5 Cool Things in Hamilton's International Village

The Jet Cafe is in a part of downtown Hamilton called the International Village. Now, there are a lot of cool little nooks in Hamilton like, yes, James North, Locke Street, Westdale, etc. But the International Village has character and so many little details that sock you in the face with Hamilton-ness.

Let's take a little tour. The International Village is bordered by Main St. E. and King William St., from Mary St. to West Ave. In the heart is King Street East, home of the Jet.

Across the street from the Jet, there's a new gift store called the Mystery Cube. What I find most mysterious is the giant stuffed bear that disappears and reappears in the front window every day. 

A little farther down the street is a new variety store called Munchee's. I love their unpretentious sandwich board out front touting hot coffee, smokes, bread, milk, and smiles - all the basics.

A block away is the awesome Ferguson Station, a defunct train station that acts as the perfect little urban space for events. The fence around the station is lined with children's art. This one is definitely the best. A demented campsite, awesome.

Generally, I don't enjoy graffiti. I think most of these guys deserve a giant spanking for ruining people's property. But where else but Hamilton would you see a proclamation of love for one's city written in spray paint?

The Lazy Vegetarian

Here's a little-known secret about why I am a vegetarian: I am lazy. 

I grew up picking the meat out of various dishes - spaghetti sauce, beef stew, hamburgers. I have just never enjoyed the taste or texture of any kind of meat. But there comes a point where you can't be bothered to try to pick shards of chicken out of your chicken noodle soup, so you just eat it. 

Thus, I was a half-assed vegetarian for most of my life, until I discovered that if you use the magic word - "vegetarian", people suddenly do all the work for you! 

Special meals are delivered to your table at weddings, friends and family prepare separate dishes just for you, all in the name of vegetarianism. I wish I had known sooner.

In all seriousness, I did give it a lot of thought, especially after reading one of David Suzuki's books where he said if everyone gave up meat one day a week, it would solve the world's hunger problems. I'm paraphrasing his words, but it made a big impression on me. If I gave up meat EVERY day of the week, I would be doing that much more to help the world. Of course, giving up something I didn't like anyway was pretty easy. 


It can be a little difficult sometimes when eating at a restaurant - many simply do not offer any kind of meat-free options. This is one of the reasons why I instantly loved the Jet Cafe - they will de-meatify anything. I've had the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benny sans salmon, and the Steak & Egg Crepe sans steak. My Jet mcmuffin is always ham-less. Still mega delicious, and even more nutritious!

Social Media Fun

Well, hello there, Hamilton! 

Let me introduce myself. I'm Suzanne and I'm a Social Media Manager for the Jet Cafe. 

What does a social media manager do, you ask? 
At least, this is the question I am asked all the time by curious diners at the next table over when I'm photographing my lunch.

In a nutshell, handling the social media for a great restaurant like the Jet Cafe is awesome. I post photos of food on Twitter and Facebook, I post lunch specials for the day, I jump into interesting conversations about Hamilton, and generally just have a blast. 

It doesn't hurt that the Jet has a large following with nothing but positive feedback. It also helps to live in a city like Hamilton, where there are tons of interesting, passionate people. If you haven't followed #HamOnt on Twitter before, it's worth checking out.

You can find my tweets @thejetcafe and my Facebook posts at www.facebook.com/jetcafe