Town

This place is amazing. I cannot say enough great things about the food, staff and the whole experience.

My first time here. My goodness, an excellent menu, very well prepared. It's nouveau Italian. My friends had tagliatelli, and angiolini and reported that they were both delicious. A very good wine list as well. Highly recommended.

Phenomenal food. We were blown away by how good it all tasted. Really well priced for the quality. Of course I'm comparing to Toronto prices so I could be off. Will be back next time I'm in Ottawa!

Nice restaurant with a great vibe. The service was excellent and the staff were very friendly. The drinks menu is extensive, and the food menu had a great selection. I had a handmade ravioli-like dish. It was the best pasta I have had in my life. I still talk about it.

Food was impressive tho feature as a wine restaurant. Fried egg plant and beef tartare were both beyond expectation, recommended.

Wow wow wow!
Chaque plat a été un pur delice et on aurait voulu tout essayer tellement s'était bon! Ca faisait longtemps quon avait pas aussi bien mangé dans un restaurant. Le plat de pieuvres et calmars est le meilleur que j'ai mangé a vie! Ya de la passion la dedans! Good job! A toute l'équipe! Jai seulement trouver que les Cocktail était un peu cher mais a part ça Bravo!

Fantastic food and service that exceeded our expectations. One of our favorite spots that we'll be returning to.

I could eat one of every menu item! Every dish is so well thought out and each ingredient plays a role in making the dish stand out. The fried eggplant, agnolotti and spicy bucatini were our favourites. They work so hard here and they deserve the appreciation and praise!

Service was friendly and super helpful. Love it when servers know the dishes well and can explain and make recommendations based on your preferences ️ the squid and octopus dish was amazing! Soooooo tender and flavourful. Portions were surprisingly big. Glad we didn’t order anymore. I’m always tempted to try everything! Had a fun and delicious time here and would recommend this place for sure!

Great service, great food. Every time I visit the menu is new, the food original, and delicious! Compliments to the chef for always offering a surprising and enjoyable culinary experience.
Great place for a special night out.

My wife and I were lucky enough to stumble upon this excellent dining experience. Service was great and the spicy bucatini was to die for! When we come back I’ll probably order one to take home with me. Tried orange wine for the first time and really enjoyed it! Thank you guys so much.

A classic Ottawa restaurant. Amazing food, attentive and knowledgeable staff, ridiculously good beer and wine list. One of the best.

Had the most amazing dinner at Town. Yummy little gem lettuce salad and tuna tartare, focaccia. Great wine selection and friendly service. Will be going back ASAP

Update: have been back 5 more times and it is amazing every single time

Seriously some of the best food in Ottawa. We ordered 5 or 6 plates to share and they were all to die for. Would recommend the falafel (the snap peas that come with it are really good) and the meatballs!

Had a wonderful evening with friends. Excellent food, great atmosphere and superb service. Highly recommended!

Town is a forever favourite. They offer amazing food without any of the pretense - amazing friendly service, great vibes, and you’ll always bump into someone you know there! There’s a reason Town & Citizen are so beloved by locals & visitors alike.

Had dinner here just before the pandemic started, was one of the best meals I have ever had. Highly recommend, amazing food, beautiful space and friendly staff. You need to eat here!

Always delicious and great service! Love the Italian sodas they offer for non-drinkers, with homemade syrups! All the food dishes are unique and delicious. Donuts for takeaway during the pandemic were epic, and I can’t wait to return for brunch at Citizen once the bring it back!

Extremely high quality food. Reasonable prices. 5/5 stars.

Update Feb. 26,2022: Still excellent. 5/5 stars.

Wonderful takeout meal. Town's take on dim sum was a tasty surprise shift from their regular menu. Highly recommended!

Great service! The only things that made this a 4 instead of a 5 were the cocktails, and potato chips on the tower. They were greasy, and while the brand is listed on the menu, they were presented as home made chips.

I almost never go out to Italian restaurants because Italian food is so easy to prepare at home, but this place is an exception. One of Ottawa's best dining experiences.

Takeout dinner for 2 last Saturday was delicious. The finishing touches were made to the main dish when I arrived to pick up the food, so it was still lovely and hot by the time we arrived home. Generous servings. Would definitely takeout again

Delicious food and great service! We were served by Max who was so kind, helpful and attentive. Every dish was delicious and we would definitely come back again.

Went here for our 2nd wedding anniversary. A very delicious widespread of food! We were not disappointed. Amazing customer service, cute drinks, and yummy food. What more could we ask for? !

One of our favourites was their unique dinner for two, fried chicken pizza! Very filling, and not greasy! We will definitely be back!

