Zolas Restaurant — Restaurant in Ottawa

this restaurant suffers from over popularity! I made reservations for Sat night 6:30 and there was a huge crowd that filled in the entrance way, and no staff was even checking who had reservations. We waited about 15-20 minutes to get to the front of the line. We got a table. The restaurant was full, cooking staff run off their feet with all the orders. Ours took over half an hour after we ordered. We got the usual buns with our meal, but in the past they used to serve them warm. Not this time, cold buns straight out of the refrigerator. I asked to order a half litre of house wine, and they said they no longer "do that", I can only order a full bottle or by the glass (that is not enough for me with the meal and entire evening to chat, and it is too expensive that way, and two glasses would be over the price of a half litre, for goodness sakes). We have gone there for over 20 years and always bought a half litre of house wine; why did they stop providing it now?) Prices of meals keep going up every time we go there; I think they are now about $10 a meal more than 12 or 18 months ago. No longer a "sweet deal". But food was exceptionally good, as always. I spoke to the manager about the wine. I told her that this week's Ottawa citizen featured many wines for under $10 a litre; why does Zola's not bother getting some of these and selling them as half litre house wines (value = $5 for a half litre, that they used to sell for $20, not bad returns for the restaurant and makes clients happy.) Manager said she would consider my suggestion about the wine. But honestly, for the long wait to get in (even with reservations), the long delay to get the meal, the lack of accommodation of the wine, I am wondering if we should go back. It is not the Zola's...

A rarity to find a restaurant that understands the importance and implications behind gluten free food and cross contamination. We were visiting Ottawa on Victoria Day and we wanted to stop and eat before the drive back home to Quebec.

Many places we phoned were closed but when we called Zola we were greeted me with kind reassurance that yes they could welcome us and are familiar serving their gluten free options to clients with celiac. What a life saver that was.

Our waitress explained that the family that runs and owns the restaurant have various people in their extended family who have celiac and as a result they are very knowledgeable, conscious and careful when it comes to cross contamination and dietary restrictions (not just celiac).

The wait time was decent and the food was delicious. Evidently not everything on the menu can be made gluten free but they take the time to clearly explain which ones are and why. However, there are gluten free option in every section of food categories; whether pasta, pizza, salads, grills. There is a lot of seafood on the menu but the place does not in anyways smell like seafood so if seafood is not your thing your okay and if it is ; you're still okay.

All the vegetables seemed blanched but yet very juicy and crunchy at the same time. I gotta admit I would have preferred my bell peppers grilled a bit with grill marks just to cook a bit deeper in the peppers and get the natural juices out a bit but it was otherwise very enjoyable.

The steak was excellent cooked well done (as I requested) but a still very moist and tender steak cut. Some of the pasta options cannot be made gluten-free re but all the penne options can. Overall a very nice celiac friendly/safe experience. I would recommend and I...

Wasn't horrible. However, will not go out of my way to go back.

The interior is cute, but not the Italian vibe I would have liked. Service was friendly, but slow and kept forgetting stuff (not busy that evening).

Wine - not alot of options. Not many from Italy and most wines on the list were low to mid range (wine rack/LCBO). Nothing fancy at all.

Bread- the bread:; they stated baked in-house, however, they looked like pull apart dinner rolls, they were cold and so was the butter. I was expecting a nice Italian bread (warm) with a nice olive oil/vinaigrette to dip.

Meatballs - They were great! Handmade balls; were a bit on the dry side, however, the sauce totally made up for it.

Bruschetta trio- NOT worth the price. The tomato, was just that- chopped tomatoes with olive oil. The asiago and artichoke, was good. The olive tapenade was extremely salty. Served on a one bite, served on a tiny slice of an untoasted baguette.

Sun-dried tomato and mushroom pasta-we opted for penne instead of the linguine. Easy to change out pastas. The sauce was good, mushrooms seemed fresh, and paired well with the pasta. The pasta is made in-house, however, they were very thick.

Special- chicken parmigiana with a blue cheese sauce. The sauce made the entire dish. The linguine, again was too thick; they were more like udon noodles. The chicken tasted like a pre-battered frozen breast- not tasty at all.

Porchetta - we sent this back. The pork had a funny taste, the potatoes slabs were undercooked, and the gravy literally tasted like the package clubhouse demi-glaze you buy at the grocery store.

Créme brulé - redeemed the night. It was silky, creamy, and the brulé...