We’re opening the doors for Season 11
After a long winter, the lights are coming back on. The Back Kitchen reopens Wednesday, May 6th and we can’t wait to see you.
Whether you’re a year-round Islander, a cottager opening up for the season, or a first-time visitor coming over on the ferry, you’re always welcome here. Come in for a coffee, stay for lunch, and catch up with your neighbours.
Spring 2026 Hours
We’ll be open for the 2026 season starting on May 6th at 11am.
- Monday & Tuesday — Closed
- Wednesday — 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Thursday — 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Friday — 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Saturday — 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Sunday — 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
These are our spring hours. Summer hours (with longer days and a few new menu surprises) start later in the season — we’ll let you know in plenty of time.
Customer Survey + Free Scoop
Help us improve your experience at The Back Kitchen and we’ll buy you an ice cream!
A few weeks ago, we launched our 2026 Customer Insight Survey to make sure the food, hours, and experience at The Back Kitchen actually match what our community wants. The early results are already shaping decisions about menu, hours, and events for the year ahead.
It takes just a few minutes. Most questions are optional. And as a thank-you, we’ll give you a free ice cream for taking the survey on your next visit.
Investing in Island Youth
When we posted our summer 2026 staff openings, the response was overwhelming — in the best possible way. We received an incredible number of applications from talented people, and our hiring committee is currently working through every one of them. Interviews will start soon, and we’re aiming to be fully staffed well in advance of our busy summer season.
A quick word about why this matters to us:
Hiring local youth is one of the most important things we do. The Back Kitchen exists to serve this community, and a big part of that mission is creating meaningful summer jobs right here on the Island — so our young people don’t have to manage the ferry every day to find work on the mainland. We’re proud to be a place where Island youth can earn, learn, and build real skills close to home.
We take the training and mentoring side of that seriously. Every summer team member gets coached on kitchen and front-of-house fundamentals, customer service, food safety, and the kind of practical work habits that carry into whatever they do next. For some of them, this is their first job and we don’t take that lightly.
We’re also grateful to share that The Back Kitchen has been awarded two Canada Summer Jobs program grants for 2026, which will help fund the wages of two of our team members this season. That federal support — combined with the gift cards, donations, and meals you all buy — is what makes this youth jobs program possible year after year.
To everyone who applied, shared the posting, or encouraged a young person on the Island to give it a try: thank you. You’re part of the reason this works.
Saturday, May 9 — Help Us Spruce the Place Up
In case you didn’t know already, The Back Kitchen is a volunteer-led, not-for-profit cafe. Outside of the kitchen and dining room, most of what keeps this place going — the grounds, the gazebo, the books, the marketing, the events — happens because of the amazing volunteers who show up and pitch in. That’s why, when something like a yard cleanup needs doing, we turn to the community for an extra set of hands instead of hiring it out.
So we’re hosting a Yard Cleanup Day on Saturday, May 9 from 9am to 12pm. We’re looking for volunteers to help tidy the grounds, freshen things up around the new gazebo, and get the cafe looking its best for the season ahead.
If you can spare an hour or two, we’d love to have you. We’ll keep your coffee cup filled with Amherst Island Coffee Co. coffee all morning as a thank-you!
No need to RSVP, just show up ready to lend a hand. Rain or shine.
Bring Mom to The Back Kitchen on May 10
This year Mother’s Day falls on the second Sunday of our season, and we’d love to be part of how you celebrate the moms in your life. The cafe will be open Sunday, May 10 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. — bring her over for lunch, treat her to a coffee and an ice cream, and spend a lovely spring day on Amherst Island.
If a trip to the Island isn’t in the cards this Sunday, a Back Kitchen gift card is a lovely way to send a little Island warmth her way — pick up a physical card at the cafe or grab a digital one online.
What’s Happening on the Island
Did you know the Back Kitchen website now hosts a community events calendar for everything happening across Amherst Island? It’s chock-full of live music, fundraisers, Saturday markets, gatherings at the church and the public school, backroom talks at the Museum, and more. And we’ve made it easy to add the events to your own calendar.
We’re continually looking for new events to add to the calendar so if you’re hosting something on the Island and want neighbours and visitors to know about it, you can add your own event or contact us and we’ll add it for you.
Physical Gift Cards Now Available
By popular request, physical Back Kitchen gift cards are now available for purchase right at the cafe. They’re great for birthdays, thank-yous, hostess gifts, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or just brightening someone’s week.
And since we’re cashless, they’re a handy way to send the kids or grandkids down for lunch on their own. Just preload a card, hand it over, and they’re set.
Stop by during open hours and pick one up at the till. (Digital gift cards are still available on our website, too — same gift, instant delivery.)
See You Wednesday
Eleven seasons in, and we still feel grateful to be such a big part of the Amherst Island community. Thanks for showing up, sharing meals, telling your friends, and being part of what makes this little volunteer-led, not-for-profit cafe work.
The doors open at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 6. We’ll have the coffee on.
See you soon,
The Back Kitchen Team 🧡