Ottawa casual dining

The Best Thing I Ate This Month – June 2026
Philly Classic cheesetseak

Philly Classic from Skinny George’s Smash Burgers, 2241 Saint Laurent Boulevard, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Skinny George’s Smash Burgers operates out of Milano Pizza at 2241 Saint Laurent Boulevard. Which is where things begin to get complicated.

The sign outside says Milano Pizza, because it is Milano Pizza. There is also a Skinny George’s sign because it is also Skinny George’s Smash Burgers. Some people are eating pizza because, naturally, this is a pizza place. Others are eating smash burgers because it is also a burger joint.

And twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it becomes something else entirely.

That’s when the cheesesteaks come out.

Not with fanfare. Not with a sign. Just handwritten notices taped to windows and counters, which in this case you probably should count as signage.

The phones ring like a telethon. These sandwiches are made in limited quantities, and every order is announced like an auction.

“Seventeen left.”

A few minutes later.

“Sixteen left.”

Suddenly it feels less like ordering dinner and more like trying to get World Cup tickets.

The atmosphere behind the counter appears chaotic. Phones ringing. Orders flying. Staff moving with what seems at first glance like chaos, though appearances can be deceiving. Everyone knows their role. Nobody seems worried. The operation hums along with the confidence of people who have done this hundreds of times.

At one point, a customer shouted toward the counter while heading to the washroom.

“We’re still here!”

Without missing a beat, someone behind the counter shouted back.

“Stay as long as you want. You’re family here.” (more…)

The Best Thing I Ate This Month – March 2026
Beef Birria Tacos, Cadmans Montreal Bagels, 150 Montreal Rd #109, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Beef Birria Tacos, Cadmans Montreal Bagels, 150 Montreal Rd #109, Ottawa, ON, Canada

There are restaurants that reinvent themselves with a certain amount of theatre. Lights dim. Music swells. A chandelier threatens to drop just to prove someone has a sense of drama. And then there is what happens inside Cadman’s Bagels in Vanier, which does not so much transform as quietly decide, somewhere around 5 pm, from Wednesday to Sunday, that it has had enough of just being a bagel shop.

No curtains are drawn. No one announces a second act. If anything, the room looks faintly confused about what it has become. But the kitchen knows exactly what it is doing. For a few nights each week, it turns out Mexican and Indian food with the kind of confidence that makes you question what else in your life has been hiding in plain sight.

The best thing I ate this month came from this unlikely double life. Birria tacos. Three of them, because anything less would be an insult. They arrive looking modest, which is the first trick. Shredded beef, slow cooked until it gives up all resistance. Mozzarella melted into the folds. Onion and cilantro scattered like they belong there, because they do. On the side, a cup of consommé that seems to understand its role as both supporting actor and scene stealer. (more…)