ottawa foodies

Chez Anh on Sunnyside has closed, making it sadly making it one of the many unsuccessful crowd funded restaurants with good food I’ve witnessed (Detroit Soul Food, Zen Kitchen ect..)

Both Detroit Soul Food and Zen Kitchen failed for reasons that have little to do with how they were funded.

Zen Kitchen failed as a result of the couple that owned and operated it splitting up. It never recovered from the departure of chef Ishii and the city is worse off for having lost a great chef.

LeRoy Walden couldn't manage a business out of a paper bag. He's tried and failed numerous times. I, personally, didn't find his food that exciting, though I only ever tried it from his food truck incarnation. The fried chicken gets a resounding "meh" from me.

I kept meaning to go to Chez Anh but it was just never convenient, maybe location was part of their problem? I would have thought the Carleton U students and faculty would have been frequent visitors and didn't they do a weekly popup on campus?

Just my $0.02, but i suspect Chez Ahn's problem was that its hours were inconsistent and not as posted on the website or door. Hearsay has it that was due to the owner's focus on the Carleton U foodcourt location and a lack of reliable staff. Unfortunate, i thought the food was great and when it was open during posted hours it seemed busy.

The topic came up earlier about the Soup Guy Café in the Glebe being closed. If anyone would like a soup fix the location in the World Exchange Plaza is still in business...

The Witch's Thicket in Hintonburg (old Hintonburger). Barely lasted 2 months..

"LeRoy Walden couldn't manage a business out of a paper bag."

@TheTrunkDr I'm curious how you justify making a personal attack on someone in a public forum under the guise of anonymity? I'm assuming you know firsthand what it is to have an idea and make it a reality by raising capital and putting in the long hours and effort it takes to keep a small business going? How about posting your name and photo along with a CV of your own business ventures and accomplishments so that the general public can assess your competencies?

Or is anonymity too much fun to give up?

His history is well known and reported on. Questioning someone's ability to manage a business when they have failed to do so numerous times is not a stretch nor a personal attack. Perhaps my language was more colourful but I don't think my conclusion is off.

Feel free to poke away at me with irrelevant strawmen about my personal history or anonymity all you like, that doesn't change the fact that Mr. Walden has a very long list of failed culinary business experiments. I'm not saying it's easy nor that he hasn't worked hard but he has not been successful and I wouldn't put much faith in any of his future endeavours to be successful base on his past performance. I'm not wishing ill will on him, I hope he does find success but it hasn't happened and after several attempts I don't believe that it will for him, unfortunately.

Pocketz/Robz on Carling.

...

... am SO unhappy about this.

Bella Via at Parkdale/Wellington has closed.

Dora Don, the food truck on Holland near Tunney's Pasture, will be closing for good at the end of the week. They also mentioned they'll post their recipes. This means I'll need to find a new default lunch spot when I didn't bring one to work :-(

source:
www.instagram.com

Not closing for good, but until further notice: Ola Cocina in Vanier. Someone broke in and did a bunch of vandalism last night. There is a GoFundMe if you'd like to help them to get back on their feet.

WTF Bella Via closed? It took them like 3 years to open? I am still convinced that was some kind of money laundering place.

Bella Via is such a weird case, they took so long to open and never really established themselves. My best guess would be someone with little or no foodservice ownership experience tried to jump on the gelato bandwagon and failed miserably.

It looks like Owl of Minverva might be gone at Somerset and Arthur. The signs are down and it hasn't been open for a few days.

Centrale Bergham near the Coliseum on Carling Avenue has closed.

Hmmm, that's the 2nd one that closed. I guess, they may be pulling out.

Devastated to say that stumbling home from the bar last weekend down Gladstone I discovered that the long time late night drunk food staple (was open til 4am) pizza shark has closed.

Another pizza place has opened in the same place. Maybe their hours are different.

Hearing some unconfirmed rumours that Lexington might be closing. Hope it isn't true, been a few times and really liked it.

Oh dear I really hope not. I was planning on going there for my birthday dinner in Jan

Eve, the cafe inside Simon's, has reportedly closed.

RE: Lexington - haven't heard anything but I suspect their rent is insane in Westboro.

Brother Wu has closed. Everything from restaurant lights to Skipthedishes to phone lines has been disconnected.

Cat’s Fish and Chips appears to be closed.

NOooooooooooo

Am surprised to see that Sherkachi Express is not on list list?
Formerly known as Hunter's Kabobs, they served awesome plates of grilled meats, rice, and pita in an off the beaten path location on Kent S of Gladstone i.e. near the bus depot.

