Art House — Restaurant in Ottawa

TL;DR: This is a spot with a soul that almost saves it from its many shortcomings. There's so much potential in this coffee shop, and its failings can easily be improved with some work from management. The most critical issues are the constant issues with the wifi, the lack of food options, and the heat on hot days.

This quaint café has so much potential to be an amazing neighborhood staple for hanging out, having good drinks, and exposing more people to art - but it falls short in a few damning ways. Despite the amazingly artistic/indie vibe it exudes from its art-clad walls (all the pieces are for sale, offering an accessible marketplace for local sellers as well) and the friendly staff, there's always something a bit off about this place. Whether the Wi-Fi isn't working (a common feature these past few weeks; the staff are of no help when this occurs) to the lackluster food options (sandwiches the staff don't know how to make) to sweltering heat/humidity that fills the space on days where the weather is above a breezy 21° C, there's a lot to complain about if you're not in a forgiving mood. Overall, this is still a great space that offers weekly workshops for pottery and life drawing, and provides an accessible artistic space for the public to frequent. I only hope the management can provide a clearer and more consistent direction for the café moving forward. Immediate improvements would be Wi-Fi that actually works (the bare minimum service a coffee shop in 2022 has to provide, besides the coffee), adding better food to their menu (preferably pre-made, since the staff seem undertrained to do food prep), and investing in indoor HVAC improvements (doesn't need to be central A/C; a window unit or two and a dehumidifier would vastly improve the quality of...

Worst experience at an establishment ordering food. Ordered a wrap and a sandwich. The sandwich was so bad, the chicken was the driest I've ever seen, and they squished the sandwich until the bread was thin like a pancake, the wrap was okay. Moreover, the sandwich was the size of my palm for $12 and it says on the menu "all sandwiches come with a side of corn chips and salsa or salad (+1.25)" if all sandwiches come with corn chips and salsa then we should not have to pay the extra 1.25 it makes no sense it should be included in the $12 price but when we asked the worker for the sides they said we were wrong. Well then the menu wording needs to be changed because it's misleading, it makes it seem like you only need to pay the 1.25 for the salad which we didn't want. I got the wrap which was honestly decent but it was cold directly after they warmed it up, and again I did not get the sides it should have come with. The atmosphere is nice and the art is beautiful but the food is not worth it, paid $16 for an iced coffee and a measly wonder bread walmart sandwich. The picture shows the size of the plate they gave us for the $12 avocado melt. Obviously there is no space for the mentioned corn chips or salsa dip and shows how tiny of a sandwich it was. It wasn't tall, they squished the sandwich down so much it was almost flat. I dont mind quality over quantity but in this case there was neither. The wrap is on a larger plate, the sandwich plate is the other photo. We ate it all because our flat is out of power and we needed somewhere to eat or starve but it wasn't tasty, good, or good quality at all. Love supporting local but...

Love the atmosphere, but the service left a lot to be desired the one time we went. It had been recommended by a friend, so I was looking forward to giving it a try!

Took a long time to be able to order (though there was only one couple in front of us), then once we finally were able to order, the person taking it seemed to get distracted half way through and we had to start over with someone new. After taking a seat and waiting for about 25 minutes, we went back to the counter to check on our food, and it appeared that they had forgotten about us. A few minutes later, someone arrived with the chips and salsa that was to accompany the sandwich - salsa was mostly water and the chips were stale. They told us that the breaker had been tripped so they had to start from scratch to heat up the soup and grill the premade sandwich. Sandwich finally arrived, and though it was decent, my soup didn't arrive until my companion had finished his sandwich (he waited to eat as long as he could!). My chili finally arrived more than 45 minutes after initially ordering - I was able to get a few quick bites in before having to leave. While the staff did apologise as the food was brought to the table, they didn't offer anything (a drink, or a scone or anything!) to us for while we were waiting for so long.

Very disappointed - I had had high hopes because it's around the corner from my place and I would have loved for it to be a local hang! But, sadly, we won't be back - glad that most have excellent...