Almost nothing we carry defines us more clearly than the books in our bags: tactile objects filled with ideas and stories – testimonies to time well spent. They tag along with us, mark our days, and shape the rhythm of how we move through the world. In Uptown Waterloo, three long-standing independent bookstores – Carry-On Comics & Books (46 years young), Words Worth Books (42 years), and Old Goat Books (25 years) – offer distinct ways to build this bracket of everyday carry: a nostalgia-driven comic haven built for the thrill of discovery, a curated literary hub grounded in conversation, and a densely-packed used bookstore where the search is part of the reward. Together, these enduring fixtures map a reading life – charting not just what we read, but how we come to find it.
You don't need to board a train to Toronto, or take a flight abroad, if you're in search of metropolitan flair. Uptown Waterloo has quietly become a neighbourhood with energy, design, and culture that has demonstrated that it can punch above its weight.
These days a great coffee shop doesn't depend on beans alone. Atmosphere, aesthetics, and a certain ineffable charm matter just as much as a flawless flat white. Across Morriston, Guelph, and Kitchener-Waterloo, a trio of newcomers is proving the point with spaces that feel as thoughtfully devised as the coffee itself: moody, atmospheric, and confidently unique.
This past May, TOQUE partnered with Kitchener's Kultiq Studio & Gallery for 'Birds of a Feather' – a vibrant, month-long pop-up art show in a stunning sunlit space at King and Water Streets in DTK.
‘It’s five o’clock somewhere,’ I chuckle, raising a dram of amber liquid to my lips. The spirit — peaty, smoky, divine — slides down with ease. I glance at the label: Lagavulin Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, aged sixteen years.
Tucked inside a restored nineteenth-century landmark in Uptown Waterloo, Den 1880 is flipping the script on traditional workspaces. More than an assemblage of offices and meeting rooms, this regional destination is a thoughtfully envisioned blend of comfort, creativity, and community.
Uptown Waterloo is home to a string of killer cocktail joints: White Rabbit, Solé Restaurant and Wine Bar, Babylon Sisters, Bodega Rose, and more. There are so many great options, you’d be hard pressed to hit them all in a weekend. So we did it for you — or at least we tried. Here are five Uptown cocktails we managed to capture for posterity.
In a crowded market, Mica and Jill Sadler are attempting to redefine what a real estate experience can be. As principals at Kitchener-based Sadler Real Estate Group, Jill and Mica blend sharp market insight with a data-driven, client-first approach that’s rooted in strategy and trust.
‘The last time I encountered a brew this large,’ I exclaim as I raise my one-litre Bavarian stein in the air, ‘I was at the Hofbräuhaus in Munich.’ A lifetime ago. Twenty-five years, actually. Another story for another day. Cheekily, my TOQUE partner- in-crime Cai raises her own stein and klinks mine. ‘Prost!,’ she laughs. We make eye contact (as folks are wont to do) and then each take a gulp, my lager and Cai's IPA brewed just down the street. Cold. Fresh. Heavenly.
HERE’S A STATEMENT I'D BE PREPARED TO DEFEND: UPTOWN WATERLOO PATIOS JUST HIT DIFFERENT. THE EXPANSIVE RAISED DECK AT ETHEL’S LOUNGE. THE QUAINT, INTIMATE BACK TERRACE OF THE JANE BOND. THE SECOND-STOREY OASIS AT THE HUETHER HOTEL. THE SHADED VERANDA AT BEERTOWN. AND THERE ARE MORE.
Travel tends to sharpen taste. It introduces new ideas, uncovers unforeseen obsessions, and offers the occasional epiphany – nudging your sense of beauty and your grasp of craftsmanship in new directions. For Ryan LeClair, founder of Makoto Watch Company out of London, Ontario, it was travel – and specifically a trip to Japan – that transformed his infatuation with watch collecting into his initiation of a brand built on craft, restraint, and everyday practicality.
Almost nothing we carry defines us more clearly than the books in our bags: tactile objects filled with ideas and stories – testimonies to time well spent. They tag along with us, mark our days, and shape the rhythm of how we move through the world. In Uptown Waterloo, three long-standing independent bookstores – Carry-On Comics & Books (46 years young), Words Worth Books (42 years), and Old Goat Books (25 years) – offer distinct ways to build this bracket of everyday carry: a nostalgia-driven comic haven built for the thrill of discovery, a curated literary hub grounded in conversation, and a densely-packed used bookstore where the search is part of the reward. Together, these enduring fixtures map a reading life – charting not just what we read, but how we come to find it.
In my line of work – as writer, photographer, editor, regional explorer – EDC isn't a trend. It's infrastructure. Most days I'm in motion: tracing backroads toward a brewhouse, mapping my way to an artist's studio, or sliding into the corner of a coffee shop where I turn field notes into final copy and RAW files into photographs that will pop on paper. My office is wherever I set my bag down. My tools make it possible.
Stratford – and, by extension, Perth County – lends itself to takeaway. A coffee to carry, a sandwich in hand, something sweet tucked alongside – then out into the streets for window shopping, into the theatres for a performance, or down to the riverbank for a nosh.
