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    Bowman's Bar & Grill

    4.5 (102 reviews)
    Closed 4:00 pm - 10:00 PM

    Bowman's Bar & Grill Photos

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    BOWMAN'S BAR & GRILL ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Outdoor seating
    Good for groups

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    Sarah R.

    I had a tall task in front of me - choosing a restaurant to satisfy friends who have very different food preferences in an a convenient area of town. Of course, I went searching on Yelp to find such a magical place and, when Bowman's came up as one of the top-rated restaurants in Ottawa, it seemed to check many of the boxes! Located right off the highway and with parking, but not too far from downtown, with menu items like a pork belly sandwich and a large craft beer list. Although I later learned some were hesitant when I sent along the website and suggested dinner here, everyone was raving by the end of the night! The beer list was great - my beer-brewing husband got to try some really nice Ontario beers! We each started with a jalapeno corn bread muffin. There were not cheap but sooooo worth it! Several of us had the Bowman burger, which was a rich, well cooked burger with a sweet savoury bacon jam. I loved the style of fries. My husband enjoyed the Southern fried chicken sandwich, and my friend really liked the fish tacos. We had a great time chatting with the owner, who seems like such a down to earth guy. I was so happy to come in and support his restaurant, and also very proud of myself for finding something to satisfy different appetites!

    Menu - Starters, Entrees, Burgers and Sandwiches
    Andie E.

    We popped in for a quick lunch. Had been here before and enjoyed the food and atmosphere. Wednesday's offer "5$ off any hamburger" and that's just what my dining partner got. I got the Caesar salad with a side of hanger steak and oh my gosh it was delicious. They also make their own Cesar dressing which was extra cheesy and creamy. It was quiet while we were there, we got a seat by the window. Ample free parking, and the service was very swift. Our server was on top of offering refills for coffee (which are included) will definitely be returning.

    Beer menu at Bowmans
    Carrie H.

    In town on business and found Bowman's on Yelp. So glad I did!! Walking in, Peter (the owner) gave me a friendly wave and made me feel welcome from the first moment. Decor was modern (love the lighting) and bench was comfy with a great view of the Jays game. Bathroom was clean. Started by checking out their diverse selection of craft and seasonal beers to suit any taste - ask for a sample if you're next not sure. While the feature sounded amazing (gnocchi with roasted red pepper) I went for the Bowman Burger and wasn't disappointed. The bacon onion jam and aged cheddar make this stand apart from regular pub grub. Perfectly salted fries and attentive service made for a perfect meal. The cappuccino was frothy and delicious too. Only regret is that I didn't save room for dessert - I will be back and highly recommend.

    Yummy Mexican specials!
    Andrea B.

    I was pretty surprised to see such high ratings for a seemingly standard pub, but this place certainly earns the five stars. From the kind and friendly service from Mike, to the awesome food (churros for the win!), this place was great. Jennifer P and I came for dinner around 6pm on a Wednesday night, and the place was dead, except for a few regulars who sat at the bar to watch the baseball game. They did have a few other guests pop in while we were there, but I'm betting this place is generally pretty quiet on Wednesday nights. Neither of us are beer drinkers, but they do have an awesome selection of local craft beers on tap, so be sure to check those out if you're a beer drinker. We didn't see a cocktail list, but Mike assured us they had plenty of liquors, spirits and the like if we wanted him to mix something for us. They also have a wine list. We opted to stick to water as we didn't want to waste calories on alcohol! We started with the chips and guacamole which was tasty. I don't know if the chips were made in house, but they were warm and crunchy and were perfect with the guac. It was very flavourful, but I almost wished their was a bit more avocado and less onion, but it was still really good. We munched away happily, as our salads arrived. The salad size was perfect, and all the ingredients were fresh and tasty. The big hit here was the dressing - it came on the side and was so good! It was dill (which I love!), and creamy and wonderful, and we actually kept some to dip our fries in as well. One thing I enjoyed here is that you can order two sides (I always have such a hard time choosing!), so while we started with our salad, I was also able to order a tortilla soup with my burger. The food came out super fast (likely due to the fact that they were so quiet), and looked positively awesome. I ordered the Mexican burger (this was my first time ordering a burger in a restaurant!), and it was amazing. The patty was cooked perfectly, and it was topped with more of the yummy guacamole, pico de gallo, yummy jack cheese, chipotle aioli and cabbage. The bun was from Rideau Bakery and was everything a hamburger bun should be - fresh, chewy and delicious. The tortilla soup was good, but not as flavourful as I expected. Maybe a dollop of sour cream would have been good. Either way, I still ate it up. For dessert we split the brownie sundae (a flourless brownie made with nutella!) topped with homemade ice cream (so rich and good!) and the churros. I hadn't ever tried churros before and I totally fell in love. I would come back here just for those! This place was so unexpectedly awesome, I can't wait to come back and try more dishes. They also have an open mic night on Saturdays, and trivia night on Mondays. This is an awesome spot in a community with few great restaurants. Stop by for superb food and excellent service.

