Level One Game Pub — Restaurant in Ottawa

While I really like the concept of this pub, I feel like a few things need to be addressed before it is truly an enjoyable experience. I'll start by saying that I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the selection of games they offer, and I don't mind paying the $8 pay-to-play fee. The food and the service need some work, though, and the system they use for booking tables isn't the most ideal in the winter months.

Our group had to wait over an hour in the freezing cold to get a table. We tried to wait indoors, but were told by staff that this is a safety concern and they ushered us back out into the cold. It's hard to know how much time there is until a table will open up, so we didn't know whether we had enough time to check out a nearby bar. Not terrible if the weather is pleasant, simply not feasible in the winter months.

The service was a little lackluster, as our assigned server only checked in on us one time and seemed to have forgotten about our table (?) as he could be seen taking orders, checking in, and bringing drinks/food to tables near ours, but didn't stop to ask us how anything was or whether we wanted to order more food/drinks. We had to flag down staff as they walked by in order to get service. I'll give our assigned server the benefit of the doubt as it appeared he was new to the job, and probably just forgot about our table altogether.

The drinks were quite good! The food, though, was simply disappointing. I ordered the bruschetta. The pictures in the menu show your typical bruschetta - nice thick slices of baguette with a generous portion of tomatoes/parmesan, a drizzle of balsamic, and a sprinkle of basil. In hindsight, I really should have asked for a replacement meal as what I received was a total bait-and-switch. I was served the tiniest little slivers of crunchy baguette (think Melba Toast), with a sprinkle of tomato/parmesan, a drizzle of balsamic, and a DUMPING of basil on top. The bread itself was so crunchy and thin that when I bit into it, the bread (really more of a cracker) crumbled and all the toppings would fall in a pile onto the plate. I paid $11 plus tax and tip for essentially 5 small crackers and a mountain of basil. I truly wonder if the kitchen ran out of ingredients for their bruschetta and instead of telling patrons that it wasn't available, made do with what they had on hand? I think I would have preferred to know that they weren't able to serve me the meal as pictured/described, as I would have simply ordered a different menu item.

Overall, I would recommend this pub if they happen to have room for you upon arrival and if you are only interested in playing some games and enjoying some beers. Otherwise, you might be a little...

As much as this is an amazing place that’s so fun to go to with friends, the service is kinda horrible and the prices just keep getting higher and higher. 2 years ago the stay and play fee was like 6-7$, now it’s 10$ and it’s easily gonna go up at least another 3-4$ in the next year. With the food being at least 20/25$ MIN, it’s ridiculous, especially when their prime customers are students. 50$ for a night of ok food and low quality service. It’s so hard to get a server to actually come to your table. Unless you go up to the bar yourself to get what you need, you’re not getting it. You won’t see or talk to your server till it’s time to pay, oh wait no, they take forever for that too. Busy or not it’s ridiculous. Every single time I went it was the same. The last time I went about a month ago I brought my friend from overseas. We were sat, asked what we wanted to drink and all that. She brings us the drinks after we got a few games and just… left. Not in a hurry or anything. Just put the cups down without even stopping and didn’t ask us if we decided on food or needed more time. We figured ok, maybe she had things to do fair enough so we waited. And waited. 2 people came in after us the whole night so it’s not like they had busy new customers. We waited a whole 45 min before we were hungry and pissed off and managed to flag a waiter down after multiple attempts. And you wanna know what she says when I ask if we can finally order??? “Oh I didn’t think you guys were gonna order anything” like???? Oh that pissed me off so much, my friend and I were stunned. She didn’t even ask!!!! Nothing suggested we weren’t gonna eat but even still. Beyond unprofessional to not even ASK or check in to see if we wanted anything. She didn’t even come back at all for refills so we sat there the whole time with no drinks that we payed like 5$ for. We were annoyed but we still politely ordered and food took another 35 or so min. So all in all we had to sit there with nothing for over an hour and a half before we even got our food. Now don’t get me wrong, the servers are so friendly and kind so it’s not that they’re rude or anything. Just a severe lack of actually visiting their tables. To this day I still get peeved when I remember...

Level One Gaming Bar is a lovely restaurant that offers well presented and good food. You can pay 10 dollars more to borrow board games and video games while you eat. They have a giant variety of board games including multiple copies of the same one so multiple tables can play the same game.

I went to the restaurant as a part of the cast and crew of "We Are The Water". We had a large amount of people but the servers did their best to accommodate. I ordered chicken tenders and fries with a Coca-Cola.

The coke came first in a glass with a straw and ice. It took a while for our food to come in, though this is understandable as we had a large group.

The waiters were Polite, Down to earth, and easily approachable. All were willing to answer my questions.

The restaurant had free wifi and an online menu, so bring a phone.

The chicken tenders were well presented and tasted good. Whenever I asked for refills I would get my drink back within 5 minutes. Their bathroom is only accessible by stairs.

The waiters regularly checked in to make sure we were enjoying our meals and if we needed anything. I went down to the first floor and they had video games. With a wide variety of consoles, from Nintendo 64, a Will U, a PS5 Xbox 360 and more. The screens were good quality and offered a wide variety of video games to play with several controllers available.

Though some of the controllers were not the very best, they still worked well and I had a fun experience with my cast mates.

So much fun infact I forgot I ordered a white chocolate cranberry brownie and they forgot to give it to me. They made it but forgot to deliver it.

While I was settling my gaming check, my main waiter realized this, apologized and had it remade fresh very quickly since the other was sitting out for a while. He put it in a to-go box since I needed to leave.

And finally the atmosphere was great, everyone in there seemed happy and cheerful.

Overall this was a good experience and I would recommend this place to a group of friends visiting Ottawa.

I would not recommend...