/Sat nights.


edit: holy expensive wing prices (even original Buffalo location has raised their prices since I last went in 2008. I guess popularity translates into whatever market will bear)
Buffalo Anchor Bar - 10-$13, 20-$20, 50-$41(82cents/wing)
Hamilton Anchor Bar - 8-$12, 16-$23, 30-$42, 50-$65($1.30/wing!) price gouging in effect!

I was at the Anchor Bar at 9 p.m. and was turned away at the door as they were at capacity, and it was too cold to wait. They smokers outside told me that a pint of draft beer is $8.50. Yes, I would definitely say that they are price gouging.

[matt602]

Wow. That is beyond ridiculous. No thanks.

[Jon Dalton]

The beer menu is pretty lackluster. I saw the menu online and the price of a Canadian is $6.50, Rickards is $7.50, Guinness $8.50. If you're gonna gouge, at least have some selection.

[thistleclub]

Making me a bit nostalgic for the original mid-'90s Walt's.

Esteemed Anchor Bar takes its chicken wings to Hamilton
(Toronto Star, Amy Pataki, Feb 1 2013)

The original Buffalo chicken wings have flocked north of the border, just in time for Super Bowl weekend.

Buffalo's Anchor Bar, which claims to have invented the tangy dish in 1964, opened its first Canadian location Friday in Hamilton's Jackson Square mall.

The restaurant, named an American classic by the prestigious James Beard Foundation, has long drawn southern Ontarians on cross-border shopping trips. Legend has it co-owner Teressa Bellissimo improvised the deep-fried treat late one night to feed her son's friends. Coated in melted butter and hot sauce, the wings were soon a hit.

“I've been to the original. It's a tradition when you go shopping,” said Alex Santos, a Hamilton marketing consultant who bought takeout wings (eight for $11.99) and a crab-and-lobster wrap ($17.99).

For those who've made the pilgrimage to Buffalo's Main St. restaurant, with its red vinyl tablecloths and customers' expired licence plates shingling the walls, the sleek Hamilton location will be a bit of a shock.

The kitsch factor has been considerably toned down in the new 4,700-sq. ft. room. Nine giant screens are tuned to TSN and Fox Sports. Teressa's portrait holds pride of place over the wood-burning pizza oven imported from Italy. A tiny stage is all that remains of the former tenant, Waltz Live Music. In what may be another Ontario first, desserts come from American chain The Cheesecake Factory.

Despite the sandwiches, salads and top-drawer New York strip loins — try it coated in whisky and peanut butter for a $40 steak Elvis would love — wings are the thing at the Anchor Bar (they expect to serve 5,000 pounds worth this weekend). They come in many permutations: shaped into $12.99 “lollipops” with a bone handle that leaves the fingers clean, or minced and stuffed inside rich ravioli with blue cheese sauce ($14.99).

But in their basic form, they remain crisp and juicy, as exhilarating as a 50-yard touchdown from a pass interception.

“It's close to the original,” said Phil Anderton, 63, who lived in Buffalo during the mid-1980s while working in the garment industry.

“I used to order them ‘suicide.’ They were great, but now my stomach has a hole in it.”

Sitting beside him at the bar, John Cochren, 62, said he ordered his wings “sissy,” or mild.

“I'm a great believer that food should not hurt,” said Cochren.

(The secret suicide sauce, which suggests the fruity heat of habanero peppers, sounds hotter than it is.)

With close to 100 interested franchisees, co-owner David Cooperthwaite plans to open a Toronto location by September.

That means diehard fans like Mike Roach of North York will drive 80 kilometres to Hamilton, half the distance of his biannual Buffalo Anchor Bar trips, for what he called “perfect” size wings.

The lure is lost on some.

“I'm here for the pizza,” said Jeremy Stirling, a local office worker who waited 40 minutes for a table at lunch Friday.

“I never even heard of them,” Stoney Creek resident Jeff McCabe, 29, said with a shrug outside Jackson Square.

[mattgrande]

I went there tonight. A few thoughts:

* The wings were tasty, and a good size. I thought the mediums could be a bit spicier, but all in all, a good wing.
* I got a white pizza, which was very good. It took a long time to come out, though, but they were packed at the time, so I forgive them.
* There were a lot of people working, too many people. Many of the waitresses had little to do.
* Despite this, the only waitress that could bring us our bill was the waitress for our table, and it took a long time.
* Pops were $2.25 per glass, and you had to pay for refills. I think this is ridiculous.
* The waitress actually took back our bill to correct it when she realised she forgot to charge us for a second pop.

That being said, I'd probably go back in a few months once they have some kinks sorted out.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Jon Dalton

The beer menu is pretty lackluster. I saw the menu online and the price of a Canadian is $6.50, Rickards is $7.50, Guinness $8.50. If you're gonna gouge, at least have some selection.

that sucks.
yeah, these days we've come to expect that a restaurant has let's say a minimum of 8-10 beers on tap with at least 2-3 being micros. this isn't the 90s anymore

Anchor Bar isn't "the Anchor Bar" until they at least carry Genny aka Genesee Beer (in this case Genny Cream Ale), the Rochester, NY brew. wings+Genny=that's a true Western NY experience.

glad to hear your reviews. hopefully they work out the kinks, get a better beer selection and reduce the freakin' prices!
for comparison here's links to the menus
Buffalo Anchor Bar dinner menu
Hamilton Anchor Bar menu
It'd be funny if someone printed up a bunch of Buffalo menus and handed it to Hamilton patrons as they walk in to complain about price gouging! heheh

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Those beer prices would sober me up pretty damn fast - this is Hamilton afterall and not Stockholm.

The service issues will be sorted with time. Probably a lot of new waitstaff.

I wish them well. I wonder, though, how long people will be willing to pay those prices.

[SteelTown]

I know a few out of towners who went to Anchor Bar so it's becoming a tourist destination.

[bigguy1231]

Let's hope they fare better here than another Western NY eatery did. Honey's opened up here back in the late 90's expecting all their S. Ontario customers to flock to the place. Unfortunately, their prices were ridiculously high compared to the prices at their Niagara Falls NY location and they just didn't do well. They only lasted a few years before closing.