The taco place on Bank in the Glebe that replaced Soup Guy ... Cabanas Kitchen?... has renamed itself something like Mexican Classic Kitchen and thrown on some dark paint and tablecloths.

...yeah, I had the same thought. Still willing to try it tho. Hope for great tacos is eternal.

PudgyBoy's - The physical restaurant on Bank Street is now closed. They have a kitchen elsewhere and food can be ordered through those food delivery services.

Yeah, that's not really a shock. I went one or twice and it was always dead.

The food didn't seem that great. They went for unique stuff, but missed the mark.

Solid concept, mediocre execution.

Brothers Beer Bistro in the Market is closed.

Also, for fast meals to go, the Rideau St Metro is closing on Jan 18th.

RestoCop is the metro closing for renos or closing for good?

Pasta lover, the Rideau metro is closing to make way for a Claridge condo building to be built at that location.

Thanks warby although I am not surprised. There seems to be a lot of condos going up in the area. I hope metro reopens on the 1st floor of the building. It would be nice to have an affordable grocery option in the area.

Bar Robo has been sold and is closing for good as of January 1, according to their Instagram post this morning.

Oh dear. Does that include the QSF location?

EDIT: Checked their page. QSF local is still open and it sounds like they are gonna focus on that one

San Jose Mexican Foods on Somerset St W is now closed. They will reopen in March (Stittsville). ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Aw man. I liked having them downtown, but I wish them well.

South St Burgers at Lansdowne has received the brown paper windows of death (sorry for the repeat if this was already posted).

Simply Raw Express on Wellington is closed for good

Another one down...
Centrale Bergham in the Byward Market has closed.

I think they may be pulling out fully then.

I don't think that's terribly surprising, the one time I tried Centrale Bergham was more than enough, it's not very good.

It looks like today will be the last day metro on Rideau will be open. I went there after work yesterday and there wasn't much left. (I still managed to walk out with two bags of groceries however ;) They don't have enough merchandise left to stay open any longer. I was chatting with one of the store employees on the way out and he said when the condos will be built there will in fact be a grocery store on the first floor of the building. He said metro won the bid so either a metro or a Food Basics or an Adonis will go in there - not sure which since they are all part of the metro family - but a new grocery store will go in there eventually.

Noticed today that La Diperie in Westboro was papered up.

That's too bad about La Diperie in Westboro. I know they have many stores in the Montreal area. I've been to one of them in Montreal and I was looking forward to checking out the Ottawa location but I guess I won't the chance to anymore. They weren't open for too long it seems. I guess they weren't making enough money to cover the rent in that area.

I suspect it might have been location for La Diperie... we wanted to go there a bunch of times but it was a bit far to make the trek when ice cream can be a spur of the moment thing with kids.

That's a good point about the location for La Diperie. I had actually gone by a couple months ago and I recall being caught off guard by their very limited hours of operation... It just so happens that at that time that I walked by, they were closed. I immediately started to question whether they would survive... I guess now we know the answer :(

Macarons et Madeleines just announced they are closing their doors on Feb 16, 2020. www.facebook.com

I credit them with driving Ottawa's pastry standards to new heights and I would often mention them in the same breath as Bread By Us when gushing about our best bakeries. Sad to see this era come to an end.

Really sad to see that The Cheeky Chippy is not planning to reopen next season. Rather, it is for sale: www.kijiji.ca

Someone please buy it so we can still enjoy great fish and chips in the Ottawa area.

Macarons et Madeleines closing Feb 16 2020.
www.facebook.com

Warby: we go to Cornwall for our F&C fix, there’s a Captain George’s there, and of course to Brockville for Don’s or Manoll’s in the summer

That's disappointing about the Cheeky Chippy. My Vet (or rather my pets Vet) is next door and we made it a point of stopping when we were in Almonte

Canvas is down for renovations, they should be open back up shortly.

I am shocked that Canvas is still open at all. Looks absolutely dead every time I walk by.

It's official...Canvas is closed, they posted it on their facebook page...

12 years in a good run, especially in Ottawa, Charles can certainly hold his head high & I wish him nothing but the best...

Agree warby re: Macarons et Madeleines, really high quality pastry. Out of curiosity, where were they before the move to Wellington West?

I just passed by Canvas and was thinking about it a day or two ago. Never ate there myself, but sometimes it was empty and others it looked like it was brimming with people from the neighbourhood. Ottawa could use more neighbourhood (and a culture of) bistro food.

Macarons et Madeleines was previously on Lorne Ave, a residential street off of Booth.

I hope they will return in some other form as they will be missed.

