Ottawa Foodies

Went to PJ Quigley's for dinner, the place was filling up around 6pm. Drinks were quick to come. Ordered Fish/chips it was delicious ($9.99) though. Other person ordered 1/4 chicken it had a nice smokey flavour (their chicken and ribs on the menu state that it's real smoke flavour from smoking). The service was fast. The coleslaw was almost all mayo, so pretty gross. The fries were cooked perfectly. They have about 6 items listed on kids menu and comes with small ice cream scoup at the end with choc/car/etc. sauce with sprinkles...god kids love sprinkles. The coffee was very good as well. I think we'll try it again for breakfast. The thing to note is that the place was packed to the rim after 7pm. Some people tried to meat to watch hockey at 7:30 and there was no where to sit. So I guess get there early if you want to snag a place for hockey. Also because that new soccer dome is next door I think they get the players coming in after games.

This west end eatery has greatly improved since Chef David Adjey's "makeover" and the new menu. Items on the menu that have been revised / overhauled are marked with a diamond. The ribs always a favourite, now have been joined with BBQ Chicken. The 1/4 BBQ Chicken comes with the same famous BBQ sauce. And as a bonus, the Chicken dinner competes price wise with Swiss Chalet (about $ 8). Other new menu stars that I've tried include the Meat Loaf Platter and Fish & Chips. The man in my life says their Hamburgers are top notch. Nothing "commerical" here, the burgers are handmade and offer lots of toppings. French Fries are hand cut, and they don't have any of that nasty "seasoning" that seems to be rage at other sports bars, pubs and grills. These fries are very similar to the ones you get at a chip wagon, and the portions are HUGE. Other than the Ribs ($ 20) all mains on the menu range in price from about $ 8 to $ 12. Good food for good value.

They have a nice collection of wines by the glass, something that is hard to find at other Sports Bars or Pubs. I understand they use the services of a local sommelier to keep the list current and interesting. They also have several beers on tap, including the new "Lug Tred" from Beau's Beer in Vankleek Hill ("the man" really loves this new microbrewery).

Beyond the food, this neighbourhood spot also has a lot of tvs to watch the game, friendly staff, and clean bathrooms.

One BIG BONUS however is their new LOYALTY REWARDS PROGRAM. It is free to sign up. They give you a plastic membership card and you immediately start earning rewards everytime you visit. Points are based on 1 for each $ 1.00 spent. In addition they have lots of promos to increase your points such as double point days, bonus point events, coupons, and gift certificates for birthdays and anniversaries. Once you reach 200 points they mail you out a $ 10 gift certificate... that can be used just like cash. I have to admit that the REWARDS PROGRAM works... we've changed our routine and now eat here about once every two weeks, it just beats going to a similar spot (like Kelseys, Barley Mow or Broadways) for a mid-week dinner and hockey game.

I work with Chef David Adjey from Restaurant Makeover and I can tell you, of the many restaurants he has worked with there are two major things that restaurants lack: cleanliness and passion.

P J Quigley's is super clean, passionate about food and even more so about their customers. I know David loved working with this family owned business and looks forward to eating here any chance he can, when he travels to Ottawa.

I personally love the nachos and fajitas!

Their new menu will be in effect starting October 8th.

For some reason, I've always been curious about this place. Probably because it's a family restaurant like Denny's and Kelsey's (neither a diner nor a pub), yet it is NOT a chain. I can't think of any other restaurants that fit this description.

We found service to be quite inattentive, and had to wait too long for our food (45 minutes for a burger platter and fajitas) and also for someone to pick up our payment. It wasn't actually rude, but you'd expect a little more friendliness from this sort of place. I think it was just our server though.

There was an article in the newspaper recently about how they have recently undergone renovations and now have had a menu makeover by chef David Adjey (from Restaurant Makeover). The new menu is supposed to be set for the end of September and promises the best pub food in Ottawa! Everything fresh and homemade, I'm looking forward to trying out the "new" PJ Quigley's!

We ordered some fruit salad for the kids, expecting to get the usual combination of canned fruit. But we were very pleased to find freshly chopped fruit in the bowl. Sure, it wasn't at the height of sweetness (it is December after all) but way to go guys for breaking the diner-breakfast canned fruit habit!

They claim to have the best fajitas in town, and I read a review on another site that supported that. One day I will try them... could they be better than Lone Star?

Tried to go for breakfast today but a sign says they are closed for renovations.

Went for Saturday morning breakfast for three people. Places was packed and sat near front door (cold!~ but oh well). The servers are very good, we noticed that when we had the dinner as well. Coffee refills come very quickly. We normally eat at chances r , but find it's a getting a bit pricey. The breakfast special I had, scrambled, sausage, white toast, hashbrowns. The eggs were good, the rest tasted deep fried, the sausage tasted deep fried, (even bacon from other person) The toast was undercooked(almost like bread with faint cooked lines on it)very odd for them to let it leave the kitchen like that~and stone cold. (all three servings of toast were like that, even the kid's who came out five minutes before our breakfast). The hasbrowns are the typical deep fried .5", curious thing is that the review below lists garlic and onions, and we had zero. Overall we'd go back for dinner but not for breaky.

Weekend Breakfast – Served 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM

We arrived about Noon after weekend errands. There were a fair number of people seated, including families. We were immediately greeted, seated and served coffee (tea or coffee is included with the Breakfast Specials). "The Man" and I both ordered the PJ Quigley’s Special – 2 farm fresh eggs, bacon, ham or sausage, baked beans or homefries, and 2 slices of toast. Eggs were done exactly as ordered, and the bacon was nice and crispy (how we both like it). Homefries were more like a mini french fry, lightly cooked on the outside (not crunchy like some places) and soft potatoe on the inside, garlic & onions were not over-powering. We cleaned our plates, but only got half-way thru the order of toast (2 slices each). Coffee refills were generously offered.

A nice relaxing experience, and perhaps due to the time not crazy crowded, we'll be back!

I had the "Hungry Man" breakfast. Quite satisfying but nothing too spectacular. The scrambled eggs were very dry (but lightly seasoned), the bacon was fatty (but nice and smokey), and the sausages were better than average.

Service was really nice in a friendly, informal way.

I popped in to try the "old menu" because I was curious about the Restaurant Thing website's claim that "COULD BE THE BEST FAJITAS I HAVE HAD IN OTTAWA."

Not even close! Whoever wrote that has clearly never sampled Lone Star. The steak itself was all right (less tender, less moist, less tasty, but decent). It came sizzling with plenty of onions, which was nice. Everything else was somewhere between bad and sort of bad. Fajita wrappers were of course nothing like the fresh homemade Lone Star ones. I didn't touch my lettuce, as it was a limp and rusty shredded Iceberg. Salsa was from a jar as was the guacamole (extra charge).

I notice the menu now clearly states that PJ Quigley's Fish & Chips are now made using Beau's Beer in the the batter.