The Bridge Public House — Restaurant in Ottawa

Before I eat what I order, I want to take a moment to address something I feel is very important.

This restaurant gives you the impression either you or the restaurant staff are aliens.

How they organize the ordering, seating, and food delivery system ........ before entering the restaurant a large sign greets you informing you that you must make all your food and drink selections before taking a seat. However all menus read "when you are ready, please place all orders at the bar"

Each menu item is very complicated but this complexity is dwarfed by the names each dish is given. "While I want my baby back baby back baby back ....ribs" is somewhat clear "I'll stop the world and melt with you" leaves a lot to chance. While one could think this system could be circumvented by saying "the ribs" or "the melt" when ordering the staff repeat the full name of the meal and ask you to repeat that is what youd like.

If you ask for anything "off menu" for example "may I have a club sandwhich" this is received in the same manner as if one had asked for a "puma in a suit of armour".

We agree on what is "the closest thing to a club sandwhich"

After ordering you can take your seat equipped with your giant number on a stick. The remaining minutes of "happy hour" are announced at regular intervals

The background music shifts between classic country and unfamiliar 80s pop music

The room is dominated by a large wooden nonfunctional clock whose hands are the same length

"Insta'ham'able sammy" is a menu item

(My food is delivered)

The fries are more than acceptable. The mayo is not miracle whip.

The wrap is consistent in texture and flavour throughout. There are assumably separate ingredients but the flavour is total and singular.

It is nothing like a club sandwhich.

Behind the bar there is a large picture of a...

I had my wedding here and I wouldn’t recommend it to others searching for a venue.

Although it went mostly smoothly on the day, there were a few things that really troubled us: All our guests were very hungry… we bought appetizers + main course + 2 sides for each person. We stressed many time that we wanted to ensure our guests were well fed and they assured us they would be. We didn’t realize until the next day when all our friends and family told us they were hungry - how embarrassing. (They had brought the bride and groom large portions and so we assumed all our guests got the same). Organizing the wedding with them was a headache - they switched wedding coordinators FOUR TIMES! We had to keep re-explaining our wishes/how the day would go. This also led to price changes + change in portion sizes. Although the last coordinator we dealt with (Michelle) was pretty helpful, I would be weary that they’ll change event coordinators again in another couple of months… it definitely made planning the wedding more stressful than it should have been. A grumpy bartender threatening to cut off our guests for no reason and telling our guests “it was a terrible day and he wished it were over”. Not the happiest guy to have at the wedding.

Other than this, the wedding went smoothly enough. But we were extremely upset that all our guests were hungry… the portions they gave were not acceptable.

I would book at a real wedding venue instead of The Bridge because they probably have more experience with catering to...

I'm not usually one to write negative reviews, but this was possibly the worst dining experience I've ever had. At first they didn't have the appetizer we were looking for, no biggy. But then, we waited literally an hour and 20 minutes for our food (a pasta dish and a fish and chips). Other people arrived after us, drank, ate and had left before we even got our food. More important than that though is that when it got there, the pasta was inedible; it tasted very strongly and only of garlic powder, and had been sitting under the heater for a while as the top pasta was crunchy. Presentation was really bad too.

It's unfortunate since we live nearby and would have loved to come back often if it would have been good, but if we do come back it'll be for drinks only. At least it wasn't crazy expensive ($13-14 for the pasta) and the server gave us a discount for the long wait, but with how bad it was there would have been a case for a refund at least for that dish. We're very easy going and had a fun time despite all that, but will not be eating there again...