Chinese Dragon BBQ and Top One noodle are papered over and closed, with a sign saying a fast food place is coming. I don't remember the name of it, but I am 100% sure it isn't a chain, and will be chinese food too, so it may just be the owners trying a new cocnept.

Stoneface Dolly's RSS just posted on Facebook that they are closing. Too bad there aren't many good breakfast places in this area

To be clear, RSS means Riverside South.

Unfortunately, I think this thread is going to start to get very active soon.

Yes sorry RSS means Riverside South and realized both locations are closing 😭

Citizen article about both Stoneface Dolly’s locations closing. ottawacitizen.com

Dammit
Dammit
Dammit.

Coconut Lagoon's original location has closed, due to a fire. Operations will be moved to Thali effective June 2nd.

Regarding the previous post about Coconut Lagoon - they are closed *temporarily* due to the fire, according to their social media.

Posted in the dedthread but for completeness, Roost & Grill is gone, now to be a cheese shop from a Gatineau chain according to signage.

Am going to miss their chicken and pizza.
Dammit.

Unconfirmed report that Tucker's Marketplace is closing down.
www.reddit.com

Highlander Pub is closed for good according to not-always-reliable Reddit: www.reddit.com

Same for Nuvo Mexican: www.reddit.com

Scotch collection from The Highlander will be moving to Deacon Brodie’s on Elgin.

twitter.com

Smoque Shack in the market has closed permanently

Do they need any help moving the whisky? I'm available.

According to their Twitter, AGCO is giving them a hard time about transferring the bottles to Deacon Brodie’s. So who knows anymore.

twitter.com

Fish Market / Coasters / Vineyards closed for good.

they need to turn the whole byward market into a giant patio and make a big deal of it... there will be very little tourist traffic so they need to give local people a reason to visit the market or I can see most of the byward market restos going under this summer.

Fish Market / Coasters / Vineyards closed for good.

Dangit! I was hoping to take my wife to the basement for Jazz night after this was over.

Will the last restaurant to leave the Market, please turn off the lights.....

It will be 99 Rideau McDonalds.

Mamas Shawarma at Sunnyside n Seneca.
Not surprised... it never looked like they settled in and I think the pandemic scuttled those plans.

Also, that location is double extra jinxed.

Almonte Lobby Bar is closing and either turning into a butcher shop at that location or another one... not quite sure but saw this on IG

www.instagram.com

Café Saffron on Kent has closed. It's really too bad since their food was so tasty but I work in the area and it's like a ghost town around here. I wouldn't be surprised if more closures follow suit.

Not really a closure but a move. Good Eats is now located on Bell Street North.

"Not really a closure but a move. Good Eats is now located on Bell Street North."

Was just about to post that elsethread. New location is very similar to the old one.
Breakfast and baked goods just as good. Alcohol license obtained, dinner menu coming.
YAY!

Not for nothing, but the Harvey’s at Bank and Riverside has closed.

Kasbah Village on Laurier has closed, after being around for 20 years.

Anyone know why that Harvey's closed at Bank and Riverside? that was a go-to for us with the kids.

I would also suspect we're going to see scores of places closing downtown... the rent subsidy has ended (I believe) and there doesn't seem to a return to work happening for most offices so the downtown core will probably be a ghost down until sometime next summer at the earliest.

Yes, I think we can expect lots of closings, but there, perhaps surprisingly,have been a number of openings as well. Back to Brooklyn, Tingz and Le Suq to name a couple.
That said there seem to be a lot of empty spaces in the Market.

The city is tearing down that Harvey's and building a roundabout

I can't see how a roundabout can be put in there in any meaningful way without taking out a half-dozen other buildings and businesses. Please cite your sources.

tinyurl.com/y4jbyckd

I think the neighbouring office building is being demolished and turned into apartments, the owner of that building bought the land because they needed it for the new development.

"Kasbah Village on Laurier has closed, after being around for 20 years."

oh CRAP.

So Sad: Mason-Dixon (Preston Street) posted on IG yesterday that they will be closing permanently on October 19! I'm missing them, and crying already. Such a loss - great food, great place. I wish Henry Rosenberg well in his future ventures and will follow his bbq anywhere!

Gracies in Ogilvie is up for lease.

Fairouz is closing..... and opening.

ottawacitizen.com

Continental Bagel (ByWard Market) closing after 17 years.

ottawa.ctvnews.ca

Divino Wine Studio on Preston is closed. I loved their open kit hen. It was dinner and a show.

The 27 Club and Barefax Gentlemen's Club are closed and the owners are looking to sell the building for $6,000,000.

