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Support Your Local Independent Businesses!
As a small business and
a consumer, I’m
constantly looking for reliable, quality suppliers for my office and
home. It’s a jungle out there, with lots of phony endorsements that are
really paid advertising, and conflicted referrals by those who get
something back for themselves if they bring you to their associate. So,
I thought I would offer some gratuitous recommendations on suppliers,
etc. that I've used with success. They may or may not be clients of
mine (most are not); none have asked to be included; none were asked for
permission or anything in return, nor was anything offered by them to
me; if I have a misadventure or disappointment with any of them, they’ll
be dropped from this listing. My criteria:
- good value for money
- integrity
- cheerful, attentive service when
needed
- reliability & consistency
- dealing well with mistakes – theirs or
mine
- local - Oakville or nearby
Here's Bucky’s
Best Bets (in Oakville, unless specified otherwise):
Restaurants:
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Trattoria Timone – next to AMC, was downtown, all entrees & service are excellent, esp. osso buco, rack of lamb, fish |
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Oliver’s, Lakeshore – always very good |
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3 S's on Lakeshore in Oakville – interesting & delicious cuisine, v.g. service & singing by wait staff make for fun night |
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Kori’s Roti, Speers & 4th Line –
Kori has retired, order one category hotter now, still
great stuff |
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50's Diner, Speers Rd. & Morden Rd. – generous & tasty smoked meat sandwiches, hearty soups |
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Stoney's, on Kerr St. South – fantastic sandwiches & salads, great
Brunch on Sunday |
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Thai Senses on Lakeshore Rd., E of Bronte – good hot
curries – go to level 4; yummy starters |
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Salad Thai, on Kerr – go for lunch, pure, simple
dishes, curries are mild |
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Niblicks, Upper Middle Road, and Coach and Four, Bronte
– best pub food by
far |
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Avani
– Brampton - Wow! - order the biryani, best Indian food |
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Abbey Arms – 4th Line & N. Service Rd. for suicide wings, flatbread pizza, steak salad (but needs a reno) |
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AMI Sushi – across from GO station – very good, seems authentic |
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Speros Restrurant, Hopedale Mall – family bistro, solid food |
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Thistle, Burlington – best fish & chips |
Seafood:
Mermaids - on Kerr St. South - actually fresh, all good & friendly, seafood chowder on Fridays Meats:
Florence on Speers – try the biltong, great steaks & lamb
Car Repairs, Tires:
MTC Oakville, Speers Rd – Howard will take great care of your car; check
out deals on wheels, tires & go-fast equipment
Da Silva Racing, Scarberia – worth the drive
ISP, Web Designer & Hosting:
Netinstinct – Adam delivers a quality web site product, also offers custom business card printing services
Landlord:
CMC Developments – Claudio breaks the negative stereotype for landlords
Corporate Clerk:
McFaul Corporate Services – Best I've ever used!
Tax Problems, Forensic Accounting:
Andy Gunarsons is the guy
Bookkeeeping:
Computechniques – Janice Tobia is rock solid
Business Accounting:
Steve Farnham is my C.A.
– 'nuff said
Specialist Expertise:
I bring in Jim Henderson, of the downtown employment boutique firm,
Kuretzky Vassos, when I need HR expertise on a file. He’s practical, not
outrageously expensive, and very responsive; I use Patrick Hofbauer in Burlington for IP for the same reasons; Joanna Ringrose for estate planning
and after a long, painful search, I now use Marlon Roefe of Burlington for litigation.
Aesthetics:
Aesthetics in the Valley, Denise Ferri – my Office Manager has been enjoying Denise’s good services for many years
Glasses:
Next Optical, Speers Rd. – Bo is reasonable, good service
Wood (nice & rare stuff):
Exotic Woods, Burlington – friendly, knowledgeable, wide selection
Garage Door Repair:
Garage Door Specialist – Tom practices old style workmanship; the brogue
is free! Wide-Sized Shoes:
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Miller’s Shoes, James St., skuzzy area of Hamilton – but great
selection of wide shoes, good quality |
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New Balance, 8th Line
– for wide runners |
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Moores, Oakville – has a small but good selection, plus good sales
guys who seem to know their products; got a super comfy pair of black
dress shoes there for well less than the price you normally pay for
special width shoes |
Plumbing:
Abbey Plumbing – Scott is reasonable and reliable
Natural Gas Services:
Halton Gas Services, Robert Chautems – responsive, reliable, reasonable
Computers:
Canadian Computers, Speers Rd. – new ownership has improved
everything; I use MacTweak, Ric Amis for troubleshooting, for PC IT problems, call Myron at NuComputing, he's excellent
Pools:
Pioneer Pools, Oakville store – We played around with others, & went
back to them; not the cheapest, but no surprises, however,
prefer Total Tech for opening/closing
Snowblowers, etc.:
Cliff’s Lawn & Garden Equipment - Morden Rd., just north of my office, old fashioned shop, Cliff can be taciturn.
Exterior House Painting:
Super Students Painting – good follow-thru & quality
Dog Grooming:
Debonair Dog, Kerr St. – reasonable and follows instructions; Mark
is a pretty good artist, too.
Vet:
Abbey Animal Hospital, Nottinghill Plaza – have used for many years, Dr.
Geoff Beck really cares
Kitchen Reno:
Home Depot – We tried the locals, but ended up with Home Depot - 25%
savings and very responsive
Pharmacist:
Total Health, Nottinghill Mall – Christine delivers excellent service
Office Security:
HARP Security – it’s like having the police around the corner, waiting for your call; super conscientious
Pet Food, Etc.:
Pet Connection, 3rd Line & Upper Middle mall – knowledgeable service
Stationary:
Stopwatch Design – super service from Aaron |
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