Stonewalls Restobar

At Stonewalls, the week doesn't really start until Thursday. The kitchen on York Boulevard, in Hamilton's King West, runs on a show calendar rather than a dinner rush: the doors open before and around live music from Thursday through the weekend, with a Sunday matinee window for anyone who would rather catch a band in daylight. It is a restaurant and a stage sharing one address, and the menu reads like it knows the difference — built to feed a table that came as much for the set as for supper.

The wings come first, and they come by the pound. Stonewalls Legendary Chicken Wings arrive breaded or unbreaded, with ranch or blue cheese and a sauce run that moves from mild and hot through honey garlic, dry Cajun, lemon pepper, buffalo butter, maple bacon, and mango habanero — ordered anywhere from a single pound to five when the table means it. From there the menu holds its lane in Canadian pub comfort. The Stonewall is a smash burger the kitchen does not hesitate to call Hamilton's best, and the poutines split between a traditional plate of curds and gravy and a Pickle Poutine layered with cut pickles, dill chips, and pickle seasoning. Around them sit mac and cheese in a cheddar-and-mozzarella sauce, Nashville hot chicken finished in hot honey, three birria beef tacos with a dip on the side, artichoke spinach dip with nacho chips, four deep-fried pickle spears, and fish and chips in a one- or two-piece order.