I have found a place in Ottawa that ticks all of the boxes that you might be looking for when visiting a pub for a meal and drink! The place is called Pub Italia and is located in Little Italy.
They have a really nice patio during summers, and the indoors remind you that you might be in a Church! Combine that with great food and service and you get the perfect hangout spot!
Once you get your table, you don’t get a drinks menu but instead you get their ‘Beer Bible’ which has a large variety of drinks that they offer! You are probably going to find so many options that you might not have tried before!
Pub Italia Ottawa
I ended up ordering one of their pizzas which turned out to be great! The portion size for one person is more than enough! You might want to share it with someone if possible! Also the drink was served chilled! Service times were reasonable despite having a big group and I didn’t really have anything to complain about!
While Pub Italia is more popular to have drinks, their food is great as well. There is ample space at the place for really big groups, and you can even arrange private space for events at the pub.
Popular Menu Items
Wondering what to order at Pub Italia? Here are some of their popular menu items –
Lasagna
Abruzzi Pizza
Dante Pizza
Bread Basket
Coffee
Sangria
Delerium Blonde
Pesto Pasta
About Pub Italia
Established in 1994, Pub Italia has become a popular destination for beer drinkers and pizza lovers. The Pub is known for its church-themed decor featuring glass windows and statues.
Italian gastro pub
Church themed decor
Casual upscale dining
Large beer collection
Known for pizza
Great for dates and large groups
Large patio
Contact Pub Italia
Address: 434 Preston St, Ottawa, ON K1S 4N4, Canada Phone: +1 613-232-2326 Business website: https://pubitalia.ca/
How has your experience been so far with Pub Italia? Do you think there is another great themed restaurant in Ottawa that does it better? Please let us know!
Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.
While country music is not huge in Ottawa, there are still some bars out there for country music fans to visit and enjoy country music. Here are some of the places that might be worth checking out if you are into the country lifestyle.
If you are really into country music and dancing then Crazy Horse Saloon would be your best bet! Out of all the places I have gone to so far, Crazy Horse Saloon offers the best experience in the city for country music folks. The place regularly has live music events and it can get quite busy so if you want to get a table, make sure that you arrive early! They also have a mechanical bull on certain days.
Nash Boîte Country (also called Nash Bar Gatineau) is a new country bar that has opened up in Gatineau. Previously this place used to be called as X Lounge. This bar has a large dance floor than the other bars however it can still get quite packed with people during weekdays. If you are looking for line dancing then this would be the place to go.
Based out in Gatineau, Pop-O-Bar is a popular bar among locals for live music. Just make sure to check their schedule as sometimes they have other things like Karaoke going as well!
Best days to go: Friday and Saturday
Nice atmosphere
Live country music in both English and French!
Attracts a slightly older demographic
Lots of slot machines
Small dance floor
Small cover charge on weekends
Free coat check
Lunergans Pub and Eatery
Address: 1661 Montréal Rd, Gloucester, ON K1J 9B7
Lunergans Pub and Eatery
Lunergans Pub and Eatery has local country music nights every then and now! If there is a band performing then there wouldn’t be much of a dance floor at this place. I would recommend this place if you want to have chicken wings and beer while listening to country music.
I haven’t tried their food yet but this place gets packed on Weekends! La P’tite Grenouille usually has live music early in the night and then this place converts into a dance bar late into the night. The place tends to attract younger crowd on the weekends. Live music is usually country however once this place is a dance club then the place has a variety of hip hop, or dance music.
Best days to go: Friday and Saturday night
Bilingual live country music (French and English)
Drinks are cheaper (compared to bars in Ottawa)
There might be an entry fee over the weekend if you arrive late
The Chateau Lafayette is the most convenient spot to go to if you are in the Ottawa Downtown area. Located in the Byward Market, the venue has live country music every weekend! The Laff is quite well known for the its local performers who have been performing at the location for more than a decade now and previously the place has been visited by many popular celebrities including Justin Bieber!
Best days to go: Friday and Saturday
Dive Bar
Jukebox machine to play whatever music you want
Seating capacity for large group
Small dance floor
If you are looking for other options for country music in Ottawa, your best bet would be when the weather is warmer, as there are internationally known country music artists performing at different festivals in the city.
Feel free to share your experience if you have been to these places or know any other bar in the region.
Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.
Here are some of my favorite salsa dancing dance bars that I think are worth visiting in Ottawa-Gatineau region. If you are looking primarily for lessons then I recommend these Salsa Dancing places instead which do lessons followed by social events.
I found Latinos Resto Bar to be the best place in Ottawa for hangouts. Not only do they have Latin events on weekends, but occasionally on weekdays as well. Sometimes they also do Spanish Karaoke really late into the night. The crowd is very friendly and you can even ask people to dance here. Though I must say that the dance floor is a bit small.
Latin Dancing on both Fridays and Saturdays.
No cover if you arrive early.
This venue attracts both local as well as hispanic crowd.
Serves both food and alcohol.
Latin Saturdays at Le Forum
Address: 815 Rue Jacques-Cartier, Gatineau, QC J8T 2W2 Business website: https://leforum.ca/
Latin Dancing at Le Forum 888
Le Forum restaurant has Latin nights on Saturdays and they have a variety of music playing – primarily merengue, salsa, and reggaeton. They also play a bit of line dancing music so you will see people going crazy. Unlike other places, people at El Forum show up really late. The dance floor only starts to get busy after midnight.
The place is ideal for groups, not if you are seeking people to dance with.
The place attracts more of a Hispanic crowd.
Crowd is relatively less friendly than other places.
