La Strada Restaurant — Restaurant in Ottawa

We were very excited to try La Strada for the first time. A family member had previously dined here and only had amazing things to say.

We had reservations booked and arrived on time. Not sure if it was the owner or manager, but when we arrived we were greeted very coldly. He didn't smile, didn't say welcome, and gave the impression that he was surprised/bothered by our presence. We were not given a very nice table, while there were nicer ones open. Very bad first impression.

The waiter was very nice, but had to come back after he took our order to confirm what the three of us had ordered, and when he came to the table with the dishes, he was mixing up who ordered what. Not that big of a deal.

I can say the food was excellent. We ordered an entrée each and two appetizers to share. All three of us really enjoyed our meals.

Not a fan of the ambiance. It was very loud and came off very pretentious. It was hard to hear each other and have a conversation as the volume of noise was way too loud.

At the end of our meal, we paid cash and tipped around 23% as we rounded out the bill. I watched the waiter return to the bar and count the bills and when he was finished, looked up at our table with a sour look on his face, and proceeded to toss the billfold aside on the bar in an annoyed manner. Considering we paid $300.00 for dinner, his reaction made us very uncomfortable. When we got up to leave, we passed by our waiter and the owner/manager and neither of them acknowledged us, said "thank you for coming" or "hope to see you again" or anything. They were not busy with other staff/patrons.

All in all, although we really enjoyed our food, I even told the waiter that this was the best meal I've had eating out in a very long time, the unwelcoming attitude and energy of the restaurant made us all agree that we would never return to La Strada....

My boyfriend and I went out for dinner on Saturday. We’ve been talking about a date night at La Strada for months and finally found time for a Saturday night reservation. For reference we are late twenties/early thirties. When we got there the owner (assuming) was telling the 3 older people ahead of us that he would come back for their jackets once the table was ready. When we said our names we were walked to the table immediately but he didn’t offer to take our jackets or say “enjoy” none of the sort. We were the only ones with our jackets at the table. Not sure if this is because we were two at a table for four, or if maybe they had no more coat hangers…The restaurant was completely full and it was quite loud. When the food came, my bowl must have been right out of the oven. The server didn’t mention anything and I burnt my finger trying to push it directly in-front of me. When I asked for ice he simply walked around to bar and got some ice in a cup, placed it on table and walked away without saying a word. No apology or acknowledgment. The food was amazing.. every bite was 10/10. If it wasn’t for the taste of the food, I probably wouldn’t go back. It felt as if they weren’t taking good care of us… and i can’t help but *assume it is because of our age. The server wasn’t rude but he definitely wasn’t going above and beyond to make it a great experience for us. It appeared as though he was taking better care of other tables around us. We ended up tipping 20% on a $200 bill. I’m willing to go again because I liked the atmosphere and the food. I’m hoping it was just a one off and a very busy...

Went here on a work function with some business partners. I actually recommended this place as it was local and I heard good things from others.

We had a reservation for 12 unfortunately we had some cancellations the day of that were beyond our control. When the owner/manager approached us about our guests not being there it was incredibly awkward, embarrassing and rude. I can appreciate that our reservation for 12 was large and may have reduced the number of tables they had but there was a better way to handle that in that moment, and he did not handle it well.

Instead they made us feel incredibly uncomfortable in THEIR restaurant. Then proceeded to move our tables so he could free up the other table (while dropping one of our guests cell phone on the floor). We told him we were very sorry and we’re trying to fill the spots as we understand his point of view. His response was well I’m going to move the table and if more come and I have no room to seat them that’s too bad.

It was such a horrid start to a meal that was supposed to be great. It’s unfortunate because the food was great and the waiter was nice but this one particular person was awful.

I would never recommend this place again for a work function, nor would I return on my own just because of his attitude.

Kind of embarrassing that I...