35 years ago, The Only Café in Peterborough first opened for business.

An article titled “The Only Café is Already Open” from July 1990 in The Wire details that the Hunter St. spot boasts a “superlative beer list, excellent menu and easygoing elegance.”

“Decorated to the hilt with impressionist, Elizabethan and vintage rock & roll prints, the interior is warm and artsy without being obnoxiously busy,” the article states.

Today, The Only is nearly the same as it was detailed in the Wire article in 1990: while the paintings and prints still adorn the walls, the café has enjoyed many modern upgrades in the last decade, namely the addition of card machines and air conditioning.

Recent visual upgrades to the café’s exterior like the new signage by local artist John Climenhage and its repainted sunflower mural make The Only even more eye-catching for pedestrians in downtown Peterborough.

On July 25th, 2025, I visited The Only Café during their 35th anniversary celebration, dropping in twice—first in the afternoon and later in the evening— to best observe the distinct atmospheres between those corresponding times of day.

During my afternoon visit, the inside of the café was decorated with flowers and bustling with regular patrons who greeted me as I ordered lunch. Arthur staff usually receive a hero’s welcome at The Only, as it’s historically been the site of many of our get-togethers and one of our most reliable distribution spots in downtown Peterborough.

Patrons from all eras approached founder Jerome Ackhurst to congratulate him on the success of 35 years. After finding success with his first Only Café in Toronto, Ackhurst and his family moved to Peterborough to expand the franchise at the suggestion of two students.

“Two young women came in one night from Trent University—this would have been ‘88 or ‘89—and they said, ‘Oh, wow, if you had one of these in Peterborough, you'd do really well.’” Ackhurst told me.

Jerome was easily persuaded to come back to Peterborough, as he had lots of familial connections to the area through his parents and a family cottage in the county. When Ackhurst ventured downtown in 1989, he found that those students were right.

“I went to the Pig’s Ear and they had a jukebox that you couldn't hear if you put your ears to it,” Ackhurst continued. “And then I went to the Red Dog, and all the cool people were at the Red Dog, but they all looked miserable. They wished they were somewhere else.”

After looking through sparse real estate options, Ackhurst’s realtor proposed he view a property the realtor’s brother-in-law was selling: an abandoned auction house on Hunter St.

“I walked in here, and all the windows were boarded up, there were cobwebs and dust everywhere, and I didn't get even a third of the way down,” Ackhurst said. “I didn't go upstairs. I didn't know what was upstairs. And I said, ‘I'll take it, I'll buy it,’ because I could see it.”

Since its opening in 1990, it’s been the mission of Jerome and the Ackhurst family to maintain the personality which makes The Only so distinct from its downtown ecosystem.

“The whole idea of having 30, 40, 50 kinds of beer was unheard of, really,” Ackhurst told me, gesturing to the large beverage fridge behind the bar.

“The world was [Molson’s] Ex, [Labbatt’s] 50 and Blue! Oh my God, that was it. I had Irish draught beer and German draught beer. I had everything,” he laughed. “It was quite a change from Ex and Blue and 50.”

The Only still maintains the wide selection of food and drink that has made it a popular spot for both residents of and visitors to Peterborough. I and many feel its usual menu of sandwiches, soups, salads, and all-day breakfast offerings—as well as a consistent rotation of daily specials—make the café/bar a staple for cheap, good food.

Since moving to Peterborough, I frequently turn to The Only for this exact reason: its hell-bend on providing an affordable experience without sacrificing quality, which is a rarity in Peterborough eateries.

Aside from deals on draught, The Only celebrated its birthday with a special menu and a Mammoth BBQ pop-up out front. The turnaround for food orders was less than 10 minutes—an oddity for those who frequent the café. I conveyed my shock to manager Scarlett Ackhurst when she met me at my table.

“We changed the menu for faster service,” she admitted. “Otherwise it would have been a nightmare.”

Scarlett is the mind behind the 35th anniversary. Having grown up around The Only, she wanted the festivities to maintain a nostalgic feel while celebrating regulars and enticing newcomers.