Had the most amazing dinner at Town. Yummy little gem lettuce salad and tuna tartare, focaccia. Great wine selection and friendly service. Will be going back ASAP

10/10 service and food every time. The meals for two go a long way and never disappoint. Check out the cocktails as well! They are always creative and delicious.

My appetizer was the pork belly which had a crispy exterior and was topped with sliced figs - delicious. My friend enjoyed the toast with creamy burrata and beets. My main was the baked pasta, which had a flavourful sauce and some crunchy bits (I loved this). My friend enjoyed the meatballs on a bed of creamy polenta.

Got the takeout dinner for two from Town - everything was superb. So many Ottawa restaurants have been doing a great job with takeout dinners during the pandemic, and I have to say that this one was among the best Ive had over the past year. Will definitely be back. Thanks Town crew.

Their dinner for two was so much better than I expected, the flavours and textures were amazing! I never knew I could love pudding for dessert, but town elevated the most everyday dinner combinations into an experience not to be forgotten.

The best fine dining experience I have had in my life! The food is exceptional. If they are offering a stuffed pasta choice when you attend, chose it! I have been there twice, and I would drive from Montreal to dine at this place again. Treat yourself out.

Phenomenal. I just couldn’t get enough of the Brussel sprouts and the squash agnolotti. Service was so helpful and respectful. Thanks for an amazing dinner! Sorry I got so caught up wolfing down all the yumminess I forgot to take pics!

Very nice restaurant, good quality and friendly staff. We had spaghetti, meatballs and the ice cream cake. Everything was very good

First off, it took about 20 minutes for someone to take our drink order, and there were maybe 10 or 15 people in the whole restaurant. We ordered the dinner for two and foccacia bread. It took about 30 minutes for that to arrive. When it did, we were thoroughly disappointed that we just paid so much for such bad-tasting food. Sure, it's different, but that doesn't mean it's good. The foccacia bread just tasted like toasted bread with garlic powder on it, and the dinner for two was basically finger sandwiches, a small bowl of almonds and some deli meat. For $50+. I could've eaten literally anywhere else and gotten much tastier food and bigger portions with faster service.

Had the delivery due to restrictions on gatherings - food was incredible, the Green Goddess dressing is creamy and rich and the lettuce was fresh
The duck with miso pasta was delicious - really well paired and the garnish was perfect
Cannot wait to visit once things reopen! Highly recommend ordering in for a special night!

Just had a great meal, beautifully prepared and with excellent and friendly service. We sat at the chef’s table (only space for two) and watched Akiva deftly and carefully prepare dish after dish while chatting with us about the operations of the kitchen. All our dishes were excellent but special mention goes to the pork belly appetizer, the trout and also the egg plant appetizer. Everything arrived piping hot. The wine selection by the glass while not wide, was reasonably priced and good quality. The restaurant is not large so I would think reservations are essential as it is very popular. We will be back for sure.

Wonderful dining experience. The warm olives and whipped burrata were delicious starters. Meatballs were the best I’ve ever had.

The food excellent as usual, the service left a lot to be desired.
Servers altough did they physical job decently well, cared little in about the client's overall experience. Servers were way too dry and straight to the point. Totally felt like a number, and simply a table being processed, right to the end. No customer real customer experience. If this was a Swiss chalet that's what I would expect, however the 175$ bill tells me otherwise.
I will not be back to Town.

Food was delicious. As a vegetarian options are limited. They have one potato dish and it tasted awesome.

I have been there a few more times since my last review and must say they have a wide selection of comfort food like the philly steak sandwiches and chipotle chicken sandwiches that is really good. I would to try their peanut butter and jelly ice cream sandwich for dessert and see if that is awesome I have just been too full after eating the main course though.

Go here! Sit at the bar, chat with the bartender, try their suggestions. This is one of my favourite places and I am always pleasantly surprised by their take on Italian-style dishes.

Town is a solid Elgin Street gem. It's a tiny spot that's always packed. They have the best meatballs in town. I'm often having their tartare and their fresh pasta dish. Never disappointed! The photo is the gnocchi with meat sauce.

This restaurant was on my list for a while, finally got the chance to go. I had the lamb shank and wife had the gnocchi.

Overall impression was underwhelming. The food lacked any distinct flavouring and was on the bland side. Also, the portions were not very generous, especially considering the price point. I did leave hungry, but was mainly due to me not finishing the dish as the risotto texture was not to my liking.

