Two new Latin grocery stores bring beloved flavours to James Street North
With Lola Latin Grocery having recently opened and Latin Food and Products coming soon, James Street North is becoming a hub of mom-and-pop grocery shops.
And while both stores are technically new, the fifth and sixth grocer on a short stretch of that bustling downtown Hamilton street are also both longtime and well-loved local brands.
Owner Veronica Sanchez opened Lola on Dec. 28, beside Mesa Restaurant, where she's both owner and head chef. Before that, Sanchez was co-owner and chef of Mex-I-Can, which operated on James North for 20 years.
Sanchez has dreamed about opening a shop beside her restaurant for years. The entire time Mesa has been open, customers have been asking to buy everything from Oaxaca cheese, to chilies, to cactus margarita glasses - some of the requests you need to be in the restaurant business to find, she says.
Now Mesa customers can buy ingredients at Lola and make food with the same restaurant flavours at home.
They're making quesadillas, they're making gringas ... and it's more affordable," Sanchez said.
By the end of February, they'll have a bulk section too, she added, noting sometimes you only need three chilies" and sometimes you need four pounds.
A few blocks down the street, Bryan Linares is excited to be opening the second Latin Food and Products shop - fairly close to the original Hamilton Farmers' Market location - at the corner of James North and York Boulevard.
Linares said their first location has been expanding exponentially." While they are staying in the market, the new Latin Food and Products location will be able to introduce made-in-house packaged food, like tamales and pupusas, to new customers and also serve regulars outside of market hours.
Customers come to Latin Food and Products from Hamilton as well as out of town, and Linares expects this new store will be no different."
The benefit of the small grocers is getting to know your community, Linares said.
Latin Food and Products has been open for over 12 years. In that time, Linares has watched his customers get married and have kids, that personal connection that some people want."
Sanchez loves that her clients are making do-it-yourself versions of the food she's been serving for years.
In her store, Sanchez offers flavours she's put her heart and soul into; such as the sauces that bring customers back to her restaurant time after time.
I really enjoy someone coming back and saying Oh my god, that was so amazing,' " she says.
Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com