For years, the Mai family lived in an apartment above their pizza shop on Brant Street. In July, that apartment opened as a café.
The pizza shop downstairs is Lugano Pizza, which has been part of downtown for decades. Upstairs is now Mai CàPhê, a Vietnamese coffee shop with a rooftop patio over the downtown core. BurlingtonToday reported that the family's daughter, Deanna Mai, renovated the old upstairs apartment into the coffee shop.
Mai CàPhê shows the pattern behind most of downtown Burlington's new food spots this year. Most of them come from people with Burlington roots who added onto something they already had: a family address, a hometown, a franchise they ran somewhere else. Walk the strip from Lugano north to Fairview and over to Elizabeth Street, and almost every new sign has a local story behind it.
One address, three businesses, three decades
Hamilton City Magazine traced the building's history in its October roundup of local restaurants getting attention on social media:
- 1994: A family that came to Canada from Vietnam opens a pizza business at 353 Brant St.
- 2004: One daughter adds a hair studio at the same address.
- 2026: The youngest daughter, Deanna Mai, opens a café on the second floor.
Each new business has gone into the same address instead of a new one. Getting the café open took longer than planned. Construction finished a few months after the opening once targeted for last October. "Every time we felt like we were getting ahead it was 10 steps back," Mai told BurlingtonToday. The Burlington Digest reported the grand opening in its July 20 issue.
What you order upstairs, and why it takes a few minutes
Mai built the café for sitting, not grab-and-go. She told BurlingtonToday she wanted a space where people stay a while and watch the coffee being made.
"We do it all from scratch," she said in the same interview. "Like the traditional egg coffee, we make the cream from scratch so it does take a little bit longer but it ensures freshness and quality in each cup."
Know the strength before you order a second cup. Vietnamese coffee is traditionally brewed with robusta beans, which have about twice the caffeine of regular drip. BurlingtonToday noted that a cà phê sữa đá may be too strong for mid-afternoon. A bạc xỉu, made with condensed milk, coffee and extra milk on top, is the gentler choice. Reviews quoted by Hamilton City Magazine also mention a pandan cold foam coffee and a BBQ pork bánh mì.
Hours are Monday to Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Use the entrance next to Lugano Pizza and head to the second floor.
A few blocks up, Burlington locals brought a franchise home
Budapest Bakeshop opened this summer at 447 Brant St. It serves Hungarian chimney cakes, hand-rolled and baked from scratch every day. Hamilton City Magazine described the dough as bread, croissant, pretzel and doughnut rolled into one. They come sweet or as a savoury sandwich, and the company claims it created the first savoury chimney sandwich. It is the brand's third location in the Golden Horseshoe.
The Burlington shop's owners, Scott and Kim Gauld, are both from Burlington. Before bringing this franchise home, they ran Sunset Grill locations. On the company's owner page, Kim said, "We just have great relationships that truly feel like family with all of our staff."
The concept comes from Hungary by way of other Ontario locations. The owners' ties to the city are what put it on Brant Street.
Elizabeth Street's shared address
Turn onto Elizabeth Street and two of the year's openings share a civic number, 399.
Bar Origin is chef Claudio Aprile's Burlington revival of the Origin name, which he started in Toronto more than 15 years ago. Hamilton City Magazine lists a 32-oz côte de boeuf, a Thai fried whole branzino and Chinois duck tacos on its short menu. The space was previously Sunset Bistro.
Aprile isn't from Burlington, but he describes the restaurant as the result of moving here. "I moved out of the city, west of Toronto and realized how much these communities have to offer," he told the Toronto Guardian. In the same interview he said he met his business partners, Chris and Maria Pagonis, at a dinner party. Asked about his own favourite places to eat in Burlington, he named Number 8 and Son of a Peach. Bar Origin is open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and the restaurant recommends reservations.
Dirty Soda Girls opened its Burlington shop in September, Hamilton City Magazine reported. Dirty soda starts with pop, then adds flavour shots, cream or fruit. BurlingtonToday lists the address as 11-399 Elizabeth St. Co-founder Jodie McCarthy and her sister, Tracey Hawkins, were born and raised in Burlington. BurlingtonToday reported that they spotted the trend on TikTok, tested it from a trailer in Haliburton, opened a store in Guelph, and then came back to their hometown. McCarthy's own order is the Life Is a Highway, a Coke with toasted marshmallow syrup and fresh cream.
The new spots at a glance
| Spot | Address | What to order | Who's behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mai CàPhê | 353 Brant St., second floor | Egg coffee, bạc xỉu | Deanna Mai, whose family has run Lugano Pizza downstairs since 1994 |
| Budapest Bakeshop | 447 Brant St. | Sweet or savoury chimney cakes | Scott and Kim Gauld, both from Burlington |
| Mish Mish Mezza | 1035 Brant St., Unit 5 | Halal shared plates | A kitchen built on communal dining traditions |
| Bar Origin | 399 Elizabeth St. | Côte de boeuf, duck tacos | Claudio Aprile with Chris and Maria Pagonis |
| Dirty Soda Girls | 11-399 Elizabeth St. | Life Is a Highway | Sisters Jodie McCarthy and Tracey Hawkins |
Mish Mish Mezza, farther north on Brant, opened this summer. Its website describes dishes meant for sharing, rooted in the dining traditions of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, and says the restaurant is fully halal.
Two Brant Street spaces about to change
Two openings are still to come. One fills a space that went dark this summer.
Coop Wicked Chicken and Bar closed its Brant Street location on Aug. 22 when its lease ended. BurlingtonToday reported that employees expected a Korean restaurant to move in shortly afterward. Hamilton City Magazine also reported a Korean restaurant in the works for the space. The name hasn't been announced.
At the north end of the strip, Son of Jerk – Irie Kitchen is moving from a food truck into a permanent location at 814 Brant St., near Fairview. Hamilton City Magazine reported a target opening date of Nov. 1. The restaurant's website has been emailing vouchers for a buy-one-get-one-free jerk chicken sandwich, good once the doors open. A food truck settling into its own storefront fits the pattern of this year's openings. Opening dates often slip, as Mai CàPhê's did, so check the restaurant's Instagram, @sonofajerk, before you go.
A Brant Street walk this weekend can start upstairs at Mai CàPhê with a bạc xỉu, take in a chimney cake at 447, and end with dinner on Elizabeth Street. Bar Origin recommends booking that table ahead.
I keep a running list of what's opening and closing across Burlington and the rest of the region. If you'd like to talk about downtown, the new places, or the streets they're on, reach out to Ryan Jenkins. Let's Connect.