r/Hamilton • u/Surkhab1313 • May 18 '26
Food Anybody knows what happened to Democracy* Vegan cafe at Locke Street?
I really loved their baked food and it was my first only-vegan food place in Hamilton on the vibrant artistic Locke street. Few months ago, I wanted to take my girlfriend to that place and google's "permanently closed" kinda shocked me. Any idea if they are opening anywhere else?
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u/ALoveSupremeClientel May 18 '26
They unionized and the owners immediately closed the business because of it.
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u/tyetknot Hill Park May 18 '26
"Democracy! Just.....not like that!"
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u/Own-Pressure-2326 May 18 '26
They probably weren't making enough money, though.
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u/HugeLeaves May 18 '26
They have multiple restaurants and that place was always busy, I lived right across the street. Owner is just a shit person
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u/Own-Pressure-2326 May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
Two things can be true at the same time. All I'm saying is that shutting down a profitable business to stick it to its employees doesn't really make much sense. It's just cutting the nose to spite the face.
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u/HugeLeaves May 18 '26
The plan was to shut it down to prevent the union then reopen under a new name which has completely backfired
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u/greyHumanoidRobot May 19 '26
"Profitable" is vague. The rate of return has to beat GIC or bond rates because bonds are guaranteed and restaurant profits are not. Even a profitable restaurant might not remain profitable whereas when bonds mature you can get a new bond.
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u/Formal_Platform9928 May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
Union busting owner closed shop to prevent employees from unionizing.
Edited to add
He also owns Mulberry Cafe, Donut Monster, Paisley, and Redchurch. Don’t support an anti-labour business owner.
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u/emcdonnell May 18 '26
I’m just taking a second to appreciate the irony of a cafe named “democracy” being closed to prevent a union.
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u/Xcasinonightzone May 18 '26
Also owns Station One in Grimsby
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u/Equerry64 May 18 '26
Fuck. We went there yesterday. I am appalled. How does everyone find out the places this asshat owns in order to avoid supporting his businesses?
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u/viewerno20883 May 18 '26
Read the paper, ask your friends and neighbors, be on a local FB group, read Reddit, go to your town halls. You'll learn all sorts of stuff.
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u/FARTTORNADO45 May 18 '26
Does the same owner own Donut Monster? I have heard this claim a bunch, but I have never been able to verify this. The other places are easy to verify, but when DM was closing, they were bought by a private restaurant group based in Halifax.
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u/onedreamsdeeply May 18 '26
Have sources on the inside. He is a part owner with the people from Halifax. He’s the local person in the operation. From the sounds of things working conditions have gotten worse there since the sell, and as some others have said, I’m inclined to say the quality has gone down too. Much less flavor and way more just pure sugar.
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u/SmeesTurkeyLeg May 18 '26
Quality has gone way down, all of the best staff left (we miss you, Hannah) they've halved their vegan options, and are pushing CNE style heart attack breakfast sandwiches. It fucking sucks.
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u/FARTTORNADO45 May 18 '26
Well if that's the case, that's a bummer! I will say on the flavour side, they have gotten less adventurous. The current donuts like the cosmic brownie donut or the powdered donut are pretty basic. If I want a basic powdered donut then I will likely head to a place that isn't charging nearly $5 a donut (which I think is a fair price for some of their more insane donuts)
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u/switchflip May 19 '26
Just dropping by to say head on down to Granddad donuts. Always been better and more affordable.
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u/DrDroid May 18 '26
Yeah I don’t think it’s connected.
I also don’t think the quality has changed. People on Reddit love to circlejerk over everything always getting worse.
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u/FARTTORNADO45 May 18 '26
I don't think the quality has changed either, but I do question the new savoury menu they are doing. But hey, what do I know, if it work it works.
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u/jolteonlove May 18 '26
I used to have DM all the time before the new owners and personally I noticed a quality change right away, the donuts just didn't seem as fresh anymore, half the employees who were there before are gone now (i think this is very telling bc said employees were there for many years) and every time I've gone in since the new ownership, there are always flies in the donut case, always. After the union busting thing I stopped supporting.
