ottawa foodies

As referenced in the Ottawa Citizen article in the Juniper closing thread, there have been other recent restaurant closings including:

Zen Kitchen
Milagro's Grill
Farb's
Carmen's Veranda.
Prime 360

I've been to all of these except Farbs and Prime 360. A sad development. I'm especially going to miss the tamales at Milagro's. Anyone know of a place that serves tamales the way they did there?

There has been a good discussion on the "Ottawa Hospitality Woes" and the slowing of the restauranrt business back in Feb 2014.

See ---> Forum - Ottawa Hospitality Woes

There the Captain did a few quick calculations:
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"Yellow pages list about 2000 restaurants under their 'Restaurants Ottawa' category.

Leaving out Gatineau (with their restaurants)and using a population of 1 million, there is a restaurant for every 500 people. And that includes children

Can they all survive on an average of 500 customers ? Of course the 500 patronise a number of restaurants but ..... "
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Does Ottawa currently have an over supply of eating-out choices?

IOW, Is the market place over saturated ?

Are there more closings yet to come until the market comes heads towards a balance of supply and demand ?

Never had the tamales at Milagro, but wasn't that impressed when I went there.
Check out the delish tamales at Petit Peru, I thought they were pretty tasty.

I wonder if Yummy Sushi on Somerset is closed ? It's been under renovation for a long time. His was the only AYCE sushi that didn't fall apart, but I know he got a $5000 sushi robot machine from japan that did the seaweed and rice sheet perfectly prior to rolling. I wonder if I can pick it up cheap ? :-)

not sad to see milagro's go. had a couple terrible trips there.

The tamales are great at Petit Peru indeed!

Had tamales at Latin Bistro at Fisher and Meadowlands a while back. I'm no tamale connoisseur but they were very good.

Latin Bistro

♪♪ Another one bites the dust ... ♪♪

The Beechbone

ottawafoodies.com

Honest Lawyer's windows are papered up.

Well, that is happy news then.

Lazy Pickle

ottawafoodies.com

Lazy Pickle is for sale but still open for business as of today.

Firkin and Knight is closed

Bumping this because I can't find the other one.

I can't believe Wing Wah is gone. I ordered from them just last month. Called today and was told that they were closed.

Wait, Treepug, the one on Merivale? Coulda sworn I saw it open earlier.

It is closed. The franchisee declared bankruptcy.

I'd say it was unfortunate, but I never heard anything but bad things about it. Including from drunken college students who eat cheeze whiz straight outta the jar.

There is a Wing Wah on Centrepointe. Is it closed too? (Not that I've ever ordered from them, but still curious). I'll walk by later and see, will report back.

It is the one on Centrepointe. It was churning out some pretty damned decent takeout and delivery. I made the mistake of trying a different place last night and they screwed up all three items. My options are the place from last night or the New Hong Shing (which has a horrible rating). No Canadian-Chinese for me.

So what was that Merivale thing about? Did they have more than 1 location?

AD_2, if you are talking about the Firkins then yes. There is a Firkin and Flyer at Hunt a Club and Riverside.

Was talking about Wing Wah. Bit of an intertwined thread here but now it's all clear, thanks.

If you're looking for Canadian-Chinese food in that part of Nepean, why not go to Craig Henry Chinese Food? I've been going there a long time and never any problems.

I've never even heard of this place or seen it on any online delivery website, nor have I received a menu in my mailbox. This is like the weird narnia of takeout places.

I'm searching right now and I can't even find a menu online except for one on a very poorly designed website. This is so strange.

Naked Fish Sushi in Westboro has a "for lease" sign in the front. Not a huge surprise as their sushi was very expensive and worse quality than any AYCE I've had in Ottawa.

Is this it? www.menuture.ca/ Weird site but it seems accurate to me.

They've been around for over 20 years and the food has always been good.

That's the one. Definitely a very strange site. I'll give them a try though!

/end thread derailment

Kinki is closed for renovations and a style change.

Mugena is on Kajiji for sale.

And I hear there are a ton of changes/sales coming up.

Rumor has it that Hino has closed.

Either that or they are renovating.

Anyone know?

Hino has been closed for awhile. At least a year+, I heard another chef (whose name escapes me) was supposed to be opening there.

Hino did close and now the Ministry of Coffee is moving in, apparently.

I used to be a regular of Hino's many years ago, he would often talk about wanting to retire and at the time he wished that someone would take over his business but that he could retain the ownership of the building. I hope he got what he wanted! I'm a bit sad that I won't be able to find a good home-cooked Japanese meal anymore.

Too bad about Hino but great news about Ministry of Coffee. Glad they're expanding west.

I'm excited to hear MoC is moving into the 'hood -- it will be great to have a Bridgehead alternative. :)

Signs in the windows of Izakaya say Waverly will be opening in that location soon.