“I want people to come in and it's 1990,” she told me later. “So when people come here and walk through the door, they hear the 90s music, see the great food and enjoy the different, cool things to drink.”

“It's my love letter to my parents Charon and Jerome. I want them to walk in and see the café with the idea that it's 1990 in its prime.”

In preparation, she had over 2,000 multi-coloured business cards printed with the message: “Whatever you do, don’t come to The Only Café.”

Ackhurst then placed the cards in parking metres, bookshelves, and discount bins at thrift stores.

“It’s an homage to our old menu,” she told me. “We used to have them on multi-colour paper.”

Ackhurst’s promotional campaign worked its magic, as both the daytime and nighttime business hours were the busiest I had seen The Only in some time.

“We aren't as busy as we used to be,” Ackhurst said. “People aren't really going out and they aren't really spending money because times are tough.”

The Hunter St. West café district has seen a lot of change in the 35 years The Only has been open. It is now one of the longest standing establishments of its kind on the strip, eclipsing now-shuttered bars like the Historic Red Dog and Spanky’s. 

“As someone who spends a lot of time on Hunter Street, to see these other institutions disappear or fall away, it's definitely strange,” Ackhurst explained. “Especially because not only have they closed, but they've remained closed.”

“Either way you walk down, you remember what’s gone, but here we are. It’s a testament to how we're offering something that people like.”

The closure of these bars also spells the loss of medium-sized music venues, a niche that the Gordon Best Theatre—the venue on the second floor of 216 Hunter Street—tries to fulfill.

“Everything's just changed so much because even the bands that might have been passing through and wanted to play the Red Dog historically, they're now bypassing Peterborough completely and they’re not even asking us,” Ackhurst said.

“There’s only really small venues and big venues now,” she continued. “A lot of bands are too big to play at small venues and a lot of bands don't want to spend thousands on larger venues like Market Hall.”

As a result of these losses and broader economic downturn, the crowds visiting the café district have scaled back significantly, yet The Only has stayed untouched by these changes.

“Because if you want to have a martini, we don't do that. If you want to have a World's Best sandwich with extra pickles and a pint of this and listen to the Rolling Stones, we’ve got that,” Ackhurst said. “I think it stands alone.”

After interviewing the Ackhursts, I returned to The Only in the evening during a rush. Both the patio and interior were busy, and I was frequently stopped to chat with regulars and other familiar faces from the Peterborough arts community.

The Only has always enjoyed a reputation of attracting another kind of clientele—many will tell you that it’s Peterborough’s de facto “gay bar.”

Retiree Rick Walsh was introduced to the Café by a former girlfriend 12 years ago.

“She brought me here for breakfast, actually,” Walsh told me. “I just fell in love with it.”

“It's an eclectic place and very inclusive, yeah? And that's really what I liked about it,” he laughed. “I'm an older guy, as you can tell, but as you know, the crowd is so different; it's young and old; it's straight, it's gay!”

Walsh feels that the atmosphere has made The Only an attractive spot for meeting with friends and a powerful first impression of what Peterborough is like for newcomers.

“If any of my friends are saying ‘let's get together, yeah, well, where are we gonna go?’ We're gonna go to The Only,” Walsh said. “And that's a wonderful feeling. There’s a sense of community that I don't feel in any of the other restaurants here.”

Only regular Andrzej Lamkiewicz feels similarly. He discovered The Only within months of moving to Peterborough in 2004 and immediately connected with a community of bargoers involved in the local arts and cultural scene.

“I've always tried to search out cool people, then attempt to join them and pretend that I'm one of them,” Lamkiewicz joked. “The Only has the coolest people in all of Peterborough. I've made so many new and dear friends.”

After 21 years of patronage, Lamkiewicz is best known as the “Polish Prince of Peterborough” after creating a series of Polish raps on YouTube. 

“I’m treated like an absolute angel,” he said. “I've had a painting business for 30 years, and The Only has hired me so many times to come in and do work for them, both at their homes and in the café, and it's just been a really great blessing.”

“The whole kit and caboodle showed up for the celebration today, and it's completely out of respect for the Ackhurst family. Jerome, Charon, Mick and Scarlett; they're the glue that created and holds this whole place together.”