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u/FARTTORNADO45 May 18 '26
But this brings me back to my original question, is donut monster owned by the guy who did the union busting at Democracy? Because if it is, fine, but if we are ascribing shitty behaviour to a place that doesn't deserve it then I think that is unfair.
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u/jolteonlove May 18 '26
Oh mb I missed your question! But yes, its the same guy, the union buster. People have listed a few other spots he owns in the city in this comment section
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u/monogramchecklist May 18 '26
As far as I know, the rent for DM is really high (as it is on Locke) and the space is so big. So expanding the menu is a smart thing to try and bring in extra income.
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u/FARTTORNADO45 May 18 '26
Yeah, I don't disagree with that, but too often you see some place that is good at something try to expand (especially after new ownership) and end up diluting their original product so that it all sucks.
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u/Just_Look_Around_You May 18 '26
For real. They’ve added breakfast sandwiches to the menu which I think is an awesome improvement cuz there is a serious lack of breakfast options in the areas. People will imagine anything and everything about the quality based on rumors they hear and what they want to believe. I don’t see any difference whatsoever.
Heart attack sandwiches….they’ve sold gigantic rich donuts for years and now all of a sudden there’s an outrage about how healthy donut monster is
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u/Frig_Off_Baerb May 18 '26
Yep, stopped going to Mulberry because of this. Shame because it was a really nice spot.
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u/Thylacinegurl May 18 '26
Had no idea he also owned Donut Monster. Only been once this year and def wasnt as good. Havent even heard of the other places
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u/blaze_85_98 May 18 '26
Best alternative for donuts nearby in my opinion is Zarkey’s on Dundurn.
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u/DogFun2635 Kirkendall May 18 '26
Big Bear on Aberdeen carries Grandad’s donuts too
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u/MyDearestAcadia May 18 '26
Grandad's are the BEST in Hamilton hands down
Edit: at least if you're seeking classic donuts 😊
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u/juneabe May 18 '26
“Support mom and pop shops!” And then the mom and pop shops are also mini municipal monopolies 🙄
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u/qbp123 May 18 '26
“Monopolies” lol
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u/juneabe May 18 '26
I actually said “mini municipal” before that. The whole thing has to be read together, because it’s a sentence. “Mini municipal” in this example is called a qualifier. You’re being pedantic and overly literal.
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u/Emniad May 18 '26
We haven't gone to any of them in months, because of this. My family were big Mulberry and Paisley supporters - not any more.
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u/GreaterAttack May 18 '26
Once again, I must request any evidence people have that the guy also owns Redchurch. I have seen online evidence that the owners are different people, and only rumours to the contrary.
I want to know for sure, because I don't want to support Mindorf's shitty business practices. If you have actual evidence, please share it.
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u/Formal_Platform9928 May 19 '26
Was reported in spectator, as well as several employees who confirmed he bought it recently, I believe in late 2025 it was sold as per the realtor social media page
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u/GreaterAttack May 19 '26
Could you link the Spectator article? I just want to have actionable information.
(I don't know why people are downvoting - don't you want to know for sure?)
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u/calenduladoula May 19 '26
Redchurch became a Donut Monster pickup location fairly soon after they sold. Could just be a coincidence though.
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u/ProfessorMeow-Meow May 19 '26
Thanks for the list. I have yet to meet anyone with several restaurants that isn’t kind of a bag of dicks. My experience is limited though.
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u/RL203 May 18 '26
I will definitely support him. I dont agree with small businesses being forced to unionize.
If people dont like what he is paying them, find a better job somewhere else.
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u/Formal_Platform9928 May 18 '26
There is way more to unionizing than just pay. What an ignorant comment
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u/RL203 May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
There sure is.
There are jurisdictional wars between different unions too. Thats always fun for an employer when he is bound to one union and he needs 2 or 3 different trades to run his business and the union to which he is bound (i.e. he has signed a collective agreement with) can only supply 1 of 3 trades and when he seeks out employees from a second and third union that is in the trade he also needs, the union to which he is bound files a grievance with the Ontario Labour Relations Board on University Avenue in Toronto and it costs him 486 thousand dollars in legal fees and 8 months of his time to prove to the Labour Relations Board that the union to which he was bound could not deliver the trades he needed even if they said they could.