It looks like Lapointe is closing in Westboro but the Kanata location, owned by the same chef, will remain open.

Fiamma's in Barrhaven closed about three weeks ago. Locks changed!

I spoke too soon, Pep and Nino's is now closed, but the Farm Team/Pep and Nino's sign is still over the storefront. Still looks like they will take a while to get open on Sparks.

ottawacitizen.com

Dunno if it's permanent, but it looks like Glebe Taquiriea/Encino Taco, and Beaver's Mug are closed.

So sad both places just recently opened and now the businesses have been lost due to a devastating fire. I hope they are able to reopen somewhere at some point...

To my shock (and my arteries' relief), the Taco Bell/Pizza Hut/KFC chimera at St Laurent and Innes has closed.

Not that i had ever eaten there, but after the Rideau mall location closed, i drew a certain comfort from knowing there was a Taco Bell easily available if i needed a fix some day. I think there are still a few around, but self-hate can only motivate me so far out of my way.

Maybe not news but Burnt Butter in Hintonburg is papered up.

It looks like Richard's Hintonburg Kitchen has closed up shop: www.facebook.com I fear this may be the first of many closures in Hintonburg this year...

Burnt Butter sold, but I don't know to who or what is going in there.
That's too bad about Richards Kitchen. I have enjoyed many meals from his kitchen.

That's a shame about Richard's. I was just in there on Saturday and they had barely anything available, so this news explains a lot.

Apparently something called Carben Food & Drink is replacing Burnt Butter, but there's not much info available about it right now:
ottawacitizen.com

It is a shame about Richard's Hintonburg kitchen. I liked the take outs from there and the occasional lunch when I am in the area.

Osolomeal,

Was at St. Laurent Shopping center yesterday trying to get a Le Cruset on sell from the Bay without success for my Mom and saw a KFC/Taco Bell in the food court.

So not entirely surprised about KFC/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut at Innis in view of that since they also have a KFC at St. Laurent and McArthur and a Pizza Hut on Montreal Rd as well as St. Hubert on St. Laurant plus Swiss Charlet on Innis which must eat into their sales.

I saw in the Citizen that Teatro Cafe (in the GCTC lobby) has closed. Apparently the chef left abruptly.

The Citizen article is here for those who want to read it: ottawacitizen.com Apparently three of the kitchen staff left abruptly on the day of a large catering event.

I was involved in that fundraising event mentioned in the article about Teatro. The event was actually a three night affiar with pre-sold dinners and post-show catering each night. Chef Mook's departure on the afternoon of the second night of the event was perhaps the most unprofessional thing I have ever seen! I do not know what the issues were between him and the owner, nor do I care. In my books, you honour your commitments, particularly charitable.

While I always enjoyed his food, the manner in which he behaved toward the event will keep me away from Back Lane (or any other restaurant where he ends up). I would not be surprised if many of the other 600+ lawyers and members of the legal community affected by his decision did not react the same way.

I agree that it was unprofessional to leave Teatro suddenly. But we do not know the whole story. IMO Back Lane should not be blamed for this.

Not blaming Back Lane but I have no interest in supporting the chef after how he handled the situation.

It has been my experience that when staff walks out on an event it is because they haven't been paid. "Pay us or else we walk out" is often the only tactic they have. Look no further than the owner(s) in this sort of situation.

Childish and selfish... luckily for us and bad for him but it will follow him for the rest of his likely short carreer.

Organizational issues that make work hard - not a good reason.

- life or death (serving bad food) is a reason,
- not getting paid without explanation is a reason,
- abuse / illegal actions or assault is a reason,
- criminal undertakings (money laundering / fraud) is a reason,

but back to 'organizational issues' WoW.

I noticed a few closings on Wellington/Richmond while wandering around today. Silver Spoon Thai has apparently gone back to their old location on Carling. I went to the Wellington location once and wasn't particularly impressed, so it's not a huge loss for the neighbourhood. Zanadu and Ilume Espresso are both closed also.

Most interestingly (and not really a closing per se since it was never open in the first place), the "coming soon" signs that have been up for years for a panini/gelato/cafe place at the corner of Wellington and Parkdale have been taken down and the windows are papered over. Anybody know what the story was with that place?

but i saw on the paper written "opening soon"

Really? I just saw it from across the street, so I must have missed that. Weird that they took down the large black and white "opening soon" sign that had been up for at least the last two years.

My guess is that World of Maps is moving into that space. They have a sign up saying they are moving September 1st to Parkdale and Wellington. So it is either that space or the old furniture store next to the gas station. But the furniture store doesn't show any sign of work being done to the interior.

The Kettleman's on Carling has a big for sale sign outside, and was closed at 9am this morning, so I think it's safe to say it's closed too.

