Pub Italia

Bestuurder

Ontario (Canada)

4.43/5  rDev +16.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$$

An excellent place to find some of the rarest beers in the world. If you can't find it in any LCBO or other restaurant/pub, you can guaranteed find it here.

The atmosphere is excellent, good ambience, without seeming dark. The patio (seasonal) is a refreshing area to sit and bask in the summer sun with friends, and simply watch the pedestrians and traffic go by.

The quality is unquestionable. The only issue I have ever had was ordering a Sinha Stout (Lion Stout in other parts of the world) that I didn't think was all that fresh, since it had some sedimentation in the glass. But was replaced as soon as I even mentioned the issue about sedimentation.

The service, at times, leaves something to be desired. It really depends on who is working that day. A couple of the servers have gone on to bigger and better things, and I honestly miss them. But, not to say that the service is horrible, just try and go on a day that isn't too busy, because you might get ignored.

The food is honestly NOT the reason you will go to Pub Italia or The Abbey, its the beer, and the beer alone. I sometimes order the chicken or a nice porterhouse, but rarely will I order anything other than that. But each and every time, the food is very good.

02-17-2007 05:00:27 | More by Bestuurder

Popsinc

Ontario (Canada)

4.4/5  rDev +15.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4

This is not only a must if and when you're in Ottawa, it's THE place in Ottawa.

Pub Italia is a great beer bar/restaurant. Divided into 2 sections, there is a "pub" side and an "abbey" side. The pub is obviously in the design of a more tradiational Irish pub while the Abbey is more along the lines of something you might find in Belgium. The beer selection also varies depending on which you chose. In the pub you will find more English/Irish/Scotish selection on tap with a vast bottle menu spanning other coutries such as Canada, Germany, Belgium & Italy. On the other side at the Abbey, it's pretty much Belgian fare...Achel, Rochefort, Delerium, Maredsous, Oravl etc etc. The selection is good on both sides, somehwere in the range of 150 total.

The food menu is the exact same on both sides of the establishment, which is not a bad thing. Mostly made up of interesting thin-crust pizzas and unique pasta dishes, you can also find some good sandwiches, salads and starters. I thought the food was good, but not above average.

If that isn't enough, there is a store one door over. They sell glasses, clothing and barware all at reasonable prices.

All in all this is a top notch establishment with a fine selection of beer. Great comfortable interior AND young, HOT waitresses to boot. Yeah. Don't let the name fool ya, this is a top notch beer bar. Check it out when in Ottawa.

02-23-2004 18:43:44 | More by Popsinc

Quej

Ontario (Canada)

4.18/5  rDev +10%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$$$

On my first look at the bar I nearly had goosebumps. The sheer amount of quality and rare draught beer available is astonishing. The offer a huge selection of Belgian beers which are quite hard to find, though the price makes it harder to enjoy. The look of this place since it has been renovated is extravagant. The old abbey was nice, but the new area I enjoy even more. There are no tables in this bar, only old pews from churches which make the benches in the booths which cover this bar. Beautiful place.
I had a good experience with the service, it was fast and helpful. I have tried several plates and the food here is really quite good, but is outshone by its incredible beer selection.
A great place I ought to go more often.

02-21-2008 16:47:31 | More by Quej

francisweizen

Australia

4.16/5  rDev +9.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5

This is a nice place, although it is quite a walk from "downtown" ottawa. This pub is in the little italy district of Ottawa, and from the bottom of Bank street (The Barley Mow), it's quite a walk here, let me tell you! The atmosphere is nice and very restaurant like. The bar is long and nice, and the Belgian flare that they took when decorating this place, really shows. The quality of the ales here was nice (we got some tap Fullers London Porter) but the prices here were expensive as all hell! The tap selection was decent, but not better than other places we visited in Ottawa. I guess the stand out thing about this place is their big bottled beer menu. They had nearly 200 bottled ales, but the prices were expensive, and there were no brews represented that are not -easily- available in the states. Perhaps many of these ales are unavailable in Canada, but for someone like me, the beer menu was not that impressive, to be honest. The service was fast and friendly and although we had no food here, everything looked and smelled wonderful (although again, the food items were a bit pricey). Definately worth checking out whilst in Ottawa. A good pub to a US beer veteran, but probably an amazing place to most Canadians.

09-22-2004 23:59:13 | More by francisweizen

bcollar

Ontario (Canada)

4.03/5  rDev +6.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

I've been going to Pub Italia faithfully for a number of years because of their unique atmosphere, their selection of beers (both common and uncommon), and their decent food quality.

First --> their atmosphere: It's unique, very unique. Everytime I walk into the building, I get the feeling that I've travelled back in time to the Middle Ages. If you explore the building further, you'll come across a Belgian style pub called the "Abbey". The Abbey has a slightly different selection of beers and mostly focuses on ones originating from Belgium.

Second --> their food quality... Well -- this establishment could definitely improve the quality of some menu items; However, there are a number of choices that in my opinion are very good; including the pizza's and the baked pasta's. If you enjoy dessert, you won't be disappointed, I have yet to find one on the menu that isn't great.

Third --> their service: This can be hit and miss depending on when you go. I've had servers that are clueless about beer, and I've had the opposite as well. In general, if you go in expecting exceptional service, you might leave somewhat disappointed.

