Ottawa Foodies

This place now consumes a surprising amount of my regular grocery-shopping dollar...

Yes: house brand "artisan style" pasta, house brand pasta sauces. No sugar in the tomato sauces! They are on the watery side but I'll overlook that for the complete lack of similarity to Ragu et al. Also yes to the frozen house brand pastas.

No: house eggplant parm. WTF. Not impressed at $15 worth of total inedibility. The eggplant was basically raw, and there was no way to cook it in the finished format without leaving it in the oven for hours and overcooking the rest of it. Huge disappointment; back to Fettucine's...

yikes, LWB, i hate when time passes by so quickly! Yes, I guess it's been that long now that i think of it. that's what happens when you have kids. your mind just goes... ha! still, loved the vibe at La Bottega :)

Haha. Greenqueen, unless they did a 48-hour flip, the renovations (ie. expansion of the deli area) will be two years old in November. Just so people don't rush out to see the changes ;)

Wow! just went to the newly expanded Bottega this past weekend to get ingredients for a spanish meal. Found delicious 3mo and 12mo aged Manchego and delicious fresh Chorizo. Usually go to Nicastro's on Merivale. LOVED the new La Bottega. Great products, knowledgeable staff, efficient and friendly service. oooh, it's getting to be like a mini Pusateri's! Gonna try me some of those sandwiches next time I'm in the Market. Great Ottawa business.

What a great panino and i really love the new look. I love bringing my friends from out of town here. Great food great location!!

I can't believe that I have yet to review what is quite possibly one of my favourite vendors in Ottawa!

When I first moved to Ottawa, I worked in the Rideau Centre and was introduced to Bottega by my coworkers. My SO + I had a tradition (albeit, a sort of sad tradition) when I worked Saturday mornings: He would drop me off, go to Planet Coffee and sit and read the paper/write, I would work and then we would meet at Bottega for groceries and sandwiches (granted this works far better in the summer).

I really do not have a bad thing to say about them, as a customer, nor as a former employee (I worked there for about three months). The staff is very knowledgable and quick to share their knowledge and the food is fresh, fresh, fresh! As far as I know, they also have the lowest price on boneless (but not skinless) chicken breasts anywhere (regularly it's $5.99/lb, and on sale $3.99).

My only criticism of them is that their website isn't particularly useful (it has a handful of recipes and a list of cheese/meat types). I would love to see them post the biweekly flyer online so I know where I'm getting my chicken and sausage from before we go for groceries.

This is my favourite place for sandwiches! I am sure to pick one up every time I am in the neighborhood. My favourite is their turkey sandwich with the everything except mayo. Their canned and bottled drinks are super cheap too...most are only 99 cents.

Wow - I just had a sandwich from La Bottega for lunch and it was delicious! I hadn't been there in a while and was surprised at how much they've expanded.

I love the way the sandwiches are all made fresh, you just choose your bread/cheese/meat/toppings and they make it for you on the spot.

I had foccacia with swiss cheese, italian ham, spicy eggplant, dijon, lettuce and tomatoe and I am full to bursting. It was huge - a great deal for $4.39.

Great review! Actually, La Bottega has always offered hot daily specials and table service Monday throught Saturday in the kitchen. A lot of people are just begining to notice the kitchen after the renovations.

The recently renovated La Bottega now has a small eat-in area with table service. I stopped by yesterday for lunch with my mom.

They have a nice selection of salads, pizzas and sandwiches, along with daily specials, which yesterday included a pasta dish. My mom had the daily special pizza and I had one of the pizzas from the menu (the one with pancetta and rosemary... Siciliana?). Both came with mixed greens. The food was good, the service quick and friendly.

Two main courses, a mineral water and an espresso came to just under $25 after taxes.

smartcookie I'm there almost every Tuesday after work and the service has its ups and downs; there's one really friendly guy, but the other times, they range from amicable to drone-y to curt. But I'm sure you agree with me in the fact that the sandwiches are a steal at $5+change and they're delicious to boot! :)

Now I know what all the hype is all about. Tried the turkey on foccia bread, with mayo, lettuce and black olives. Service wasn't as friendly as I'd like it to be, but maybe it was just an off day for them.

F&T
yes to all your thoughts

in my defense:

currently, I work alone with absolutely no help
I adhere to health codes
he is here almost every 3 months and we always discuss HACCP codes and procedures and he brings in new vendors to see my techniques
but allergies are a hard thing

I sanitize between each protien and vegetable matter but if you are severely allergic, that is not enough

when I worked at the pizza place when I did gluten free doughs there had to be a full day between doing wheat dough with no activity between

still that might not be enough

and honestly some special orders are rediculous
(perhaps not from the patron's standpoint but mostly from mine)
I constantly get an order with no onions on the salad....in 2+ years, I have never put onions on a salad unless it was a nicoise
now the server (of 3 years) should know that
but that is needless *c*R*a*P I need to read on barely legible tickets

if in the end this deminishes your view of me, so be it, but I am sure the other 40+ waiting for their food neither noticed nor cared but were glad they got their food in a timely manner

these are things that a struggling establishment has to weigh and decide how to respond

Chef Obi - RE: SPECIAL ORDERS... I am hoping that you wrote the following words after a really long shift, and perhaps a couple of brewskis... otherwise I must say as a Consumer / Customer that I am highly "bothered"...

