Ottawa-Gatineau Restaurant News

[rocketphish]

Rideau Street restaurant that replaced 'world's worst' McDonald's now closed
The upscale Chinese restaurant 99 VIP Seafood has shut down after less than seven months, owing more than $80,000 in rent.

By Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen
Published Mar 30, 2026 | Last updated 1 hour ago

The upscale Chinese restaurant that opened last September across from the Rideau Centre in the long-vacant location of Ottawa’s notorious McDonald’s has closed.

Opened by chef-owner Kevin Tan, 99 VIP Seafood at 99 Rideau St. closed some time in March. The restaurant was more than $83,000 in arrears, according to a bailiff’s notice posted on March 26. Landlord Colonnade BridgePort terminated the restaurant’s lease and changed the locks on its doors, said the notice.

Tan, who moved from Guangzhou, China to Canada 35 years ago and worked in restaurants in Montreal and Toronto before moving to Ottawa, could not be reached for comment. Last fall, he told the Citizen he was confident about his 120-seat restaurant’s location despite security concerns on Rideau Street and in the ByWard Market.

Tan said last fall through a translator that he wanted his dim sum and seafood restaurant, which featured modern furniture imported from China, to be close to Parliament Hill. “This is the heart of Ottawa,” Tan said. He chose his Rideau Street location over another one in Kanata, as well as a third location deeper into the Market, he added.

The previous tenant at 99 Rideau St. was once dubbed the “World’s Worst McDonald’s,” in large part due to a 2014 video that documented a late-night brawl during which a bystander pulled a baby raccoon out from under his sweater.

The closure of 99 VIP Seafood is part of the ongoing churn of businesses in the ByWard Market. In recent years, the historic Ottawa neighbourhood and commercial sector has struggled with the setbacks of pandemic lockdowns and remote work emptying downtown office buildings, as well as the stigmas of crime, violence and homelessness.

In January, Ottawa restaurateur Stephen Beckta closed his ByWard Market restaurant Play Food & Wine, which he opened in 2009 on York Street, about two blocks from 99 Rideau St. Beckta said in a recent interview that a new tenant has yet to be found for Play’s turnkey space, although there have been quite a few showings.

Other nearby restaurants that closed in the past 16 months include Blue Cactus Bar and Grill, which was quickly replaced by Grey’s Social Eatery, and the plant-based eatery Pure Kitchen, a few doors east of 99 VIP Seafood on Rideau Street, which was replaced by Barrio, a casual Latin American restaurant.

Lizardo Becerra, the award-winning chef-owner of Barrio and of Raphael Peruvian Cuisine, said he was sad to see that his neighbour had closed. “It’s definitely a loss for the Market,” said Becerra.

Becerra added that business at Barrio is finally picking up after a tough winter due to construction on William Street and ongoing issues on Rideau Street due to people who are homeless and dealing with addictions.

Ottawa’s fourth homicide of 2026 occurred on February 19 when Gilles Comtois, a 58-year-old known to many in Ottawa’s vulnerable community in the Rideau Street area, was stabbed on Rideau Street near the intersection with Colonel By Drive, a block west of 99 VIP Seafood.

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/99-vip-seafood-closes

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Ottawa’s fourth homicide of 2026 occurred on February 19 when Gilles Comtois, a 58-year-old known to many in Ottawa’s vulnerable community in the Rideau Street area, was stabbed on Rideau Street near the intersection with Colonel By Drive, a block west of 99 VIP Seafood.

This sentence was clearly not written for a local audience.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

This sentence was clearly not written for a local audience.

Sounds AI-generated

[rocketphish]

Olive Garden to take over former East Side Mario’s on Kirkwood Avenue

By Marissa Galko, OBJ
April 6, 2026

Ottawa’s newest Olive Garden location will take over the former East Side Mario’s location on Kirkwood Avenue this summer, the restaurant chain confirmed online.

The Hampton Park Plaza location at 675 Kirkwood Ave. was previously a dual-restaurant location with East Side Mario’s and D’Arcy McGee’s, which closed in 2023. It was home to a Swiss Chalet before that.

In January, Recipe Restaurant Group, the Vaughan-based company behind eateries such as Montana’s, Swiss Chalet and East Side Mario’s, announced the next phase of its national expansion of the Olive Garden brand in Canada.

The first Olive Garden restaurants to open under that agreement would be located at Vaughan Mills in Vaughan and in Ottawa’s Westboro neighbourhood. The restaurants are expected to open this summer.

In February, Recipe announced that a third new location would be opening in Ajax, with no expected opening timeline given.

A photo recently posted to Reddit shows that work is already underway on transforming the building at 675 Kirkwood into Olive Garden.

In July 2025, Recipe acquired the eight existing Olive Garden restaurants in Canada from U.S.-based Darden Restaurants, agreeing to expand the brand across the country.

“With these upcoming openings, we’re taking an important step in expanding Olive Garden’s footprint into new Canadian markets,” Frank Hennessey, CEO of Recipe Restaurant Group, said in a news release in January. “This expansion reflects our confidence in the brand, the strength of our partnership with Darden, and our ability to execute thoughtfully and strategically across Canada.”

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https://obj.ca/olive-garden-take-over-former-east-side-marios-kirkwood-ave/

[J.OT13]

Ottawa city council votes to waive monthly patio fees this summer

Ted Raymond, CTV Ottawa
Updated: May 13, 2026

Restaurateurs in Ottawa will not have to pay monthly patio fees this summer as the city celebrates its 200th birthday.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe introduced a motion at Wednesday’s council meeting to cut the summer monthly patio permit rental rate from $16.49 per square metre to $0. Council approved the motion unanimously.

Any businesses that have already paid their summer patio fees will be reimbursed, according to the motion.


The 2026 budget increased the patio fee by 58 cents per square metre compared to 2025, but Sutcliffe said waiving the fee over the summer would help local businesses at a time when costs are rising.

“This is a challenging time for many small businesses. We want to support our local hospitality industry, our local restaurants and small businesses. We want them to have a great season, especially with Ottawa 200 celebrations. We don’t want to add to their financial burden,” Sutcliffe said after introducing the motion.

“I think this is something we can do to support our local business community and make the city more vibrant during our Ottawa 200 celebrations.”

The motion also addresses the ByWard Market District Authority and the Sparks Street Mall Authority, whose patio fees cover operating expenses. The motion says the city will provide funding to offset the lost revenue, covered through staff vacancies and professional services budgets within the Planning, Development and Building Services department.


“This is Ottawa’s 200th birthday; we want to have a great summer season, we want lots of patios open, lots of people enjoying their time on the patios, residents and visitors alike,” Sutcliffe told reporters after the council meeting. “And so, if we can support small businesses, reduce their costs, reduce their financial pressures, make it easier for them to open their patios for this season in particular, we want to do everything we can.”

The city had removed the fees in 2020 through 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic before gradually reintroducing them at 50 per cent of the usual fee in 2023, 75 per cent in 2024 and 100 per cent in 2025.

Sutcliffe’s motion says roughly $460,000 was collected in patio fees citywide last year.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/ot...to-waive-monthly-patio-fees-this-summer/