Fourth, and most important --> the beer! This pub offers everything from Corona to Orval! They have roughly 170 bottles and around 35 taps. You won't find more taps anywhere in Ottawa (as far as I know). And the only other location that can compete with their bottle selection is "The Vineyard". Periodically, they also bring in something a little different (the "Beer of the Month" and "Draft of the Month"); these can be hit or miss depending on what they have. Price wise, their bottles can range anywhere from about $4-10; their beers on tap are all quite reasonably priced.

Overall, if you do want to experience something a little different when visiting Ottawa; this would be the place to go.

10-01-2006 04:19:45 | More by bcollar

mrmanning

Ontario (Canada)

3.98/5  rDev +4.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$

Located in the heart of Little Italy's restaurant row, Pub Italia announces itself from a block away with multiple beer signs out front, which shine bright in the night. The interior is made to look like an abbey, and there are bottles on display everywhere, as well as other beer memorabilia. Our server (a former Londoner, yeah!) was friendly and knew about the beers she was serving us. She also took the time to chat, which was nice. The beer selection was a large mix of Ontario micros on tap and in bottles, with a seemingly endless Belgian selection, including some harder to find bottles like Deus. On the down side, the pizza came missing the pizza sauce and our appetizer plate had things on it that were not listed on the menu, including two things that we didn't even like, so that seemed like a waste. I'll go back and give the food a try one more time when I'm in the area, but I'll definitely return for the beer.

07-29-2009 12:31:45 | More by mrmanning

AWolfAtTheDoor

California

3.94/5  rDev +3.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

This was one of the places my friend was nice enough to take me to during my visit last Thanksgiving. It seems confused however, a Belgian beer bar in Little Italy? Whatever. Waitresses were cute, and there is a massive bottle list. If I recall, the tap offerings weren't out of this world, but the bottle list more than makes up for it. You can go look at their bottles, as they are kept in fridges in an other room. For some reason my friend wanted to do this, so off we went to look at the bottles. I don't remember why, but I guess it's like those fancy sea food restaurants where they let you pick out your own fish or own lobster? Definitely worth checking out. One of the better beer bars in Ottawa.

Inside tip: go here in summer time, sit out on the patio, and watch the beautiful women walk by. What more could you ask for?

11-03-2010 04:46:36 | More by AWolfAtTheDoor

SEG1975

Ontario (Canada)

3.91/5  rDev +2.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Visited 2/2/13. Pretty good atmosphere for a nice bar in Little Italy. Place is packed up until 9:00 or so and then crowd starts to die down. Modest offerings on tap and way too many ciders for my liking, but the selection of bottles is very impressive. Some brews on display in "The Abbey" which can get pricey quickly. Bottles weren't too expensive, a bit higher than elsewhere, but due to the selection, don't mind paying a bit more. Very friendly wait staff. Definately worth checking out while in Ottawa.

02-15-2013 04:01:28 | More by SEG1975

uno99

Ontario (Canada)

3.9/5  rDev +2.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$

Stayed in OT one night for biz, so I figured I would take the chance to hit up their beer destination.

A: This is a large bar and you can tell somone went thought alot of time and money to make it look right. It's an intresting mix of belgium and italy that sort of works. tables and chairs didnt seem the highest quality but were reasonably comfy. bathrooms were clean as well.

S: The cute waitress I had didnt seem to know much about the beer, so after I was done my meal I made my way to the bar. The bar man wasent super talkative but friendly enough. his beer knowlege was better than the average bartender as you would expect, but not enough to make reccomendations or select appropriate glassware.

S: superb tap selection is what really stands out here. Delerium tremins on tap? where else in ontario are you going to get that? I recall about 30 taps available and apparently 200 bottles. They had a 2006 thomas hardy's that I just had to have since its out of production now and it was their last bottle...

F: I ordered one of their specialty pizza's which came to my table unnaturally quick. it wasent that great either. the dough was kind of off tasting and cardbord like and the toppings werent great either. the bread and oil that I was served as a free apetizer however was quite good.

V: I think the pizza was $8-9, Rochefort 8 was $9 and the last ever bottle of thomas hardy's you'll ever buy here was $13. pretty reasonable I'd say.

Quite a nice place and I'd definitly reccomend it to anyone visiting ottawa. I think next time I'll slip over to QC for somthing a little more crafty.

03-20-2010 19:27:29 | More by uno99

Ralphus

Ontario (Canada)

3.8/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 2.5 | $$

Pub Italia is a bit of an odd mix of styles.. living in Ottawa's little Italy, but appearing more as a Belgian abbey than anything else. Regardless it's quite popular and definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. There's three main areas: the bar with some booths and tables closeby, a central eating area and in the summer a good sized patio is open.

The beer selection is quite varied but much of it is available at the LCBO. The markup is reasonable though. Selection leans towards Belgian's but there's a good mix of everything. Some local beers are available including Mill St and Beaus but that might be all. The saving grace is Fullers ESB on tap which always seems to be amazingly fresh.

The servers are typically young women with no real idea about the beer, but they are friendly and provide good service. The bar tenders are knowledgeable, enthusiastic about beer and will come to the table if you have a question or order something they find interesting.

During good weather in the summer the outdoor patio can get busy but I have never had to wait for a table. And I guess if you had to, you could stop by next door and check out the beer paraphenalia store while you wait.

08-04-2009 00:40:12 | More by Ralphus