"we all go into establishments wanting to be treated right (special/individual) but when there are 20 other tables waiting..... it's just another ticket"

and, in particular...

"if you are allergic, I do my best but no guarantee"

chef obi: i really don't feel that the lettuce was the main point of my review, but rather (and to reiterate for those that missed it) that art-is-in breads are now available for sandwiches, which i think is something wonderful.

I shop for groceries here pretty regularly but never waited in line for a sandwich. Finally decided to sample one for myself. Just excellent. A sandwich isn`t exactly a difficult thing to prepare, but we all know that a good one can be hard to come by. La bottega offers excellent value at $4.29. Now I know why there is always a line!

LWB
having something on your sandwich you did not want, unless you are allergic or really find it disgusting, should never be a bad

I know, you did not want it

when I go out and order a Big Rock Grasshopper and ask for no lemon and get one anyway, I never gripe I just set it aside

when a kitchen/bar/resto is busy it is sometimes hard to do/remember special orders
my policy is and always has been I will do it unless other tables suffer and I have the product to add or the time to remove or make fresh
if I am running long ticket times I refuse to do special orders

we all go into establishments wanting to be treated right (special/individual) but when there are 20 other tables waiting..... it's just another ticket

if you are allergic, I do my best but no guarantee
I have even redone entire tables because I had promised to do what was requested but in the rush forgot to

I cater to celiacs, vegans, fish/nut/diary allergies as much as I can but lettuce?

2 cents, so please do not be offended and no, I neither work nor represent LaBottega

I slept in and didn't bother to pack a lunch today (I did however pack my breakfast, and for that I am proud!), but nipped down to Bottega for a sandwich.

The good: All of it.
The bad: I said no lettuce. There was lettuce. Lettuce might be my second favourite vegetable after tomatoes. But never ever on a sandwich, please.

The amazing: I'm pretty sure these folks are now using Art-is-in baguette as a choice for their sandwiches, without having customers pay a premium (if you took them an AII bun from the bakery section, they would make it for you, but charge you for the bun as well...$.75). I had the most moist sandwich I have ever had, but it had no mayo or mustard on it. Just the goodness of Art's bread. Yum yum yum!

A party of two went to La Bottega today for lunch (side note: I spent less than $100 for food for the day - I'm in a hotel)

Had two of the take out sandwiches:
One with genoa salami and provolone on baguette with veggies
One with turkey and provolone panini bread with veggies

They were very good as well, plenty of meat, fresh bread, a very good sized and tasty sandwich for the price.

In addition to sandwiches we had two oranginas, pasta salad, a bag of chocolate gingerbread cookies, a large bag of chips and the total was $23. Pretty good for lunch for two people (With chips, cookies, pasta salad left over).

Ottawa is lucky to have such a great and friendly place to get a top-notch sandwich in the market. Great ingredients & good bread (fresh foccacia, cirioli buns, etc). It can be a little inconsistent depending upon who is making your sandwich, but even the worst sandwich I've had there (and I've been over 400 times) is worth lining up for.

Pros: They must be losing money on these things with the volume of meat and cheese that they pile on.

Con: Since their renovation, the price for a sandwich has gone up from $3.99 + tax to $5.00 even.

Note that the sandwiches from the downtown, "La Bottega" location of Nicastro's should not be confused with the sub-standard examples that certain other locations make (read: Merivale)

I agree that the prices and selection of cheese are wonderful at La Bottega. I just enjoy browsing and choosing different ones each time. Very friendly staff and deliciously fresh cheeses, will go back again!

We have found that the prices and selection of cheese is excellent. John, the certified cheese guy is very knowledgeable and more than willing to assist. Living in the Market there are plenty of cheese stores to choose from, but we have found that LaBottega never disappoints.

La Bottega sells L'Aspromontano virgin olive oil. It has a high smoke point so I can use it for stir fries and it is much more flavourful than grape seed oil.

la bottega serves illy coffee - regular, decaf and dark roast. i tried the dark roast and i was very impressed!

They have the nicest dark roast decaf. We love coffee but can't do the caffeine, that normally means bland, tasteless, or even worse, instant! We buy the bulk decaf from the bin for the same price as all of their other coffees. (Don't buy the kilo bag of beans, it is the same stuff but more expensive) Delicious.

Anytime I buy sundried tomatoes anywhere else I usually regret it. Bought them at La Bottega a few weeks ago and nothing else has compared.

Their boneless, "skinless" chicken breasts are quite tasty and are consistently a reasonable price (regularly $5.99 lb, occassionally only $3.99/lb). However, I have been known to complain about how much fat and skin there is left on the breast--you jsut have to be a bit picky with whomever is serving you.

For those of you who love Italian chocolate like me, la bottega sells, for time to time, the famous Gianduja (Gianduiotto) from Turin.
The best brand is Caffarel.
Expensise (~$20) but so yummmmmmy.

La Botega in the market sells Harissa right next to the tomato paste tubes.