Helen's Restaurant

There really is a Helen. She's the owner and cook, and for all I know she makes the hand printed signs on the wall that advertise the specials. The other week Helen's was closed for a day because Helen was sick. That's how much this is Helen's restaurant.
Helen's is yet another family owned Hamilton restaurant that's been around for years. Like at many of them, the food at Helen's is cheap and plentiful. Also like most of them, the service is slow. That's partly because the owners of these places are too cheap to overstaff and partly because the food is home made. Helen cooks everything in the back and the menu is extensive.
Of course, also like many of Hamilton's family owned restaurants the place is a dump. More so than normal for the self made cheap family restaurant. It's not dirty, but it has no character whatsoever. I suspect it was once a diner with booths up one side and down the other and jukeboxes bolted to the walls. But someone (not Helen, I hope) ripped all that out in order to make a restaurant with all the character and charm of a church basement.
So then, what about the food, you ask? We ordered the specialtys of the house; cabbage rolls and perogies.
Sorry to say both are better at Karolina's on Barton St, another family restaurant with all the usual characteristics. Except it's always packed and Helen's was almost empty.

I'l give Helen's another try sometime, but I won't go out of my way to do so.

Cold food, indifferent service overall very disappointing. Would not reccomend it to anyone.

Helen's might not be the most up to date or fancy of places to go, but that shouldn't stop you from checking it out.

My husband and I go here on a monthly basis for breakfast on Sundays.

The food is all home cooked and they do a decent breakfast spread for under five bucks a person you get two eggs toast hash browns bacon and breakfast sausage.

They turkey dinner is great if you are in the mood for lunch or dinner time as are their pergogies. I'm not a huge fan of their cabbage rolls but coming from a Polish Background its hard to have anything stand up to grandmas old recipe...

The waitstaff is pleasant and they don't pester you. Nothing is more annoying for me than having someone check in on me every five minutes to get something. On average they will come to your table once while you eat to make sure things are great and if you want anything else a shout out to the wait staff will have them at your table and ready to take care of your needs.

A very relaxed atmosphere and a place you don't have to worry about dressing up. You can bring the kids as well since they're is enough menu choices that even the little ones can sit down and eat if you have picky eaters.

A lot of the the steel workers in the city do come down here to enjoy a home cooked breakfast or meal as do the locals. You won't find many teenagers hanging about either. Average age of the crowd goes here tend to be 30+

The only downside is having to find parking on Ottawa street or use the municipal parking lot that is near by on a side street.

The place wasn't busy, only about 3 couples ahead of us that hadn't been served either. We ordered the breakfast combo & western omelette and coffee and waited 30-35 minutes for the food.

Turkey perfection. Like I was at Mom's. Had the cheesecake(nice) but wanted the pumpkin pie. Oh well can't have it all.

Excellent service. Soup was fresh and hot. Souvlaki was great but tzatziki sauce needed a little work.

Helen's is a good choice restaurant for dining. They have delicious homemade menu choices and friendly staff. The restaurant is clean and very cozy! A definate 10! They made our Thanksgiving/Husband's birthday very enjoyable! Thanks!

We enjoyed This restauraunt alot. The Food was very enjoyable at Helen's!
We have driven pass Helen's on a number of occassions but because it's not an elegant exterior, we didnt take much notice of it.. until we were walking on Ottawa as opposed to driving. We stopped by to read the extensive menue and specials they have opsted outside.. we saw the orders they were serving other customers, and decided to dine in as the orders looked very enjoyable.
The food IS homecooked and very tastey!
The service was a bit slow, portion size could be more.. but I'm a bigger eater than others when it comes to good food.. but the waitress was very freindly and helpful with meal decisions.
I would definatly be going back to Helen's and would reccommend Helen's to others, as it may not look all that elegant on the outside.. But A nice Home cooked meal makes it worth the trip into Helen's for a Great reasonable Meal for the entire family!

Ive been going to helens for years & have NEVER had a bad meal.

I visited this place in either the early spring of 2005 or 2004...was right after it was written up in the Hamilton Spectator as 'a hidden gem.' Well....it wasn't. Dingy, dirty feel to it. Lots of shady looking characters, and a gruff staff. Food was very mediocre.
I think I'd prefer the Wesley Centre to Helen's. 'Nuff said!