The Blue Gardenia is a cafeteria-style restaurant located in the Varette Building at 130 Albert Street. Their menu includes Canadian, Italian and Lebanese foods. You can dine in or take out. They are only open on weekdays.

Blue Gardenia
Blue Gardenia
Foods from Blue Gardenia

Comments

2012 Sep 25
On a recent lunch hour I ended up getting another Blue Gardenia salad, again with chicken. I noticed they sell containers of their signature salad dressing so, since I am planning a cobb salad for dinner, I popped in today to pick some up. There was none left in the display case at the cash so I asked if they had any containers of salad dressing left. The cashier went to the bar fridge behind the cash and showed me the two sizes they have available so naturally I picked the larger size-;) A 5 1/2 oz. container set me back $1.

2011 Mar 10
I tried the Blue Gardenia Salad at lunch today. The Blue Gardenia salad is kind of common knowledge for people who work downtown - I have been hearing about it for years.

Pasta Lover in a post below perfectly describes the Salad. The only thing I would add is that my salad today had pieces of Ham, and that the amazing garlic dressing is pretty much a more viscous shawarma garlic sauce.

My only complaint today was that the cashier (who doubled as the table cleaner) had very, very strong body oder. Although I found this unpleasant, I had no big qualms. One of my friends was so grossed out that she couldn't finish her salad. THis was due to the fact that he was cleaning tables around us. Let's just say my friend is not a fan of strong cumin. hahaha.

Non-the-less, Joe the owner could be seen supervising everything and the salad was absolutely delicious. And I agree with Pasta lover that some tomato would be nice, but it's not a deal breaker.

Just a note on the size. Do no opt for the large, it is too big. The small is more than enough to fill a hungry man like me.

2011 Mar 4
The Blue Gardenia is a sweet little spot in downtown Ottawa. I have been going there for breakfast every Wednesday for about a year. A large group - 20 to 40 people - from St. Georges Anglican Church (now known as St. Peter and Paul's on metcalfe and laurier) have breakfast after the 7 am communion service every wednesday! The blue gardenia is always ready for us. The coffee and tea is waiting on the table before we get there and its unlimited amounts for those in our party.

Joe the owner, takes our orders and serves us very quickly - since most of us have to get to work on the Hill, or in our respective cubes downtown. I have never had their signature salad since I have only been there for breakfast - so it is on my list of things to try.

Breakfast is breakfast. Check the picture. The bacon is sometimes on the fatty side, but fat once a week is ok by me. I opted for tomatoes this time, but the potatoes are standard. It's hot, fast and tasty - I'd expect nothing less. At 5 bucks or so, it's a great deal and a half. (considering the bottomless coffee and tea and wicked awesome service). Joe is starting to learn a lot of our names too.

If any of you folks work downtown and want to be fed with the Word, and fed with bacon right after, please join us! It's a great way to start the day :) At any rate, I love supporting this place, it's clean, unpretentious, and most of all, cheep.

2010 Aug 13
I headed over to the Blue Gardenia restaurant for lunch today since I have been hankering for one of their signature salads for some time now. Customers have the option of eating in the cafeteria or ordering take-out. I decided to order one of their pre-made salads from their take-out counter so I can take advantage of the lovely summer weather and eat outside. The salad consists of iceberg lettuce, grated carrots, shredded cheese (I'm pretty sure it is mozzarella), green olives with pimentos, sliced hard-boiled egg and their very addictive creamy garlic dressing. I had a choice of the salad topped with ham or chicken so I chose chicken which was very moist. The only thing I miss is the tomato which I am sure was included in the past. I also ordered a pita so soft it could have been home made. Even though I ordered the small salad I still got a generous portion and it was delicious.