PrimeTime Grille — Restaurant in Ottawa

Unfortunately not a great experience, but think with a few tweaks, it’s fixable. As a former server, I absolutely cringe at seeing tables empty & dirty for a while. When we entered, there were 2 parties (one of 5 & one of 2) ahead of us & told it would be a 30 minute wait. With a quick glance around the restaurant, saw 8 tables sitting empty & dirty. 5 servers on the floor and 2 hostess that spent their time stand at the front podium or rolling silverware. I truly understand waiting for a table on a Saturday, but not when you see tables not bussed for more than 20 minutes. If short in the kitchen & need to stagger seating, would highly recommend having the hostess explain that “ sorry, we are short staffed today, food may take a little longer”. I assure you that will go over better with customers than having them see numerous tables sit dirty while the hostess staff stand around. It would appear the waitstaff was tasked with clearing their own tables; the vast majority of the time, they were heading back to the kitchen empty handed. Once seated & ordered (2 of us) our food took about 25 minutes. Again, not unexpected on a Saturday night, but their were several seated before us that had not received their food by the time we left. Our food was decent, could tell the steak sat in the window for a bit, but was ok, mashed potatoes were good. Did not see much of the manager, but with the length of food times, assuming he was helping the kitchen. We were there roughly 1 & 1/2 hours in total & we counted no less than 5 tables still not bussed that were dirty when we walked in - that’s not ok, no matter what your staffing issues. We saw plenty of chitchatting & standing around. Recommend a dedicated bussing person or have the host staff help when they have downtime and talk to the customers - let them know staffing issues, they will definitely understand more than seeing a filthy dining room with underutilized staff. In fairness, this is the only time we have been to PrimeTime, so it could have definitely been an off night. The menu looked promising and I see they have had a ton of great reviews. Better management of staff & standards for helping each other would have gone a long ways...

I recently moved here from Johnson County, and the first place I tried out was Prime Grille. Walked in and was met by two of the bartenders, David and Nick, and they rocked. I had found a new home. Can't beat the nightly happy hour! Then, I tried the food. I had the open faced prime rib sandwich that first day and was sold. I went in the next day to watch a football game (they have over 30 TV's) and met Jered and another bartender who bowls for the University. Had a very well made martini for this little town. I have been going in ever since and have met a number of the regulars (Juanita and her friends) and now swear by the place. I have met two of the managers, Sara and David, who have been very cordial and helpful with food suggestions. The menu would surprise you with the quality and serving sizes (not to mention the affordable prices). Who would figure a hopping and nice place like this was attached to a busy bowling alley (LOL). I have taken a few friends who have visited from JOCO and they totally agree that this place rivals some (snooty) places up there. I have become somewhat of a regular now for happy hour and meals and the place has grown on me. Hats off to the ownership, management, and entire staff for making people feel welcome and happy in their dining/drinking experience(s). I would recommend Prime Grille above ANY place here in Ottawa. Notre Dame Scott...

Have been there twice... curbside pickup both times. The food is AMAZING!!! They must have a great chef, because not only is the menu interesting, it's really good too. My only beef is that their daily happy hour specials are only available for inside consumption. Normally, that's fine, but we're in month 9 of a worldwide pandemic, and it's an unreasonable standard to hold during these crazy times. However, I spoke with the manager and she graciously made an exception. I pointed out that I'm trying to give the restaurant money without dying by potentially catching Covid by being required to come in to get something I wanted to try. I suggested that she mention to the owner that they might want to consider relaxing their standards until the pandemic is over. People can't give the restaurant money if they're dead. But because the manager was willing to meet my (not unreasonable) request, they get five-stars! They do need to empower their front line workers to be able to waive the "eat in only happy hour special" or just get rid of the requirement altogether until we ALL can be safe again. I get curbside delivery but tip as though I had eaten in-house, because I want small businesses like Prime Time Grill to survive. Small businesses are the heart of Ottawa's economy and need to stay...