Newspaper article about the sale says 27 Club is still open, and that BareFax was closed when the paper tried to visit on Saturday (but that doesn't mean they're closed closed)

ottawacitizen.com

Too bad. I loved the food in both those places.

Wellington Eatery has now closed.

Mason-Dixon.... oh crap.
Fairouz... oh drat.
Bagel Place... oh goddamit.

Pressed - up for sale.
ottawacitizen.com

For sale != closed. Great time to support Pressed to send positive message to potential new owner.

A bit of a round up of both openings and closings:
ottawacitizen.com

I didn't realize pho bo ga 2 closed too

Nor did I. Milano on Carling and Wylie near the Coliseum just closed as well.

I'm going to try the Mont Tacos soon, it's right by my office. I admittedly have a bit of an aversion to that space, Shawarma House there was bad and so was Centrale Bergham. Never had a french taco but it sounds pretty good although fries on a sandwich doesn't appeal to me, not a fan of carbs on carbs.

Mont Tacos seems suspiciously similar to Central Bergham, right down to the Algerian sauce. Do let us know if you try it!

List from the Citizen article...

"This partial list is drawn from reports and information from Ottawa’s business improvement areas.

Opening:

Aiana
Arlo
Ayla’s Social Kitchen
The Burger’s Priest
Back To Brooklyn
Joe’s Italian Kitchen
German Doner Kebab
Kitchen Maroo
Mont Tacos
Parlour
locations of Pi Co.
Royal Paan
Super Salads
Thr33’s Company Snack Bar
Tingz
Vivaan

Closing:

Cafe Saffron
Coasters Seafood Grill
DiVino Wine Studio
The Fish Market
Highlander Pub
Il Primo
Kasbah Village
Vineyards Wine Bar Bistro.
Mason-Dixon Kitchen+Bar (to close Oct. 19)
Mother Tuckers
NH44
Nuvo Mexican
Pho Bo Ga 2
Roost and Grill
Stoneface Dolly’s
Stoneface Dolly’s (Riverside South)"

This just in: Siam Kitchen.
i.redd.it/hfeeldfz0ps51.jpg

Yeah, they've been telling regulars for months now .

I will miss that place, the portions were HUGE, the food was great, the staff were absurdly nice.

I heard that Andaz has suspended its food and beverage operations until the summer of 2021.

Allegro closing Oct 24

ottawa.ctvnews.ca

I am on the mailing list for the Urban Element and they announced in an email last Thursday they will be closing their brick and mortar school on November 30th. They will still be offering cooking courses online.

Wilf & Ada's has closed. If covid restrictions continue it will likely be closed for good.

Likely better to use their words instead of a quick paraphrase in this case, there is a bit of nuance in their statement.

"with much regret and heavy hearts" sure doesn't look like a temporary close, plus Ion Aimers has "temporarily" closed Segue, ZaZaZa, Nosh, Pomeroy House, La Cocina Loca, among others. With Covid restrictions likely to continue for some time and patio season being practically over until April/May, I'll be shocked if this place re-opens.

Wolf and Ada’s has been for sale on Kijiji for quite a while. I can’t imagine that their financial situation was great going into this shutdown.

Really? I've only been once, maybe twice, because getting a seat there was always such a long wait, I eventually gave up even trying. If they're essentially at 100% capacity all the time and still not doing well they're fucking something up, or cooking the books maybe?

Thetrunkdr scratch breakfast is a pretty tough business. Even in the best of times their margins would be super slim. I imagine it wouldn’t take much of an increase in labour or food cost to really upend their ability to turn a profit.
Jessie Duffy was one of the original co owners when it opened, and wrote about the challenges in Edible Ottawa.
I couldn’t find the link, but she wrote about how impossible it can be to pay staff well, make food that is typically viewed as cheap from scratch, and use local suppliers.

Not sure if either of these might be the article you were referring to. One is in Edible Ottawa while the other is from Ottawa Magazine. It looks like Jessie Duffy is not Carpinone, owner of Bread By Us but still along the same lines.

edibleottawa.ediblecommunities.com

ottawamagazine.com

While restaurant owner/operators may be willing to accept the slim margins, it's the kind of thing where you can reach a point where you just don't want to do it any more (not only about the money).

Owners want to so recoup some of their investment in the business and also see someone else (who is like minded) take over their 'baby'. (if only they can be this lucky)

While it was previously announced that Pressed was up for sale (and posted in this thread), today they announced they are closing for good tomorrow (Friday Oct 30). Very sad to see it go, as a comfortable and welcoming space for a drink, for their brunch, and for the shows they booked.

It looks like India Palace on Albert is closed.

This, all this... brutal.