ottawa foodies

I know that the term Fast food is not the most appreciated term in this group, but I am curious to hear from Everyone..

What type/chain of fast food (or good food fast if you want to use the term most chains prefer nowadays) are missing in Ottawa?

I have something of an ulterior motive for asking this, but any and all suggestions are welcome, US Chain that is not in Canada, Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver places you visit when you travel etc…

I travel extensively in the US and have a habit to try all fast food once. My favourites are

Chick-fil-a : great chicken, limited menu which makes stuff fresh. Don't agree with the mentality of the christian owners though.

Chipotle : Mucho Burrito is ok but real chipotle always seems better

Del Taco : taco bell alternative for that cheap "mexican" fix

In-n-Out : Not gonna happen but one can wish.

Skyline Chili : Winter is chili time. Canada has winter.

Panda Express : Better than Manchu wok most of the time

Popeye's.

+1 for Chipotle

Slow, what exactly about Chick-fil-A's Christian owners' 'mentality' do you disagree with? Their charitable work? Their environmental stewardship? Sundays closed for employees to spend time with family? Fair treatment of employees and suppliers? Owner Cathy's happiness to be married to his first wife? Shameful stuff indeed!

Papa John's
Dunkin' but good like in the States
Perkins ditto (breakfast esp)
Pizza Hut ditto
IHOP
Buffalo Wild Wings
Green Mountain coffee at gas stations

Any of their supermarket chains (esp Hannaford) with their awesome pastries and bread.

+1 for In 'n Out

re: chick-a-fil Can't speak for slow - but for me, I object to Chick-fil-a supporting anti-gay groups. In 2010, they donated aprox 2 million to groups that oppose equal marriage rights. So it'll be a hot and Sunny day in Iqualit before I'll spend my money at chick fil a.

Bacon I.V. You need to read more about Chick fil A. I hope you don't feel that their support of discredited conversion therapy and the "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda is a good way to spend your chicken sandwich dollar. www.thetruthpursuit.com

Anyway in the States McDonald's is now doing a hate free chicken sandwich that is virtually identical to, and every bit as good as Chick Fil A. I hope they bring them here soon.

I second Del Taco, the Green Mountain Coffee at gas stations, Popeye's and Chipotle. But I choose Fatburger over Inn N out every time.

Rubio's fish taco, Wahoo fish taco, and Koo Koo Roo are three of the things I miss most about California. And I learned to love Pollo Loco in Florida.

Everyone has hit the nail on the head. Chick-fil-a supports an anti gay agenda. Also, as much as I realise a private business can force whatever values they want. Pushing religion on employees is something I have a problem with. Good chicken though.
www.huffingtonpost.com

Also, i'd love to see a full fledged whole foods like the one near LAX with a BBQ/smoker counter, burrito bar, sushi, gelato, wine bar and huge prepped food section.

Guys, you've been so trolled. HE KNOWS ALL THIS ALREADY.

Back to what chain we'd like in Ottawa?

CiCi's

And a crêperie chain, if such a think exists anywhere in the world...

Popeyes
In n Out
Bahama Breeze
El Pollo Loco
Boston Market

Popeyes
In n Out
Shake Shack
Chipotle
Del Taco
Cheesecake Factory (although it's not really fast food)
Panera Bread
White Castle
Nathan's Famous

Basically we are seriously lacking in taco joints and hot dog joints.

Chipotle
Baja Fresh
El Polo Loco
Jet's
Texas Roadhouse
And maybe a law that states don't screw us when a chain decides to move up from the U.S!

www.heartattackgrill.com/

White Castle

ha ha... not really

Come on, momomoto, don't be silly with the 'trolling' business. I'm a regular here, and I contributed chain suggestions along with the political aside. But really I wanted to know what, of all the myriad good Chick-fil-A does in the community, that Slow objects to. I wanted him to be specific, instead of a drive-by cheapshot.

Btw, if chick-fil-A's big offense is that they don't instantly goosestep in line with the latest homosexual lobby's whim du jour (something which incidentally most Americans (and even President Obama as recently as a few months ago) are on the same side on), then by all means, arrest the lot of them, shut them down, throw them out of the country, lock them up, those bloody vile, bigoted, hate-filled, hatemongering murderous, monsters!!!

Finally, Slow, either your handle suits you, or you are deliberately distorting the truth in an attempt to make some argument. Gimme a break with the 'pushing religion on employees' BS. Or don't believe everything you read in HuffPuff

Back on topic: +1 on Cheesecake Factory

I miss Mary Brown's. Were they ever here in Ottawa?

+1 on
Panera bread
Cheesecake Factory

Chipotle and Popeyes are both golden. I miss Mary Browns too. A while back I found one in the GTA and ate a whole order of wedges simply because they're... uniquely delicious.

Also, I think there's a terrible irony in referring to a LACK of discrimination as 'goosestepping'...