I probably will not go back and am not likely to recommend. Unfortunately our waiter wasn't too interested in our satisfaction either which is why I bumped them down to 2 stars; otherwise would have been a three. It was also overly hyped, even though a few people warned us of the bland falvours.

Overall takeaway is that there are much better restaurants to visit in the area and in the city. The atmosphere was cozy though, a bit cramped, but the decor is well done.

Had dinner at Town last night. I was glad they take reservations for Friday nights (I hate when restaurants don’t take reservations during the busiest times). The ambiance is great and although it is a crowded, tiny place, while we were seated I didn’t feel crowded.

The food and service is exceptional. The menu is original and a great deal of skills goes into the food preparation. I had the lamb gnocchi for supper. It was the perfect plate size and the flavour was incredible. I then shared the pavlova for dessert and again, it was incredible.

The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and always come at just the right times. They also all seems to be dressed in the urban rustic/cool/chic that seemed to match the ambiance.

I would recommend this place and I will be going to Town again.

Delicious plates for sharing with a menu divided in small and large plates. We shared as appetizers the eggplant and whipped burrata. The whipped burrata comes on homemade bread with sweet beetroots which sweetness tends to overpower the delicate burrata. The eggplant was good with creamy sauce. We then ordered the meatballs as the strongly recommended dish from the waitress; filled with ricotta and laying on polenta, it elevates the meatball. The real star plate of the dinner were the caramelle pasta: aldente fresh pasta wrapped as candies (caramelle) with green peas, pecorino, and green zucchinis. Plates vary in price ($15-30 approximately). Expect over $100 for a couple for a culinary adventure with rich ingredients. The only downside of our visit: we had purposely reserve the chef's table and were instead seated by door with patrons waiting gathering around our table. Unfortunate.

OMG! Too bad we don't have 6 stars:) this place is insane. Friend and I set at the chef table which is a small table facing the kitchen. It was pleasure to see how the staff is working. Very clean and quick. Every dish we ordered was made in the best way and was executed perfectly. The lamb, the chicken and the duck breast were delicious. Thank God I don't live in Ottawa, otherwise I would be there every day

Delightful! We arrived early, right at opening time. (Recommend a reservation especially Friday and Saturday) we were greeted right away, they took our coats which is a nice touch and we were seated at a nice table. Service was fast and attentive. Food was fast and hot and delicious. Not your plain old cooking. I had an old fashioned (ok, fine, I had two) and it was very nice. Nothing over the top just a well made drink. I was a little disappointed by the desert menu but my waist is thanking me. We are lots at dinner. Will certainly be back.

Great meal and experience with me and my girlfriend on her birthday. Awesome service. The table next to me had one of those negative people who complained and had the meal paid for on the house. Trust me, she was wrong, it’s great there lol.

Pumpkin kibbeh was fantastic. Visited for special Simpsons trivia night with friends and everything we ate and drank was scrumptious. Super friendly staff and gorgeous space. The bathrooms were spotless and more comfortable than regular restaurant bathrooms. Will be a new regular date night spot.

I love Town Restaurant! I recommend their tapas. If you need to eat downtown this is the place to go. The restaurant is small and cozy and the service is wonderful. The service is amazing. Town restaurant generously donates to many of the charities I volunteer for.

I had the duck which was pretty delicious. Their flour-less cake is also really delicious. My only gripe with the place is that at night it's so dark in there I could hardly see what I was eating, but overall it's a great experience!

Pretty tasty meal. A touch pricey, but definitely good food, and good service. I guess we drew the short straw and were placed by the front door, which was pretty cold anytime the door opened, but it was Friday so it was busy.
The Beef Short-Ribs dish was especially yummy.

We ordered the steak tartare and pork belly to start. Both were so delicious. The portions were generous. The tartare wasn't the super traditional kind since it was more like chunks of beef instead of ground beef and there was no egg yolk. But I really enjoyed it regardless. They had a good wine and whisky/bourbon selection as well! We had beef tartare, fried Brussels sprouts, burrata, and flourless chocolate cake. It was all prepared fantastically!

A group of friends traveled to Ottawa over Labor Day weekend. Found Town online before we went, it was also on our hotel's website. It was the day we got into town, had checked out ByWard Market first, then some drinks in the Village. Had made a 7: 30 reservation not knowing how competitive dinner is in the area. Left the bar and headed south. Started to get concerned since there was a ton on construction but we found the place. Was only about 1/2 full when we got there but did completely fill up during dinner, so I was glad to made the res. Since we'd had a few drinks prior, stuck with wine with dinner. I had the duck, another friend fish, another the meat balls (signature dish). Finished it off with the carrot cake and coffee. Everything was very good. Not sure when we'll be back in Ottawa again but would definitely recommend this place to travelers and locals as well.