    Laura W.

    Stopped by one day with my mom when they first opened and I had the chicken and waffles. The restaurant looks great inside, my dish was well presented and I was excited to dig in. Unfortunately my chicken was a bit under cooked on one side which I didn't eat and I was a bit disappointed. Flash forward to last summer and my boyfriend and I went for lunch with friends. We had the hangar steak and it was delicious! We definitely what to go back for the steak and I would try the chicken and waffles again. There aren't many good restaurants so close to home so I hope this place does well. Staff was very friendly and the restaurant was clean and renovated.

    Lots of craft beers on tap!
    Jenn B.

    We were staying at the Macies Hotel and this restaurant was a lifesaver. We ate so many meals here and just loved every one of them. They have a vegetarian nut loaf that is out of this world good! Craft beer selection was wonderful for my husband and I enjoyed the wine.

    Cheddar, pear, and walnut grilled cheese plus soup of the day

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    2 years ago

    Service was friendly, food was pretty good. Portion was a tad smaller than I anticipated but was quite yummy. Worth a try.

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    2 years ago

    Excellent, food, very friendly and efficient service. Mike was very helpful in selecting a great beer.

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    2 years ago

    Great little pub with excellent food. Love their burgers! It's one of my 'go to' places when I'm hanging out with friends.

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    3 years ago

    best place in Ottawa! Love the atmosphere and staff.

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    The Moonroom

    The Moonroom

    4.2
    (45 reviews)
    2.0 km
    $$$

    Grow theirs own cocktails herb and flowers…read more The patio is charming and so is the interior. The staff is very knowledgeable it's very pleasant to know more about the dishes.

    I was SO stoked to finally visit the Moonroom after seven or so years of wanting to go!…read more After a Saturday night at Bluesfest, we waited somewhere else for about half an hour before they told us the kitchen was backed up, so we walked down Preston and I was so glad the Moonroom was still open. We didn't get there until about 12:30am and it was pretty full. We didn't leave until maybe 2:30am and it was still pretty full considering the time. They're not normally open this late, but it seems like a lot of the businesses on Preston decided to stay open later to catch the post-Bluesfest crowd. Good call! We decided to sit inside since there was an empty table, otherwise I would've liked to sit out on their back patio, which looked really pretty with the lights. Inside was a nice vibe though, too. It's small/narrow, dimly lit, with sheets covering the different coloured ceiling lights, and candles on the table. It's very intimate and pretty romantic. We sat close to the bar and there was another party of two beside us. The music was a bit louder so we couldn't really hear the other table's conversations, but not so loud that we couldn't hear each other. They were playing the Bee Gees when we walked (danced) in, so we were really about the jams. My husband got a rotating draught IPA by Daft Brewing, can't remember which one it was. I got the Jill Collins, which had Tanqueray Gin, Affino Limone, fresh lemon and mint, cane syrup, and a Moon soda top. It was super refreshing, bright, and not too sweet, which is exactly what I wanted. We shared/I mostly ate the "OG Grilled Cheese" and "Panzanella-esque Salad". The grilled cheese had aged Balderson and cream cheeses in a crunchy baguette smothered in toasted garlic butter, served with Moon ketchup. It was exactly as described, with very crunchy, buttery garlic bread and creamy cheese. The Moon ketchup is made in-house, thinner and chunkier than processed, store-bought ketchup, with stronger flavours. It was okay, but I didn't need to dip much in the ketchup because I really enjoyed the sandwich and it was on the saltier side itself. Because it was a lot creamier than gooey, I'd say it was more of a sandwich than a grilled cheese, but still very tasty. I really am not a huge fan of salad in general, but I can't complain when it was burrata on top. It also had salty bread, arugula, roasted tomatoes, fresh peaches, herbs, and honey. The peaches were more firm than ripe and juicy, which was good for a salad, though I wish they were a bit sweeter. The burrata wasn't creamy inside like I expected, but I love cheese in any form. I really don't know what possessed me to get salad, especially after a bunch of drinks in the wee hours of the night, but my body thanked me later. Salty, bitter, a little sweet, fresh, and not heavy, even with (more) bread and cheese. It was great. They unfortunately ran out of the affogato, which probably would've convinced my husband to stay longer. Too bad. The vegan dark chocolate gelato from Farinella that they put in it sounded amazing. The beer was $10.50, my cocktail was $19, grilled cheese $16, and salad $17, which was pricey. BUT, the fresh herbs are from their garden on the back patio, they make their own soda and ketchup (among other things), everything was delicious, and even late at night the cocktails and dishes were still well put together and tasted great, plus I finally came here after so long. No regrets! Our server was super nice, same with owner and one of the bartenders, who even popped over and sat with us for a bit to chat. And not in a weird/creepy/in-your-face way lol she was cool. She was the one who greeted us when we came in and said bye to us on our way out. There's no flash photography (I forgot to turn my auto flash off for my salad, sorry!). They're open all week from 5pm to 2am, no reservations, no large groups, and no phone (just stop by). I wasn't sure if it would meet the high expectations and hype I had built up in my head after waiting so long to visit, but it totally did. It's such a nice spot, we had an amazing time, and we will definitely be back!