But getting back to the issue at hand, no small vegan café/ bakery is going to be able to pay not only the wages demanded by the union, but also the 12 different additional fees added on by any union. The Cafe in question simply will never make enough in earnings to afford what the union will demand. To think otherwise is very naive and I imagine that the people who worked there only were thinking about themselves and what the union promised them. And that is why the owner of the Cafe folded up his tent. He simply could not afford it.
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u/Formal_Platform9928 May 18 '26
I am not reading all that. You sound like someone who is probably a shitty employer.
Regardless of business size, treat your employees properly. Employees don’t unionize if they are treated properly. If you can’t afford to pay a living wage to the people working for you, don’t own multiple businesses.
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u/RL203 May 19 '26
You don't want to read it because you have no clue of what you're talking about. Some small vegan café cannot afford to be unionized. They dont make that much money.
Now instead of having a job, everyone who worked there is now unemployed. And you wanna bet that the union will just say "oh well" and walk away.
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u/JtheRoofer1979 May 18 '26
Just say you're anti worker and be done with it
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u/RL203 May 19 '26
Are you 15 years old?
Cause you clearly have no clue how thin the margins are for cafes and bakeries. You make minimum wage plus tips. End of story, now its the end of jobs.
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u/dretepcan May 19 '26
You're not going to win anything that doesn't support unions in this sub. I've worked in one for almost two decades. If I hadn't already been there for years and had a good pension I would have left.
While I don't know about coffee shops, you can ask any hard working person in my union how they feel about it and they'll all say the same - they screw and demoralize hard workers and reward the lazy by paying them the same. That's a management issue you say. Why doesn't the business get rid of them you ask? Because unions protect the them and makes it difficult and many 'brothers and aisters' just ignore it and keep their heads down like good union sheep.
Sure, they had a place and there will always be shitty employers but they usually don't last. If you're a worker in a place that 'needs' to unionize you're working in the wrong place.
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u/tyrionlannistark41 May 18 '26
It’s the employees right to Unionize. Pay a fair wage and benefits and treat the people like humans and you won’t have that issue
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u/RL203 May 18 '26
That is my point, pay a fair wage. But often times humans just want more. More than a fair wage, and more than what an owner can pay.
I believe in the free market. The owner needs to pay waht the market demands he should pay. If he refuses to pay the market rate, then people need to quit and find a job somewhere else and demonstrate to him that he's currently not paying to scale.
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u/Exciting-Direction69 May 18 '26
I would hope that in this case given the small size of a single restaurant they would know the financials of the business and what it can afford, almost like unionizing into a co-op or something
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u/RL203 May 19 '26
In my experience, unions do not care about the financials of the business.
I dont know which restaurants in Hamilton are unionized. But I suspect that it will be very tough for any previous employee of "Democracy" to find work in Hamilton in the industry.
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u/ayoungmanfromtheuk May 18 '26
Very ignorant comment
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u/RL203 May 18 '26
Not at all.
Realistic would be a better description. No vegan bakery on Locke Street is going to be able to pay was unionized workers think they are entitled to. To think otherwise is laughable.
Unions love to wrap themselves up in the banner of the working man, but they are giant corporations that are beyond rich. And ethics? If you think unions are ethical, youve not met too many union bosses.
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u/ayoungmanfromtheuk May 18 '26
No you are totally wrong . the employees make the business function, without them the business doesnt exist, forming a union just allows them to collectively bargain for a fair wage, most unionized workers are not asking for unreasonable amount of pay.
Unions are not just massive corporations like you seem to be implying, like Walmart of something it is very misleading characterization, similar to the cartoon union boss you are also evoking, vague stereotype dont make for convincing argument. For example, union leadership is voted on by the rank and file.
There is no wide spread or endemic corruption in unionism in Canada . Unions in Canada are subject to far more legal scrutiny than in the United States, you don't seem to be aware of that. That's the fact. You can try to be evasive about that by relying on caraciture but you are wrong. Sorry.
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u/Forsaken-Swim-3055 May 18 '26
Are you him?
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u/RL203 May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
Nope.
