The Green Door Restaurant & Bakery — Restaurant in Ottawa

Some basic details: The Green Door is a cafeteria style, vegetarian and vegan restaurant. It's located on a rather busy street, but side street parking is possible, and easily accessible. Food is priced by weight (mostly). I can't confirm, but it does appear that larger groups may be able to reserve some of the larger tables. Family friendly, and a cute atmosphere.

The Good: The staff was quite friendly, and efficient. The location was clean, and well taken care of. The dirty dish pile never seemed to pile up, and there was always a good rotation of staff ensuring things moved smoothly. There is a variety of food, some of which was vegan, some of which is vegetarian. It was warm, and comfortable. It was also very French accessible. We discovered the Jerusalem Artichoke thanks to this place! A very good selection of gluten free items, and everything is nicely labeled.

The Bad: The food, being cafeteria style, ends up less than stellar. Hot items most certainly rest on the cooler side of warm for example. I cannot confirm (attended just twice in 10 years), but the food selection rotates, giving a different menu every so often. Even though they charge by weight, some items are a set price. This resulted in confusion for myself (bread is charged per slice), and about 3 people a head of in line (they were getting deserts of some sort it looked like). Strangely inconsistent personally.

Our evening was middling; it wasn't bad, but certainly well below the expectation for the price paid. My experience was somewhat mushy foods (likely a result of sitting in hot plates, etc - it is a cafeteria after-all), with generally bland taste. My experience suggests that some of this food is precooked and frozen; though I have no proof other than my personal experience, so take it as you will. Little appeared to be overly complicated/interesting (and was generally simpler than anything my partner and I make ourselves at home).

I also found it rather underwhelming for vegan options (again, this could simply be the night I was there...). Interestingly, I didn't see any meat alternatives in use; no seitan, no tempeh, no TVP. Outside of some chickpeas, I think the only protein was Tofu. I think some of the salads may have had beans? Regardless, the distribution of protein was far too sparse for my sensibilities.

I was also surprised there were no nut cheeses in use. Some of the meals could have been easily made vegan by simply using a nut cheese, or an egg substitute, etc. If it was a question of allergies, fine, but they obviously serve and prepare dishes with nuts, meaning the whole place is contaminated anyway. Again, maybe it was just the menu they put out for that evening...

Honestly, the preparation/recipes felt late 70s/early 80s. Vegetarian, and especially vegan, options have come very far in the last few decades. At this stage in the game I'd expect better flavour profiles, better quality, etc.

The UGLY: Do you like the smell of cooked onion? Do you like smelling that scent in your car on the way home? On your coat the next morning? You will be SATURATED with this scent. I can see that others have comments about this (and the owner responded, confirming that they do have air circulation in the back), but it's still pretty unacceptable. Since it appears they can do nothing about it, I think that people should be VERY aware of this before coming here.

Closing Thoughts: None of the food was awful, nor inedible. It was simply incredibly middling. Back in the day, a place like The Green Door would have been a godsend for vegetarians in the area. These days, with vegetarian/vegan options available in virtually all restaurants, you'd be hard pressed to find a reason to attend a vegetarian restaurant offering such mediocre food.

There are so many far better vegetarian restaurants in the city these days, and some are much more affordable. "Chickpeas" in the trainyards is incredibly inexpensive, and fantastic. Etc etc. Pass on this place, and experience...

Being an avid meat lover, I decided to try this place half out of curiosity and half expecting to be underwhelmed. And I must say, it was phenomenal.

The salad options, as expected, were a lot. But the hot food options were also impressive. I especially loved their tap water option that’s both environmentally friendly and convenient and encourages drinking tap water instead of sugary drinks like most other places.

A few pointers if visiting for the first time: If you walk in at 6 to 6:15 pm, you will most likely miss a long line up. Right after 6:15 to until 7:30 there is bit of a wait, at least on weekends. But they do take reservations for groups of 5 or more. Parking is $3 an hour and there’s a lot almost next to the place. Some limited street parking is also available.

Once you are at your table, the way it works is a cafeteria style service. So you load up your plate and before going back to your table you pay for your food by weight. Bear in mind not to forget your wallet at your table because then it kinda gets awkward and they give you that I’m-trying-to-be-nice-but-you’re-being-annoying smile while they hold the line for you to rush to your table to grab your wallet. So yea, don’t forget your wallet before getting in line.

Since the payment is grams wise. (I think it was $2 something per 100 grams) so it’s easy to load up on the salads before getting to the hot food and then ending up paying too much for mostly salad. I paid about $20 for my plate- picture attached. I wasn’t a fan of the lasagne but the pasta was good and the avocado salad was especially well made. It’s a little hard to figure out what’s what through the labels so just going by what looks good isn’t a bad idea.

Cheesecake...

Easily the best vegetarian restaurant in the city.

My family overseas both in Europe and South America still remembers our last meal at The Green Door, as the food is incredibly delicious and varied. Many people will comment on the price, but you have to be honest with yourself and realise quality ingredients are more expensive. 90% organic ingredients. Fresh and local ingredients. Made from scratch. Nutritionally dense food, you will fill your plate but you will likely skip the next meal as you will still be satisfied and still full 6-8 hours after the meal. Ergo, the price you pay stretches the dollar if that's a concern 💵 .

The buffet is incredibly varied with: -Soup du jour. Biscuit or bread. Cold salad section. Fruit section. Large hot main course section: The Lasagna is just incredible and filling. The lentil patties or balls are fantastic. Curried chickpeas are delicious.

Oh desserts 🎂, don't get me started, just have one of their cheesecakes. For once a cheesecake in North America that is not excessively sweet. I could not believe the cheesecakes were made with cashews. My very diary, carnivore daughter prefers Green Door cheesecakes over anything else. The portions are very generous, so feel free to share. Finally, the restaurant has a really unique Coop, family ambiance that just completes the whole experience. Final hint: If you are primarily vegetarian but your friend or significant other is not, come with them to The Green Door and they will realize like me, that vegetarian does not imply eating grass or...