    Photos
    Bar
    Bar
    Panzanella-esque Salad (forgot to turn my auto flash off, sorry!)
    Panzanella-esque Salad (forgot to turn my auto flash off, sorry!)
    Peristéri NA cocktail

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    Peristéri NA cocktail
    The Third

    The Third

    4.6
    (18 reviews)
    1.9 km
    $

    Came for lunch at 1pm on a Saturday and there was a 30 minute wait. There isn't much space to wait,…read moreso it good that they take your number down and call when your table is ready so you can walk around a bit. We missed the brunch menu as I think they stopped serving that around 1pm. The lunch menu was mostly sandwiches, and I had the crispy chicken sandwich with half side of fries and half salad. I love that they offer you the option of half/half. The portion size is definitely on the smaller side but the sandwich with side was only $13 and I prefer the smaller portion as I've been trying to control my portions better. The chicken sandwich was ok - the chicken could have been more seasoned / better coating but it wasn't bad.

    I've had The Third on my list of places to try for some time now (pretty much since they opened in…read morelate 2017/early 2018), and finally got around to it. The place is always very busy and I now I understand why. The food is delicious, service is good and the prices are great. My husband and I were both off work on a Friday, so we decided to head there for a late-ish lunch. We got there close to 2pm and it was packed indoors. The patio was relatively empty, and that's where we opted to sit. The patio started to fill up as we were there. I got the fried chicken sandwich with fries ($12) and my husband got the Brisket Plate ($13) which came with corn, mac and cheese and some toast. The portions are smaller than at most restaurants, but I actually prefer the lower price and smaller portions. My fried chicken sandwich was delicious. The chicken was crispy and the slaw had carrots, jalapeno and celery. They were generous with the sliced pickles. I asked them to hold the mayo, which they did. I hate wet sloppy sandwiches, so it was perfect without the mayo. The fries were thin shoestring fries, my favourite type. They were crispy and so tasty. My husband also enjoyed my fries, lol. I also gave him a bite of my sandwich and he liked it too. My husband loves his Brisket Plate. I had a taste of the brisket and he gave me a lean piece because he knows I hate fatty meat and it was good. I also tried some of the mac and cheese and I liked that too. Apparently there was sweet potatoes in the mac and cheese, but I didn't taste it. I like how they give you water in a bottle, so you don't have to ask for refills (unless you drink more than the bottle, in which case I'm sure they'd give you a second bottle). Service was lovely. Although the patio is at the side of the restaurant and is next to a parking lot, the ambiance was good. I liked that some tables were in the shade (ours) but they had some in the sun for those who like that. The inside ambiance is more drinking hole-like, lol. It was loud and crowded. I preferred the patio environment. The Third is where The Blackpepper Urban Pub used to be. They actually kept one of the awnings that you can see from the patio; it says Blackpepper. The parking lot next door has limited parking spots and some are marked as reserved for SuzyQ (the donut shop) and others for QpiXXX (which used to be an "adult entertainment" store and it might still be, but now mostly sells bongs and other cannabis paraphernalia). Some spots are unmarked, so maybe customers of The Third can park there (?) I've seen Circle K customers parking there. Circle K is the business immediately west of the parking lot. We walked there, so I'm not entirely sure about the parking situation. My only regret is having waited this long to try The Third. We will definitely be returning. I want to try their Veggie Burger next :)

    Photos
    The Third
    French toast with fried chicken $13 The sauce was too watery and made the bottom of the French toast soggy :(
    French toast with fried chicken $13 The sauce was too watery and made the bottom of the French toast soggy :(
    Fried chicken burger and fries

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    Fried chicken burger and fries
    The Wood on Wellington

    The Wood on Wellington

    3.5
    (10 reviews)
    1.3 km
    $$

    I just grabbed a burger here for the first time tonight and it was amazing! I ordered a peppercorn…read moreburger, which came with Brie, caramelized onions, garlic sauce and cracked peppercorns and it was one of the better burgers I've had in Ottawa (comparable to Chez Lucien). The fries were also great, as well as the service. Also, lots of screens all around for watching sports, and a fairly friendly atmosphere where it's easy to talk to other sports fans. I'd definitely come here again.