Location: Downtown Ottawa. Street parking is available however good luck finding a spot. The night I was here, there was absolutely nothing available and we had to use a paid lot a few blocks away.

The place: Very small and dimly lit. I can't find better descriptives to tell you about the place because I found it to be lacking in vibage.

The goods: Well, I'm going to go against to majority here and tell you that I was really disappointed. The primary issue for myself and my friend was the sheer lack of flavour in everything we had. I wanted to love this place, really, but I'd be lying if I used three stars to rate my personal experience because it doesn't fall under the category of 'A-okay'. So, we started with the BBQ shrimp and octopus tostada; first, the term 'BBQ' lead me to believe that at the very least, the shrimp and octopus would be served hot. That wasn't the case. The shrimp was OK but the octopus was tough and chewy. My friend and I both agreed that the ingredients topping the tostado would be better served in a bun or something that could hold it all together because the tostada broke easily so things tended to fall off. Anyway, despite the various ingredients (avocado, cilantro etc), we were underwhelmed by the lack of, well, taste.

My main included the seared scallops with white beans and pancetta (and greens - I forget what). In terms of size, I'd say it was on the small side. The scallops were well seared and had a good consistency but again, they, and the rest of the items on the dish, lacked flavour. I mean, I'm not one to encourage an excessive use of salt but give me something here - herbs - spices - anything? ! The roasted cauliflower that my friend had was the same. Additionally, I tried it and felt that it wasn't cooked enough.

Finally, when we ordered dessert, we were told they were out of the chocolate tart. I don't get it - how do you run out of dessert on a Friday night? Before we left, we overheard the waitress telling other patrons that they had run out of something else as well. Anyway, since nothing else appealed, we left.

Service: OK. Most of the staff just seemed so neutral. No other way to describe it.

Price point: considering all of the above and the overall experience, I personally find this place to be overpriced. With tip it cost me $67 (including a glass of wine). For about the same price, I would have better eats and dessert in Montreal.

Really nice place, correct price and food, just a bit more light would be appreciated, sad that we can’t add french fries or whatever (sides)

A wonderful place. Fantastic cocktails, great food you can't go wrong. My biggest complaint was that I couldn't get though the thick cheese tweel atop the wonderful beef tartar we had. Other than this our meal was superb.

Went with my lady friend and sis.
Showed up 15mins early for the rsv but they made it work. Mispronounced Matron and the waiter didn’t even make me feel like a dummy. That was nice. Food was nicer. Be sure to ask for a demonstration of the installation by the bar.

Not so impressed, it's like they take simple, good food and make it complicated. Price is pushing toward a bit too high. Won't go again but would not discourage you from giving it a try.

My wife and I were in Ottawa for the evening and found this gem. No reservation but they were able to accommodate us. We had the two Unique and flavorful pasta dishes on the menu at the time which were delicious. Appropriate helping size but others may deem small. Perfect for us. Don't be put off with all the construction on Elgin its worth the visit.

Food creativity is not equal to cost, though what's new on Elgin? Excellent, friendly and prompt service. Wine selection was varied.

I came here for my birthday with a few friends. The food was amazing. The prices were also reasonable. The ambiance was nice and even though it was a a fairly small restaurant and was full of people due to the holidays, it wasn't too loud. I enjoyed the beef tartar and pork belly dish they served while I was here. The food was excellently prepared and I'll definitely come back again. The servers were also very friendly. I would come back and recommend this place.

Awesome staff with great customer service! Great ambiance however, the food is a little unreasonably priced for its quality (minus their phenomenal deserts). The awesome staff makes up for it though and they have a great variety of drinks!

Great atmosphere, have been coming here for years and the food and service is always consistent. Compelled to give a review because the staff was so accommodating on a recent last minute anniversary request that we fully expected them to refuse.

Town is so unexpectedly incredible, this is potentially Ottawa's new best restaurant. I had the Cornish Hen, which was the best bird I've ever eaten. So incredibly tender and the gravy was out of this world. The Pate and pumpkin rigatoni were also spectacular. The server was also top notch.

Stayed in renovated tower, still an old hotel but nicely done. Housekeeping was better than most and on site restaurant very reasonable with GF options. Room rates were very reasonable. Still under construction/remodel for at least the next year but they are making it as painless as poss for guests. My colleague got placed in a non-renovated him and would not stay—he felt it was too “funky”. And he’s NOT picky. You’ll want to state when making reservation you want an updated room. Pool area very pretty. Close to restaurants and shopping.