Yow, what a derail. "Good in the community" is relative. I personally admit, I love Chick-Fil-A's food, but not so much their politics. They've donated to groups that are ACTIVELY trying to block gay rights, in the guise of "supporting the family". That doesn't fit with what I've seen of Canadian values in my years here.

I would also like to see a higher-quality fast Mexican chain like Chipotle or Qdoba. Several I know would like to see Olive Garden come back. My husband mentions Red Robin and Ponderosa. Checkers as well.

White Castle

ha, ha, NO REALLY! Love that stuff.

Rally's
Checkers
In-and-Out
KFC but with biscuits and mashed potatoes
Panera Bread
++ Del Taco

and Mary Brown's had a short stint in BarbqHaven back in the early 2000's. Personally, I didn't find it terribly exciting, but then I grew up in the southern states.

KFC extra crispy .. I can only get it when I am in the US.

Not to say these are my favorites but they are popular ones that we don't have here in Ottawa:

Chipotle
IHOP
Applebee's
Chili's
TGI friday's
Ruby Tuesdays
Cheesecake factory
PF Chang's
Melting Pot
Olive Garden
Old Spaghetti factory

I heard that Buffalo Wild Wing is on it's way and PF Changs was close.

Tree Pug
Where did you find out Buffalo Wins is on its way?

I know a guy who does business with BWW.

Buffalo Wild Wings are open in GTA, Oshawa, Barrie, Mississauga, and a few other places.

PF Changs is open or opening in Toronto , Montreal and out West.

No official word on Ottawa for either yet but we will be getting a BWW according to my pal.

Def Popeye's. Tried it in New York and was the best chicken I've had.
I haven't tried much of the other chains but the amazing thing about most of the cities we all visit in the USA is their pop. size/diversity. You are going to get some high quality food and cheap options too.

As far as chick-fil-a discussion goes. As a gay dude, for me, the issue is that they crossed the line. We all have the right and freedom to judge chick-a-fil on the consistency of their values/beliefs. Just like we judge it on taste, service, price. I think it is great that chick-a-fil support charities. Awesome. They also clearly support very specific values (traditional values). That is also really cool with me. The actual ISSUE is that at the same time they support gay hate groups. They had me until the last part. And you don't have to be gay to realize this.

And I don't know about the size of the gay lobby. In the end, when people are comfortable enough to come out in their environment, soon enough everyone has a connection to a gay person...your son, daugther, brother, uncle, a friend, a co-worker, next door neighbour..and it gets pretty hard to take away rights for people you love for no reason.

Samosaman - small Vermont-based chain of samosa places. So good. I know they had some legal troubles in the past and no idea how it ended up, but those are the best samosas around for sure.

BWW cannot show up here fast enough... They SO set the wing standard for me. I have eaten there since I was in University, and the mild sauce was too spicy for me. Hell, it was still Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck then. Ottawa may think Wild Wings is good, but this town has no frigging clue...

fatburger...

I think one of the office major office building under construction downtown plans on having 6-8 retail spots on the main floor this i think would be a great spot for Buffalo Wild Wings.

Popeye's (Their chicken is great but my fave thing to stop for on the way home was a side of red beans and rice with hotsauce and a biscuit)
Mary Brown's (growing up I loved their wedges)
Papa John's
Chipotle
Burrito Boyz
Freebirds World Burrito
Taco Del Mar
Taco Cabana
El Taurino (or something like it)
La Pasadita (or something like it)
Wahoo's Fish Taco
Inn N out (I Like mine "Animal Style")
Whataburger
Qdoba Mexican Grill
Wimpy Burger
Einstein Bros. Bagels
Ted's Hot Dogs
Japadog
Wow Bao

I've eaten at 1 BWW location in the states and wasn't particularly impressed. I'm hoping by all these accolades that the chain is better than I've experienced so far.

BWW in Burlington, VT, I remember liking the variety of wing rubs/spices, something like 20 types of flavours. I thought the wings were good, but I am not a wing fanatic to begin with. If I recall, the fries were so-so.

What I really liked about the place was the multiple giant screens.

I gotta try Popeyes after all these kudos.

There was a place in South Portland, ME called Vinny T's (a Boston chain, I believe). I dined there once about 10 years ago. Gaudy, Italian-American place, intentional kitsch. I really liked the food there. I liked the roast garlic app to be smeared all over the fresh Italian bread. And the grand, Goodfella ambience that can make anybody feel like Ray Liotta's Henry Hill, walking with their date to their table.

Bonefish Grill, love the Bang Bang shrimps!

There will be a Cheescake Factory opening in Yorkdale soon.

White Spot
Earls
ABC Family Restaurant
Hon's Wonton House

Now I'm getting homesick :(

yesss White Spot! Especially for breakfast, imo. Why did I assume this was limited to US chains?!

Is Panago any good? I remember loving Vancouver pizza

Well if Canadian chains are included I wish O&B would open a location in Ottawa. I've only been to Biff's Bistro but loved my meals the both times I've been there and the customer service is excellent. Canoe and Bannock (also part of the chain) have also been getting great reviews.