Mill Street Brew Pub does weekly events and is surprisingly packed on a Monday night. They also do beginner lessons if you have never done salsa or bachata before. I have heard that if you spend on food at this place then you might be able to get free entry to the event.
The Speakeasy Tapas Lounge is a Spanish restaurant; however, on Friday nights, their basement gets converted to a salsa dancing spot. Even though it has a small dance floor, you are going to have a blast as it has live musical performances.
Latin nights on Fridays
No cover charge (usually Free)
Live music
Plays salsa, merengue, bachata and reggaeton music
Amigos does occasional salsa/bachata events as well. Usually they do the Latin nights on Tuesdays and sometimes the place can get quite packed. I did like that they have a huge dance floor and a sports bar section as well with pool tables.
Salsa/Bachata socials on Tuesdays
Pool tables and slot machines
Large dance floor
Dance performances
Lessons before socials
Other places for Salsa Dancing –
Mavericks (Address: 221 Rideau St, Ottawa, ON K1N 5X8) does do Latin nights often on weekends. This place might be convenient for those who are around the Byward Market area However, I found the place however too crowded to be able to dance.
Chez Putters (Address: 181 Principale St, Gatineau, Quebec J9H 6A6) occasionally hosts Latin nights where they play salsa/bachata music. It’s a really large bar that has multiple pool tables, a virtual golf simulator, and other game machines. Usually Latin Nights take place on Saturdays.
Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.
I have been to Montgomery Scotch Lounge a couple of times and whenever I go there, I find something new! Turns out the place has some really nice specialty drinks so I decided to try them out this time!
Cocktails at Montgomery Scotch Lounge
The first drink I ordered was called the Cruising Altitude which is made of Glenmorangie Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Amaro Nonino, Aperol and Lemon. If you like sweet flavor then this would be the drink for you.
The second drink was a bit of a different experience though – it was the Pompatus of Love which is part of their Enlightment Series. This drink consisted of Aberfeldy Scotch Single Malt, Aperol and Amaro Averna! What’s unique about this drink as you actually get a Smoke Bubble on top of your drink! Blow it up before you sip your drink!
Both drinks had a strong flavor and I had to drink them out sip by sip. It is really hard to chug these drinks even if you are thirsty.
Whenever I have been there, there is always a band performing! I was thinking that the lounge always plays country music but that is not the case. They were actually playing a blend of soul, funk, jazz, reggae and latin music this time and the performance was great!
Mecca of Stank band
I have enjoyed all my visits at this place and recommend it! However there wwere two things that I noticed about this place that I didn’t like. While I have been to the place before when they perform live music, I have never been charged a cover before. But during this visit, there was a cover charge ($10). While it’s okay to charge a cover, none of us were told upon entering the venue that there would be a cover charge.
The other issue was that one of the persons in the group got a sample of the drink and was charged for it. I think it’s important to let the customers know about such charges especially when other bars do not charge for trying out a drink.
Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.
After visiting Chateau Lafayette, I feel like this bar has a really good potential to become my favorite bar in the city! While the lafayette is a dive bar, it’s one of the few bars in the downtown area that plays country music!
There is limited seating in the patio however their indoor is quite spacious and is suitable for large groups. I didn’t knew this but the bar also has some games that are available to be played for free. My group was able to get a hold of the Jenga, which we played through the night and what made it even awesome was that each piece of Jenga had a dare written on it so it was fun playing them out at the bar.
Chateau Lafayette
Apart from Jenga, the bar also has Pacman arcade and some other games that are available on request. You might have to just look around as there does seem to be some interesting stuff in the bar.
Since this bar actually plays country music, even though the dance floor is quite limited, you will end up seeing people do line dancing sometimes! They do have a DJ playing music on the weekends but also you have the option to play your own music using the touchtunes machines on other days.
Chateau Lafayette promises to be a really good spot for group hangouts. Drinks are priced a little higher than what the other dive bars like Dominion Tavern charge but this one offers a very different experience.
Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.
If you are looking to have drinks in the Patio, then definitely checkout The Manx located on Elgin Street, Ottawa! Initially I was planning to head inside, but the nice weather convinced me to try out their patio instead!
I went for their Manx 20 Stock Ale which I was told is from the Kichesippi Beer Company. It’s a light beer and was served cold, which is how I enjoy my beer.
The Manx
One thing I noticed is that the service at the place is much better than other bars out there. The server tended to me almost the moment I arrived, and kept checking regularly if I needed anything.
Manx 20 Stock Ale
While the patio is located right across the streets close to the intersection, it is not that noisy and can be a great hangout spot for small groups.
There is only limited capacity in the patio and the tables can have 4 people at most though it might be possible to combine the tables (as long as the walkway is not blocked)
Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.
Last year I had bookmarked a place called Montgomery Scotch Lounge but never got a chance to visit it until now! While I was walking towards the place, I didn’t really know what to expect. Part of me felt that it was going to be a run down location or have a dive bar feel but boy I was wrong!
This place looks absolute stellar and is a perfect place to hangout with your date, close friends and family members! The venue has nightly live music during weekdays where the musicians play some of your favorite country music (maybe other genres as well).
Live Country Music
For my drink I ordered – Reginald De Koven, a cocktail consisting of Glenfiddich, Sweet Vermouth, Maple, Citrus and Bitters. Even though my drink looked small, I could appreciate the amount of alcohol in it and a couple of these would be enough to get me buzzed for the night!
Cocktail – Reginald De Koven
The venue does have a couple of local artists perform live music and will rotate as the night goes. Even though my stay at this scotch lounge wasn’t too long, I enjoyed it and plan to visit it again in the near future!
Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.