I checked with the founder of Kettleman's and he clarified that they are only closing for renovations and will either reopen in place or will move to another location nearby. So the great west-end bagel shortage of 2015 is only temporary!

I didn't ask about a timeframe because really that's none of my business. It'll reopen when it reopens. :-)

I'd be ok with that location closing. The staff are rude and service is terrible, it's usually filthy and I don't think the bagels or subsequent bagel sandwiches are prepared as well or taste as good as at the Glebe location. But maybe this is a new start for them. Here's hoping.

Argh! That is my go to stop for bagels on the way home from work. I've not had any issues with rudeness nor do I find it filthy. However since I just pick up bagels for home I can't comment on the sandwiches. It was consistent with the availability of cinnamon raisin bagels which my kids like, unlike another location.

Les Grillades is closing their Holland location sometime in June. Their second location on Colonnade Road will still be open.

Les Grillades: I haven't been in a while, but it has to be hard to survive on walk-in traffic in that area when you're on the second floor.

I particularly loved their whole chicken dinner prepared over the charcoal fire. Defreakinglicious. The first time I got it, I was taking it to a friend's place for B-movie night. The entire package was wrapped in plastic wrap. When I unwrapped it and opened the container, the smell of garlic was so strong that we had to open the windows and door and people from down the hall came to see what the smell was. It was amazing.

Oh, I know what I'm doing for dinner tonight.

Les Grillade - closing Holland location, really? I think they are busy at lunch with Tunney's workers. Walked by yesterday and there is no sign of it closing. It will be missed.

Re: Kettelemen's on Carling - I might be wrong but I don't think it is owned by the people who owns the Bank Street location. Never seen the founder at that location (blond haired man). No comments on their service except to say it is a different feel there on Carling than Bank Street. I like the fact that there is +++ space to sit down and find it a great alternative to the chain franchises on Carling (Timmies, Swiss Chalet, Harvey's etc.). Kind of sounds suspicous about closing for rennovations or moving, what it is?

Les Grillades - is not closing because of a lack of business. Lunches are packed and they are pretty busy for both dinner and brunch. Word on the street is that their rent increased significantly, so that they could not keep both locations. Which to my understanding was the original plan.

Called the Carling Kettleman's just yesterday to check pickup details for an order on Sunday, appeared to be open and nothing seemed amiss.. guess I'll find out tomorrow..

Zydeco Smokehouse on Preston is for sale.

Zydeco Smokehouse is still open as of 20 minutes ago. Property or business may be for sale but it doesn't necessarily mean the restaurant is closed

@AD_2: I never meant to suggest otherwise. Perhaps I should have started a new thread: Restaurants For Sale on Kajijji 😀

just following up, Kettleman's on Carling is definitely open at the moment

Pho'licious will be closing their Booth Street location on May 31. The owners will be opening a new restaurant SEN at Lansdowne in late June: www.facebook.com

Wendy's on Elgin Street closed. - Lease was up, and the landlord wanted too much.
Clocktower Brew Pub is going in there.

I ate at The Waverly, and was not impressed. The salad was very dull, and oily, and the fried buttermilk chicken was bland.

As for Milagro Grill, I was told that the Owner (Who I used to work for when he was at Pancho Villa as co- owner with his brother who is still there.), sold it expecting the people to keep it the same, but they turned it into a vegetarian place. At the time he was running Milagro, the owner (Walid) opened Churchills across the street, and he is now just running that place.

Off topic, but the Scotiabank on Elgin is closing on Sept 11 of this year. Elgin Street has seen a lot of closures over the last few months. It's not good. I frankly am tired of pubs, coffee shops, and Shawarma places popping up all over Centertown.

I don't know, seems like the changes on Elgin Street have been near universally positive.

Someone I follow on Instagram (don chow maybe? I can't find the post now) posted that Les Grillades on Holland have avoided closing that location. Good news.

Don Chow tweeted that Les Grillades is not closing. There was a lot of community support for them staying. They were able to negotiate a lower rent increase.

i now think that piccolo grande on murray street has closed. i called got voice message, my mom called same thing and then my dad emailed them and got an email saying the mail was full. this was a lovely place for gelato. sad to see it go.

I'm so happy that Les Grillades is staying in the neighbourhood!

Meant to post about Les Grillades staying open a week ago or so, they said that their other location on Colonnade (where Grillman's used to be) is doing +++ well. They will not close the Holland Ave. location but may close to renovate - they were vague about this but added that "as long as their sign is hanging outside, they are in business". Good news indeed!

So most of the time it is caused by a rent increase ?

When the dollar store in Billings Bridge was closing I chatted with the owner. The mall said they were forced to increase his rent because a lot of other stores (like the jewelry store) closed, so they had to "make up the difference". Well he couldn't see the point of staying open and giving all his profits to the mall, so he closed too.