541 Eatery & Exchange

What a fantastic place. We have been here 3 or 4 times and always walk away with full bellies and a renewed faith in the goodness of people. All of the employees are volunteer, and the food is hearty and delicious.
The button system is great. If your bill comes to $ 17, you can pay $ 20, then pop 3 buttons into the jar for a less-​fortunate person to use. The tables are big, so you often find yourself sitting with someone you’ve never met.
My only complaint? Last time I was there, a couple of Nike-​branded pre-​teens with wallets full of 20 dollar bills were maxing out their button allowance. (I’ll put a big, fat asterisk beside that statement — I don’t know their situation, money might have belonged to someone else, perhaps there’s more to the story… but there is the possibility of abusing the system… that’s all!)

I went here for lunch with my husband and a friend. It sure is a hoping place.
Atmosphere– There are quite a few wooden long tables and chairs and benches (bring a cushion for comfort if this is an issue). It is an open airy space with lots of light from large windows on 2 sides of room. today 2 tables looked to be filled with young people using laptops (I guess free wifi is more important than comfort) This is a non profit place with volunteers and a button program. When you order your meal you can buy a button for $ 1 to allow someone without $ to use it for anything on the menu. What a great idea! when you go in please note the button jar is not to be confused with the tip jar for the servers here. There is also and endless supply of glasses and water at a self sere area at counter– I love it! I drink a lot of water and sometimes i dont want to ask the waitress for my 3^rd fill up.
Food– Today it was simple.1) A home baked granola bar– Really tasty and moist. 2) Grilled cheese with carmelized onions– very nice and they are not stingy with the cheese. 4) roast beef sandwich– this had arugula, cheese, and pickled onions on it to add to the flavour. Really nice 5) ham and Swiss cheese with a unique mustard– tasty. All sandwiches came with a slice of dill pickle.
Service– This place was very busy but the staff behind the counter kept up with the flow. They looked to be a happy group as they processed everyone through. Tables are cleared quickly and your food is delivered to you in a very reasonable time.
Impression– I like the place for a quick stop for breakfast or lunch. The seats here are not for a leisurely stay (unless wifi is your goal) The only thing I would love added is carbonated drinks. I happen to like diet coke with my sandwich and tea or juice just wont cut it. I will be back with friends for sure.

What more is there to say about this place? The food is incredible, prices are awesome, and the cause is heart-​warming. If I had a complaint it would be that there aren’t more of these across every city.

The mission here is absolutely incredible. This is a diamond in the rough of Barton street. The food is fantastic, and the staff are wonderful. They use a button system for the less fortunate where they can exchange buttons for food, and people have the option to purchase buttons, as a «pass it forward» option. We need more places like this in our wonderful city.

I love this place! Their mission is wonderful and their food and drinks are lovely and dreamy. The button exchange is beautiful, we need more places like this. It’s mostly volunteer run, and everyone working there and volunteering there is really sweet. The button system is kinda like a «suspended meal» system. At 541 you can purchase a button or many buttons, and a person who isn’t able to afford their food or drinks can pay with the buttons. 541’s drinks are perfect, and their baked goods have me dreaming. I usually buy a couple extra cookies to go… which normally don’t even make it home. It can be quite a long wait (particularly around noon-​ish) if you order food that needs to be prepared, even if it’s ordered «to go» still seems to be a wait. But, it’s worth the wait if you have the time.

I absolutely enjoyed my breakfast at this restaurant. I loved the button idea … you can purchase buttons along with your meal and these buttons can be used by less fortunate people who come in to purchase a warm cup of coffee or a meal.

The food/​beverage matches the heart and vision of the place. Top notch in all aspects.

Great place to chat and eat. I had the grilled cheese pulled pork with marble rye bread it was filled with tons of cheese. I’m going back for the breakfast can’t go wrong paying $ 5. The deserts in the window display look amazing. This place is very clean, fresh, classy and trendy. I’m definitely going back.

This place is a gem. All the food is homemade and at an amazing price. It also seems somehow that great conversation happens here.

541 is an amazing place full of wonderful caring people. The food is outstanding. It’s great value for what you get. The twist is that you can also purchase buttons, and the buttons are used by people less fortunate to buy meals for themselves. It’s a great community spot.

Great food and drinks, great environment. This is a for-​benefit endeavour, so people come before profits. It is primarily operated by volunteers. With such low prices, it is easy to purchase buttons for the pay-​it-​forward system that 541 has set up.
I would like to see more vegan options.

Fantastic food, amazing environment, friendly staff and excellent quality all around. You can’t ask for better little coffee shop, dinner or get away in Hamilton.
Did I mention just about everything is made fresh in house daily. Oh and they have a lay it forward program so you can buy a hot coffee or a meal for someone in need.