Find your tradition

By: Michael Gallea

With the holidays just around the corner, we’re all looking forward to heading home and reuniting with friends, family, and most of all, food.

I don’t know about you, but I have my favourite coffeehouse that I hit up every holiday season to catch up with friends. There’s something magical about tradition – especially when it’s accompanied by a cup of coffee and a Hello Dolly bar. This December, why not start a new tradition with your friends and family?

Instead of going to Starbucks or Tim Horton’s for a coffee, why not venture downtown to explore the booming coffee shop culture in Hamilton? The Mulberry Street Coffeehouse offers a great space to make new memories with old friends, serving one of the best chai tea lattes in town – no joke. A little closer to campus, Johnny’s Coffee on Locke Street also provides a comfortable environment to finally work your way through that summer book that you’ve had to shelf for the semester. Don’t be afraid to try something new!

“But where can I go to get that good ol’ holiday buzz,” you ask? Check out the Augusta Street pub scene for quality food and entertainment. One of the gems of Hamilton, Augusta Street is lined with a variety of fantastic bars – The Pheasant Plucker, The Ship, and The Winking Judge, among others. Serving Hamilton’s best selection of micro-beers, these pubs are a great way of introducing your friends and family to an interesting niche of Hamiltonian culture!

So this holiday season, find your tradition. You can’t go wrong!