Chop Steakhouse & Bar — Restaurant in Ottawa

I had decided to try this restaurant to celebrate a family members birthday on February 27th. I had placed the reservation the night prior via their website for 6:15pm the following day.

We'd unexpectedly arrived much earlier at 4:15PM, rather than wait an additional 2 hours we thought to give them a call to see if we could be accommodated early. The woman assured us that there was plenty of available space and welcomed us to come in early.

We were seated in booth seating as per our special request when making our reservation. After we were seated and comfortable we were then greeted by not only our server for the evening - Jody - but also the acting floor manager - Jacob.

We were asked if it was our first time there and we had said yes, it was, within 5 minutes Jacob brought out a complimentary serving of their Rye Garlic Bread with Goat Cheese Dip which was absolutely fantastic and I personally am not favorable to Goat Cheeses but theirs was delicious and definitely worth a try.

For our appetizers we had chosen 2 orders of their Steak Bites which came with 2 kinds of dips; Hot Mustard and Horseradish (either one can also be substituted for their Peppercorn sauce). The serving size for this appetizer is very generous - I'd highly recommend only one serving of the steak bites per 2 people if they are also planning on purchasing a steak as their entrée.

We had a bit of difficulty choosing our entrée but our server - Jody - showed exceptional attentiveness and checked in on us every 10 minutes or less. By the time we'd made our choice, she'd been to our table 6 - 7 times and was just as pleasant as the moment she greeted us after sitting down.

Our steaks were cooked beautifully - a 7oz Top Sirloin and a 13oz Ribeye both done medium rare. We were both extremely impressed with the cooking and plating skills of the chefs and kitchen staff.

While the steaks were as close to perfect as you can imagine - my family member and I both agreed that the highlight of our meals were the Loaded Mashed Potato that we chose for our side dishes that came with a steak entrée. This was possibly the best potato dish I've ever tasted in any restaurant. I simply can not recommend it highly enough (I had also asked for no sour cream on my potato dish).

I chose the Steamed Broccolini for my vegetable side dish that also comes with a steak entrée and they were excellent - exactly what I expected.

They have an extremely robust selection of drinks, definitely more focused on wines however. My Pink Lemonade could've used a smidge more lemonade flavoring but was enjoyable nonetheless.

They had brought out a complimentary birthday dessert for my family member which we had brought home, as after the meal - we could not eat another bite.

I can not overstate how exceptional Jody's service, charm and attentiveness was - she was truly a standout in our experience and I hope they get to read this review. She was the best server I've ever had the pleasure of meeting in any restaurant I've ever been inside.

Jacob demonstrated that he was quite knowledgeable, witty and charming during our interactions and should be proud of his ability to maintain such high standards for his environment.

Our sendoff was fantastic - we'd made sure to ask for anything leftover to be packaged to-go - the only hiccup here being that the leftover ribeye was missed but there was not much of it left, so this was easily forgiven in light of everything else being as superb as it was.

The prices are quite fair - especially when compared to other restaurants of the same caliber (Baton Rouge, The Keg Manor etc.) and I hope this continues to be the case as I would like to continue recommending this restaurant for future decades should the prices remain as competitive as they are at the time of writing this review.

If you are looking for an unrivaled dining experience - this is my first recommendation. Thank you for an unforgettable evening and I wish you all the best.

Thanks...

Chop Steakhouse - A Complete Disappointment

Updated review/Additional note: Don't bother contacting the guest relations email when they request you to - I have now waited months for a response to my email - still have not received a response. Fail after fail here...

I had high hopes for our visit to Chop Steakhouse, especially since we were there to celebrate my sibling's birthday. I called the restaurant at 3:00 PM to make a last-minute reservation, specifically mentioning the occasion and that I wanted to arrange a special dessert to surprise my brother. Unfortunately, what should have been a special evening turned out to be a series of unfortunate events.

Upon arriving, the restaurant was surprisingly not busy, which made the lack of service even more puzzling. We ordered appetizers that were mediocre at best. After finishing, we were informed we would receive replacement cutlery. However, our food arrived with no cutlery at all. We waited while our plates sat in front of us, which was frustrating and unacceptable.

When my brother finally cut into his filet mignon, he discovered it was overcooked. My mother's plate had rock-hard beets that were inedible, and my child's Alfredo tasted like a cheap box of Kraft Dinner—absolutely nothing like what one would expect from a steakhouse. My child never received his beverage nor his dessert.

The wait times for our waitress to check on us were excruciating. When she finally did come by, she asked my brother if he wanted a new filet mignon made. We had to decline, as we had other plans after dinner and hoped to finish our meal together without further delays.

Later, a lady came out to apologize, but her timing felt completely off. She asked my brother if he wanted a complimentary dessert, which only reminded me of the surprise I had arranged. I had to remind her that I called ahead to request a special birthday dessert for my brother. It was incredibly disappointing when that surprise was completely ruined.

Overall, the service was disorganized, the food was subpar, and the experience was anything but celebratory. I cannot recommend Chop Steakhouse for any occasion, especially a special one. Save yourself the disappointment and opt for a restaurant that truly values its customers and their family...

Chop, give yourselves a pat on the back. You nailed our dining experience last night. Where do I begin?

My partner has celiac disease. She has a severe allergy to gluten and wheat. Consuming even the smallest bit of it can send her to hospital. When we advised our server, Sarah M of this, she assured us that they would take every precaution to ensure my partner's health and safety. We didn't know what we were in store for though.

Rewind. We went to Chop during their Happy Hour where they have discounted drinks and food. We were seat ed about 5 minutes before Happy Hour ends. When we told Sarah we wanted some Happy Hour drinks, she offered to load in multiple drink order before the cutoff time and then she would just fill the orders and bring them when we needed our next drink. We ordered 2 glass of wine each. Sarah brought the first round promptly. We also ordered the chili garlic shrimp appetizer from the Happy Hour menu. This dish comes with a piece of bread and we asked to omit the bread to keep the dish gluten-safe. We also put in our entrée orders at that time.

Another server, who we later learned was named Hannah (or Hanna) brought our appetizer and was very specific to tell us that it was gluten-free. Much to our surprise, they added a gluten-free bun to the dish to replace the ciabatta bread that the dish usually comes with.

Fast forward. Entrées arrive. They were great. Again, Hanna(h) delivered them and noted that the kitchen was very particular about knowing of my partner's gluten allergy.

On one of our usual server, Sarah's, returns to our table, we learned that Sarah was not even allowed to bring our food orders to our table because she was handling other people's food. They designated Hanna(h) to deliver our food in order to ensure my partner didn't accidentally come into contact with gluten. WE HAVE NEVER SEEN A RESTAURANT DO THIS! We were very very impressed. So much so, that we felt compelled to chat with a manager after we paid our bill to express how phenomenal of an experience we had.

We will return to Chop. Next time, we'll arrive earlier to take more advantage of the Happy Hour discounts. We can only hope that we have Sarah and Hanna(h)...