Eat

La Bottega Nicastro

A fantastic little Italian specialty market, Nicastro's is a contender for the city's best $5 sandwiches, featuring amazing bread (esp. the focaccia) usually baked on the premises. The sit-down lunch kitchen is also well worth a visit.

market

Address: 64 George Street
Getting there: ByWard Market
Hours: Mon-Wed 9AM-6PM, Thu Fri 9AM-8PM, Sat 9AM-6PM, Sun 10AM-5PM,
Website: labottega.ca (opens in a new tab)

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Listing from Wikivoyage: Ottawa, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Updated 28 Sept 2026. Something wrong? Tell us.

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Eat
Restaurant 18
E18hteen
An upscale, modern restaurant and bar located in a renovated 19th century heritage building. It is the place to see and be seen.
Sun-Thu 4:30PM-10PM, Fri-Sat 4:30PM-11PM,
Eat
BeaverTails
Try the tasty BeaverTail, a fried-dough pastry associated with Ottawa, although a number of places claim to have created it. It's available in sweet and savoury versions, topped with cinnamon, sugar, icing sugar, etc. In the winter, many places will offer it on the canal. During the summer, the only places downtown to offer it are in the Byward Market on George St., and a small counter in a corner of the Canadian Museum of History. There are a variety of toppings and the taste of the beaver tail stands out more with the classic sugar & cinnamon. However, the locals' favourite is the Killaloe Sunrise, a topping of cinnamon sugar and lemon juice.
Sun-Wed 10AM-8PM, Thu 10AM-11PM, Fri Sat 10AM-midnight
Buy
ByWard Market
Among other things, this is a farmer's market; in summer, stalls selling fresh produce and flowers line the streets, and maple syrup bought at the farmer's market costs half the price of the same bottle sold at souvenir shops elsewhere in the Byward Market or anywhere else in the city. It is also a craft and tourist market with a range of shops and the city's busiest entertainment district with restaurants, pubs, bars and many street performers. Interesting to see it first during the day (when it's a shopping destination) and then in the evening (when it's a nightlife destination).
Drink
The Lookout Bar
They have a very popular "bois night" on Thursday that attracts lots of people. Drag shows on Friday and Saturday nights.
Sun Mon 2-10PM, Tue-Sat 2PM-2AM