I would love to see a Cracker Barrel in Ottawa :)

live4food, There's a Taco Del Mar at Place d'Orleans.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I miss Cactus Club, and would like to see one here.

+1 cactus club
+1 cheesecake factory

personally i think we need a really good seafood/fresh food chain. and they have to have fish tacos (lol people must be tired of talking about fish tacos by now)

I want an IHOP
and a
jack in the box

we have excellent local creperie's already so I don't agree theres a need for a crepe chain. And I'd choose local over big chain ANY DAY!

EDIT: I used get krispy kreme donuts in Montreal and I really miss it now. I know Tim Horton's is Canadian and I should support them but i wish we had a krispy kreme in O-town!

There used to be a Olive Garden on Merivale Rd where the Red lobster is now.
I used to eat there in high school all the time.
some
And it was often pretty dead and only busy weekends and some weeknights.

There used to be more Dunkin Doughnuts in Ottawa, esp on Bank st a few years ago too.

There used to be an Olive Garden too on montreal road not far from St. Laurent if I remember correctly.

How could I forget?

Ottawa.

Needs.

GUU.

live4food - Whataburger is the fast food chain that beat me! We tried to eat in a different fast food chain every day while down in Texas on work once - but man, the indigestion/heartburn after Whataburger was off the charts.

Freebirds is AWESOME - I would love to have one of those. I like it better than Chipotle.

Also, I'd rather have mucho burrito than chipotle...

IHOP and all their delicious flavoured syrups!

Panago pizza - loved it when I lived out west
Panera - delicious
Popeye's
Cheesecake Factory - only for the cake, really.

We were in Vancouver in October, and enjoyed several excellent meals at Earls. They have a tuna poke nacho appetizer that is positively addictive. Great food, reasonable prices, friendly and attentive service, and they are very serious about wine. I can't think of any chain in Ottawa that even comes close. I was told that their next expansion would be in Hawaii, but after that they'd be looking eastward, including Ottawa. Let's hope it comes to pass.

I also strongly second the emotion of Momomoto: Ottawa needs GUU!

Earl's has been looking in Ottawa for some time, they need a AAA location. (My thoery is they'll eventually sign at Lansdowne.)

I miss Earl's too...I grew up in BC and back then it was all crap on the walls and toucans everywhere. New chic Earls is far better.

Wasn't there a PF Changs in the Market on Dalhousie where Dunn's is now (the old Hooters)? or was that something else... 'Pagoda' or something...?

I would dearly love to see an IHOP, notwithstanding my likely death by cholesterol poisoning.

White Castle and In-n-Out... am not sure how much is hype and how much is quality, but hey, more burgers can only be a good thing.

Thirding Chipotle's.

3rd'ing Guu ... but also a bit skeptical Ottawa has TO/Van's built-in critical mass of ESLers / working-holiday'ers / chefs from Japan to support something on Guu's scale. Maybe Guu-jr or a different type of izakaya, something more subdued, sort of an upscale Hino ?

Or, a Ramen "chain", of which Toronto now has a couple Jpn imports (Santouka, Kinton, Kenzo) testing the waters for further expansion? www.thestar.com

Also in the izakaya / tapas-fusion theme, some sort of x-over like the Banh Mi Boys from TO. Or whatever place sells Korean-tacos. Realize these are not chains ... yet.

More generically, Earls would fit in well in Ottawa: good-decent food, efficient service, first "chain" i remember serving Leffe on draft. Comparable to Milestones but less pretense (imo).

EnglishFoodie - what's your ulterior motive? You've collected a lot of feedback here, time to share, no? :)

I find Earl's and Milestones similar in terms of attitude - I definitely prefer some Milestones dishes (seafood salad, spinach dip) but Earl's has a great menu and an infinitely better focus on wine. I stopped by the Earl's at Mississauga's Square One the last time I was in the area and was very happy with the wine list.

I searched for Bahn Mi Boys and this thread popped up. I ate there this weekend and it was delicious. I had the meatball Bahn Mi and a fried chicken Bao. The latter had me planning a return trip while I was still eating. Anything like that in Ottawa?

I'm sure one will likely pop up in the new Little Toronto area. You know, at Lansdowne Park.

PF Chang

In n Out

Earl's

White Spot

Yes to GUU!

More Taco Bells.

Thumbs down. THUMBS DOWN. I NEED MORE THUMBS! I NEED TO POINT THEM ALL DOWN!!!!

How about CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) to break the Lebanese take-out pizza monopoly!

Anyone who makes Good Fried Chicken!!!! (caps int!)
It s seems to be a lost art.

Good fried chicken? Like what you can already get at Zaki's? ;)

I will second you Hungry Pete. We need some good Southern Fried Chicken heck any good fried chicken . There is a Chester's Fried Chicken I haven't tried but the main sign on the restaurant is House Of Pizza so think I will pass.