    There are a number of drinking joints along this stretch of Wellington. I just had to stop at The…read moreWood though because it bills itself as a wine and sports bar. What? Wine AND sports? No way! It has dark glass, so it is tough to see what is going on in there. But, be brave and give it a shot. Okay, first off - they do sell more than wine. They offer a number of good beers on tap - Harp, Kilkenny....Coor's Light...??? Okay, well most are good. And, they have about 20 bottled brands in the fridge. They also serve liquour and martinis. But, back to the wine. They have a huge menu, divided by countries - Canada, Italy, Australia, etc. And, you can have your wine by the glass or the 1/2 litre if you want to try more than one kind. Sports definitely is a theme - the tv shows all the big games. So, who knew wine and sports could go together so well? Definitely something for everyone at The Wood.

    Photos
    The Wood on Wellington
    The Wood on Wellington
    Nice sized bar

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    Nice sized bar
    Elmdale Oyster House & Tavern

    Elmdale Oyster House & Tavern

    3.1
    (37 reviews)
    1.7 km
    $$$

    A large group of us met for dinner recently at The Elmdale…read more Dinner was great, a little overpriced. Our server was amazing. We were happy -- it was a celebration. Then came the part that defies common sense. After dinner they were clearing space for a DJ. We had settled our bill. I went to order a drink at the bar and was told I had to walk to the front door to pay a $5 cover before I could buy a $10, one-ounce drink .... after I had already spent nearly $100 on dinner. When I politely asked how this possibly made sense, the manager stepped in and argued that we had to pay. I have decided that I will not mention his name despite how insulting I found this to be. I'm choosing to give someone the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was having a bad day. So let's do Math 101. An empty bar. Paying guests. Good-tippers. A lively group ready to keep spending. And you stop the sale over $5 and talk down to your customers. This felt like a perfect example of what I personally feel is going wrong in society today -- people blindly enforcing "rules" without applying any human judgment, common sense, or situational awareness, and mistaking a small bit of authority for good decision-making. In fairness, perhaps he doesn't have the power to override silly little penny-pinching rules by owners/mgmt. We walked out immediately -- on principle. It wasn't even about the five dollars. That single interaction left a worse taste than anything we ate. It takes real talent to turn happy dinner customers into walking warnings. I have to say, everyone else, including the doormen outside, were really super nice (hence the 2 stars).

    A nice spot in Hintonburg, with lots ofindoor and outdoor seating as well in the summer. Lots of…read moreseafood options, and a few options for those who don't eat seafood like steak. The staff is very friendly and kind , very attentive. If you come early in the evening on weekend, you won't have any issues getting a table It has the same owner as whalebone , so if you enjoy their restaurant downtown, you will enjoy the spot as well It is a spot that is a casual dining experience without being pretentious, while also being a nice date like spot for a more casual person

    Photos
    Lobster roll
    Lobster roll
    Delicious ceviche
    Delicious ceviche
    Fries

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    Fries
    The Wellington Gastropub

    The Wellington Gastropub

    4.0
    (60 reviews)
    1.4 km
    $$$

    Lovely spot for dinner. Service was prompt and attentive. I had the risotto and it was tasty and…read morefilling. For dessert, I highly recommend the warm sticky toffee pudding with ice cream.

    This was a visit on a bitter cold day which could be bad thing depending upon where you are seated…read moreand if you need to make trips to the washrooms. I wasn't expecting this kinda setup as its a converted home from the looks of it. Not very accessible IMO as small steps and washrooms downstairs which due to being next to a fire exit the walk there was constant freezing breeze. First things kudos on a great beer list. I am not a fan of craft beers and appreciate when I see Belgian Beers on a menu. Good Stuff Here is a play by play Curdo hmm very bland and the texture had turned mushy. Beet salad was decent lots of ingredients that somehow went well together. Short Rib was OK. Now it doesn't take much to make this dish great. I enjoyed the sides more as found the meat to be dryer than it ought to be. Surprised as its hard to do that with short rib IMO. My fellow dinning companions enjoyed their main with the shrimp pasta getting a big thumbs up. Now for the service oh boy was it slow we are talking 30-45 min to get the apps with another 30 min to get the mains. I would give a half star bump for the beer selection so 3.5 stars all said and done.

    Photos
    Beet and haloomi salad
    Beet and haloomi salad
    Beef tartare
    Beef tartare
    Chicken sandwich: the bun was bready and dry, the chicken and fries greasy.

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    Chicken sandwich: the bun was bready and dry, the chicken and fries greasy.

    Bowman's Bar & Grill - bars - Updated July 2026

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