elgin street diner

not very impressed. we had wanted to visit thisdineras we saw it on the show 'you gotta eat here' on the food network. we walked in and was greeted promptly by the host, who also turned out to be our server. he told us that we could sit anywhere we wanted. we chose the booth near the back of the diner. the diner's decor was okay, seemed sort of outdated. there was a huge sign on the wall that said 'now accepting debit', i wonder how long ago that was put there. the bathrooms are really small and dirty, not the type of bathroom you want to go to after eating. we ordered our meals; the cheeseburger and poutine. apparently the poutine is the best in ottawa, as it said on the menu. after waiting about 8 minutes, our meals came. it seemed quite quick for the meals to come. the cheeseburger was good, the meat was very juicy and chewy, i liked it. the poutine however, disappointed me. about 3/4 of the plate was filled with french fries, way too much! i probably only ate about 1/4 of it. the gravy was very oily, and the cheese curds didn't melt, they were still huge chunks on top of the fries. to be honest, kfcs poutine is way better than this one. the coleslaw had too much vinegar, it didn't taste like the type of coleslaw that is typical of diners. i was hoping the food would be exceptional considering it was on tv but, it was just average. the service was okay, only the basics were done, nothing out of the ordinary to impress us. would certainly never return!

the quintessential diner, open 24 hours and offering a wide variety of populardinerfavorites. the blue plate special remains one of the biggest sellers, and their poutine is worth trying simply on its own. a little pricier than you might expect, but the food is very good and the service is always friendly and accommodating.

2018/09/30
we ate at the elgin streetdinerabout 6 years ago, the last time swbmo and i were in ottawa together. since we liked it then, we thought we would give it another visit for lunch. we arrived around 12:30, all the tables were taken, and it was about a 10 minute wait. this is a busy place and it’s open 24 hours.

swbmo decided on the cheese burger. there were five different cheeses from which to choose, and she picked cheddar. when the plate arrived, her eyes widened when she saw the massive pile of fries with the burger. good burger, good cheese, good slaw, good fries.

i opted for the reuben club. thinly sliced montreal smoked meat, piled high between three slices of toasted rye bread, just the way i like it. along with the usual swiss cheese and sauerkraut, it made for a very good reuben.

given how busy it was, service was very good.

pretty great diner, good atmosphere, friendly and attentive staff. the food is alright, pretty averagedinerfair and the portions are really great (i don't think i've been able to finish my food any of the times i've gone). it's really great for a late night or early morning snack, but not someplace i'd personally go out of my way for.

eggs benedict were excellent. my friend had the poutine breakfast which i tasted and i really liked their poutine!!! the service was a tad slow but the place was fully packed. the servers were very nice. a realdinerexperience

comfort food and friendly staff. this is a great place to head to when you need that. it has a very welcoming old schooldinerfeel to it. the portions are huge and you can add there putine to any order. it is a great place to sit down for a nice breakfast.

my first time back in ottawa after a 38yr hiatus and the first restaurant i try is the elgin street diner. saw it on ygeh and knew i had to try it. great atmosphere, excellent service, huge food portions! all four of us had something different...burgers, wraps, etc and none of us were disappointed. found it a tad pricey fordinerfood but you can't beat scratch made burgers and real gravy (even though it is steak sauce based and not beef broth). i would definitely go back though. saw a few people eating the meatloaf and it was calling out to me so...

i've been coming here for 6 years on a regular basis now. the classicdinerfeel is complemented by a polished and clean atmosphere. servers are amazing, every single one of them are good at their jobs. i can't say enough about how good the service is.

the food is good too! it is always consistently good. from the breakfast specials to the dinner-y dishes, esd pulls them off well.

considering the hype - i was dissapointed. went for breakfast with my best friend and ordered the eggs benny special of the day - a chicken sausage on an english muffin with spinach and roasted red pepper hollandaise. i had to take the sausage off and eat it without it as it was pretty awful tasting. that being said, the eggs were poached well. i'm personally not a fan of their hashbrown style, the coffee was sub-pardinercoffee, and it definitely wasn't worth $22. i likely will not return

elgin streetdineris a national treasure. the decore is old and dated. there are no bells and whistles. but they make some of the best comfort food in the city. i get the same thing almost every time: the philly cheese steak poutine. cheese curds, gravy, onions, mushrooms and shredded beef. there is nothing elegant about it but it is a generous helping and full of flavour.

i had their club sandwich, and it was pretty good. their ginger butternut squash was interesting in a good way. my dining partner had their poutine and found the gravy was very different than the last time she had it, so she sent it back. they were very apologetic and offered to get her something else. she also had their milkshake which she said was "okay".

it is a 24/7dinerthough, so expectations should be adjusted accordingly. for what it is, the food is decent, but the prices are a little high in my opinion.

it's breakfast time.. i was recommended by a hometown friend to get breakfast at elgin streetdinerwhenever i visit ottawa: and i'm glad i took his advice. me and a couple of local friends came here for breakfast this week. my one friend ordered the grilled cheese burger (grilled cheese sandwiches for buns) and i, along with the other 2 friends, ordered the big breakfast. service was fast and the host was great. the breakfast foods (eggs,bacon,ham,sausages,potatoes) were spot on and from what my friend told me, the grilled chesse burger was unreal good.

don't see the hype.... the foods that apparently made thisdiner"famous", as they claim on the menu are not even close to good, in my opinion. the poutine is made in huge portions yes, but the fries are small and stringy & the gravy is a coagulated dark mess. the philly cheese steak poutine tastes burnt. the breakfasts are also a disappointment - homefries are not even homefries and the meat is very oily. only thing i liked from there are the sandwiches, which you can't really go wrong with but in this case they do them much better than the menu items that are over-hyped. i think there are many better options in the city for breakfast and especially poutine.

adequate at best. i've been to the elgin streetdinerthree times and i've been by it many times. it is often full of people who are very intoxicated and that makes the atmosphere pretty interesting. usually, very positive and you might even catch a show of some sort.

unfortunately, the food just isn't very good. nor is the service. i suspect most of the people who think it is good think that way because they'd had a few too many every time they go there. what greasy food isn't good when you're drunk?

gooddinerfood but over priced. we haddinerhere tonight (poutine, espresso milkshake and chili cheese dog with a side of poutine) and the food was good, soliddinerfood, the service was pretty good and the milkshake was fantastic, we also got a slice of peacan pie to go, which was a sliver of pie. all of the food was good but the bill came to 50$ which is too much fordinerfood and the price will keep me from coming back anytime soon.