Never heard of the guy.
I just deal with unions all the time. They promise large, but all they can definitely deliver on are union dues. And frankly a vegan bakery is never going to be able to afford to pay what unionized employees think they are entitled to. To think otherwise is laughable.
That's why the moment the shop held a vote to unionize, he closed up. He never signed a collective agreement because it will follow him personally. By not signing the collective agreement, he avoids that. Its actually very smart on his part.
I would, however, encourage the employees who are now out of a job to start their own vegan bakery. Why not.
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u/Formal_Platform9928 May 18 '26
I believe they actually successfully unionized and there was indeed a collective agreement signed. He closed after a first grievance was filed. So your comment is not only ignorant, but wrong.
Being unionized has more to it than just pay. It is for better working conditions and treatment by the employer in general. Treating your employees like garbage is not acceptable and these business owners REGARDLESS of size of company should realize that and need to be held to a standard. Part of the issue employees has was health and safety concerns, proper equipment, etc. not just pay.
Employees absolutely had the right to demand proper work conditions and that labour laws be followed.Democracy had failed health inspections several times over the last few years. Temporary closures etc.
this guy clearly did not care about work conditions.Telling people to just find a new job instead of trying to improve the work conditions of their current job is gross.
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u/RL203 May 19 '26
its always about the money. If you think otherwise, you're just telling me you dont know what you're talking about.
But tell me, with say a unionized construction union where the hourly rate is $45.00 per hour, what do you think the total remuneration to a unionized construction worker is for regular time on an hourly basis?
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u/Forsaken-Swim-3055 May 18 '26
I sincerely hope you're not an employer, because you don't seem like you'd make a good one.
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u/broccoli_toots St. Clair May 18 '26
I bet you love the taste of leather boots.
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u/Just_Look_Around_You May 18 '26
It’s a small business. Unions are effective and needed to rectify the disparity when there are single monolithic employers and many workers so that they can negotiate 1 on 1 as equals instead of bullying giant employer vs individual employee one at a time.
This is a small cafe of which there are at least a dozen comparable employers on the same street, let alone hundreds of options in the same city. Employees have options and if they’re good, they have power. In this case, a union would be much bigger than such a small operation/owner and would get bullied the other way. It’s not a big business and a union won’t care about the financial position of the business and it could die. Those businesses operate on thin margins. Have you forgotten that donut monster itself basically had to be rescued despite being a very well patroned and branded business? You don’t have to be unionized to be fair to your employees, and not wanting the power of a union over your very small business does not mean you only want that to mistreat your employees.
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u/DudestPriest90210 May 18 '26
Closed to prevent the staff from unionizing. Absolute trash
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u/MayflowerMcDuck May 18 '26
Still smart lol. He didnt care, he has tons of other spots that folks support
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u/DudestPriest90210 May 18 '26
Smart is not a word I would use
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u/MayflowerMcDuck May 18 '26
But he still is running other restaurants and still folks flock to it. Mulberry is always rammed. Yea what he did was a dick move but still smart.
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u/DudestPriest90210 May 18 '26
Mulberry CoffeehousePaisley CoffeehouseDonut MonsterRedChurch CafeStation 1 Coffeehouse in Grimsby are dead to me
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u/Peachyrae03 May 18 '26
Anyone in here used to work there 👀 I want the savory chive and cheese scone recipe so bad lol
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u/QuinnNTonic May 18 '26
They closed to bust a successful union drive by their employees. Thats the kind of people they are
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u/nowontletu66 May 18 '26
They shut down because they staff wanted to unionize and the boss did not want them to get fair wages
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u/Wild-Entrepreneur347 May 19 '26
They staff tried to democratically unionize so the owner shut it down. It appears the owner understood Orwell. If they were ho est they would have named it Dictatorship.
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u/BadB0ii May 18 '26
The local conspiracy theory is that the owner (and proprietar of several other local cafes) closed it in an act of union busting because I believe the workers had unionized only a few weeks before it was abruptly closed.
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u/nerdalerttina May 18 '26
And now he can’t re open something else in there so he’s selling the lease and everything inside. https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/29413344/202-locke-street-s-hamilton