Westboro Beach's new winter hotspot: pizza in a gondola
Good luck getting a reservation at sunset for the recently opened The Grand, which overlooks the frozen landscape of the Ottawa River.
By Lynn Saxberg, Ottawa Citizen
Published Jan 12, 2026 | Last updated 49 minutes ago
Immediately after devising a plan to ski along the Ottawa River and dine in one of the gondolas on Westboro Beach at sunset, I encountered a snag.
Getting a reservation in one of the five vintage ski gondolas at sundown would take weeks. The newest attraction at the recently opened Westboro Beach restaurant, the Grand, has proven to be hugely popular with Ottawa residents, especially as the sun slips below the horizon. That slot was booked solid for a month.
While I was able to secure lunch-time seating for two on a weekday, it turned out to be a day that was completely unsuitable for cross-country skiing on the Kichi Sibi Winter Trail, or anywhere else in the city for that matter. Thanks to the vagaries of this Ottawa winter, the perfect trails of the previous week had been washed out by rain.
No matter, I thought. My friend and I would eat first and ski another day. After all, we were lucky to get the reservation, and had already paid $20 each to book gondola seats at lunch. The cost jumps to $25 for dinner-time seating. Food and drinks are extra.
Despite the extra expense per person, the Grand co-owner David Mangano said they’re swamped with reservations.
“We didn’t expect them to be as popular as they are but hey, I’m not complaining, that’s for sure,” said Mangano, noting the appeal of the coveted 4:30-5:30 p.m. slot. “The sunset here is insane.”
In mountain towns, gondola dining might refer to a hill-top restaurant that requires a gondola ride to get there. In Ottawa, the gondolas are installed on the patio outside the restaurant, overlooking the flat, frozen landscape of Westboro Beach and the Ottawa River. It’s a short walk from the NCC parking lot across the street, and steps from the Kichi Sibi Winter Trail.
Mangano and business partner John Borsten are also co-owners of the Grand restaurant in the ByWard Market. The Westboro Beach location is their first expansion of the Grand brand, and Mangano had to be convinced to take the risk.
“I honestly thought I was coming to look at some sort of seasonal cantina that we’re going to open on the beach,” Mangano said of his first visit to the site. “And when I got here, I couldn’t believe it.”
The National Capital Commission, which owns most of Ottawa’s riverfront, reopened Westboro Beach in 2025 after a $21-million rehabilitation that saw the construction of an architect-designed pavilion equipped to house a year-round restaurant, a seasonal cafe and washrooms. Happily, the unique, mushroom-inspired concrete structures dreamed up in the mid-1960s by the influential Ottawa architect James Strutt were maintained alongside the new pavilion.
The dining gondolas fit right in with the retro aesthetic. Mangano and Borsten discovered them when a Westboro neighbour decided he wanted one for his backyard. They are actual ski gondolas from the Swiss Alps, refurbished with a table, benches and electricity to run the heaters and background music. There are still a few scratches on the glass.
Each one cost about $20,000, Mangano said, and they were sold in lots of six. The neighbour bought one, and the Grand bought the other five. In addition to the upfront purchase cost, they’re not cheap to run, due to the extra expenses of hydro and more staff. The seating charge helps lessen the risk.
It was a damp, miserable day when my friend and I entered the gondola, but the space heater under the table and blankets on the benches made it cozy inside. Drinks were ordered remotely through the website.
I accidentally selected a frothy, Berries-in-the-Snow-type cocktail instead of a beer. I thought I had cancelled it, but it arrived anyway. The server opened a small, sliding window in the door and passed the glass to me. I passed it back, apologizing for making her brave the weather unnecessarily.
The Grand restaurant’s original downtown location is a 16-year fixture of the ByWard Market. It’s a bustling operation located in a designated heritage building on a busy corner in the core of the city. The kitchen is known for Pizza Napoletana cooked in a wood-fired oven, and fresh pasta dishes.
The Westboro kitchen has a similar menu, but a far more intimate vibe for dining, especially if you’re in a gondola. It was like being in the Cone of Silence from the old TV show, Get Smart: Under the protection of a temporary, soundproof forcefield, you and your colleagues are able to trade international secrets without being overheard by the next table.
Well, instead of international secrets, my friend and I caught up on each other’s lives and exchanged tidbits of gossip punctuated by peals of laughter. I found myself being loud and extra-animated in the private setting, observing that it would be a great spot to hammer out a strategic deal, work on a creative project or establish a COVID-proof dining bubble.
Of course, it also makes a great spot for a celebration, ideally for two. Although the gondolas will accommodate groups of four, the benches are narrow and four adults would be cramped, particularly if their legs are long. Dogs are allowed in some of the gondolas, by the way, while others are kept dog-free. Ours had no doggy smell.
Having seen the massive wood-burning pizza oven inside the restaurant, it didn’t take long to decide on our order. We selected a couple of personal-sized pizzas in their signature Napoletana style, which according to the Grand’s website, is characterized by a “moist, soupy” centre and a soft, chewy crust with slight charring.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the moist soupiness to turn into cold sogginess, likely during the journey from pizza oven to gondola. While the pizza, cheese, sauce and crust ingredients were top-notch and the combinations were intriguing, next time I’d ask for it to be well-cooked in the centre of the pie instead of the traditional soft and floppy.
We also took our time eating, enjoying the sensation of being out on the icy tundra but fully protected from the elements. Eventually our server knocked on the window with a gentle nudge: Our gondola was needed for the next reservation.
Oh okay. We moved on from the cocoon-like comfort of the gondola, pledging to do the riverside ski part of our excursion when the winter weather returns.
In the meantime, I’ll start working on getting another gondola reservation — hopefully before spring.
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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/westboro-beach-gondola-pizza
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