Restaurantica
Ottawa
Best Of · Ottawa, ON

Ottawa's Best: Wine Lover's Destination

For restaurants where wine meaningfully shapes the visit through a deep list, cellar program, pairings, house wine, sommelier service, or winery connection.

Ottawa

Ottawa's Best: Wine Lover's Destination

Best Of · Ottawa, ON
Wine Lover's Destination icon

Wine Lover's Destination

24 spots make the list in Ottawa · ranked by Restaurantica's wine lover's destination scoring evaluation

8.0
Average Score
9.5
Top Score
15
Restaurants Rated 8.0+
Leading the list:Arlo Wine & Restaurant· 9.5

Excellent

Score 8.0-8.9 • 11 restaurants
5

Luxe Bistro

8.5
Steakhouse · ByWard Market · $$$

Wine has a real role in the visit, not just a back-page bottle list. Wine Club Wednesday gives the week a clear occasion, while oysters, tartare, steak frites, filet, and the tomahawk all make sense with a bottle-led dinner.

6

Buvette Daphnée

8.6
Canadian · ByWard Market

Buvette Daphnee is strongest when dinner follows the wine program. The restaurant presents itself around curated Canadian and Quebec bottles, and the menu gives enough seafood, pasta, cheese, and richer plates to make that choice matter.

7

Restaurant e18hteen

8.6
Fine Dining · ByWard Market · $$$$

Wine is part of the restaurant's identity, not a side note. The room promotes an extensive wine selection, wine rooms for private dining, and happy-hour pours, which makes the beverage program central to how many visits should be planned.

8

Charlotte

8.3
Cocktail Lounge · Elgin Street Corridor · $$$

Wine is not an afterthought here: the room leans into cellar language, sommelier direction, and wine programming, giving non-cocktail drinkers a real reason to use Charlotte as a full evening stop.

9

The Shore Club

8.4
Steakhouse · Downtown Ottawa Core · $$$

Wine is part of the restaurant’s core use case, not an afterthought. The list is built to sit beside oysters, steak, and seafood, with enough breadth for a full dinner or a lounge-led visit.

10

Petit Bill's Bistro

9.4
French · Wellington West / Hintonburg · $$$

Wine has a meaningful place in the visit, with house selections developed for Petit Bill's, bottle and by-the-glass formats, and pairings listed beside several mains. It gives seafood, short rib, and risotto orders a natural second layer.

11

Heartbreakers Pizza

9.2
Pizza · Wellington West / Hintonburg · $$

The wine identity is part of the visit, especially when richer pies like Fun Guy or Fennel & Sausage turn a pizza order into a full night out.

12

Rosebowl Steak & Seafood

8.8
Steakhouse · Little Italy / Preston Street · $$$$

Wine is part of the visit, not an afterthought. The cellar story fits the way the meal moves between oysters, filet, lobster, lamb, and seafood platters, giving diners a reason to ask for pairing guidance early.

13

Gezellig

9.1
Contemporary Canadian · Westboro Village / Richmond Road · $$$

Wine choices carry enough depth to lead the meal rather than sit in the background. By the glass pours, bottle choices, classic cocktails, and zero-proof drinks make Gezellig a strong fit for guests who want drinks to set the pace.

14

Fauna

8.8
Contemporary Canadian · Bank Street / Centretown & Glebe · $$$$

Natural wines are part of Fauna’s identity, and the food gives them work to do across seafood, tartare, pasta, rabbit, and a shared ribeye.

15

Aperitivo

9.3
Mediterranean · Kanata Centrum · $$

Wine is part of the way Aperitivo wants the meal to unfold, not an afterthought beside the food. The restaurant frames the list around producers, regions, and bottles that fit the current menu, which suits diners who like to build the night around plates and glasses together.

Good Options

Score 6.0-7.9 • 9 restaurants
16

Harmons Steakhouse

9.3
Steakhouse · Elgin Street Corridor · $$$$

Wine matters here, especially through Abby's Wine Bar downstairs and a deep by-the-glass path for a looser night.

17

Giovanni's Restaurant

8.9
Italian · Little Italy / Preston Street · $$$$

Wine is part of the way to use Giovanni's, especially for richer pasta, veal, seafood, and celebratory dinners. The dining format encourages pairing decisions rather than treating drinks as an afterthought.

18

Le St. Laurent

8.9
Contemporary Canadian · Vanier Main Street · $$$$

A dedicated wine-list surface and composed dinner pacing make wine part of the plan rather than an afterthought. It is especially useful for diners building a slower meal around seafood, lamb, steak, and rich small plates.

19

Bistro Ristoro

9.5
Mediterranean · ByWard Market · $$$

Wine is not just a side note. The list leans Old World and New World with enough by-the-glass and bottle range to make it worth asking for a pairing, especially when the order is mixing pizza, seafood starters and steak.

20

Wellington Gastropub

8.6
Gastro Pub · Wellington West / Hintonburg · $$$

The wine list gives dinner more range than a standard pub night, with Ontario bottles, international choices and by-the-glass options.

21

Gitanes

9.2
French · Elgin Street Corridor · $$$$

The wine program is substantial enough to shape the visit. Separate wine, cocktail, and beer materials, plus the bookable kitchen-side format, give diners a natural reason to build the meal around pairings.

22

Amuse Kitchen & Wine

8.9
Contemporary European · Kanata Centrum · $$$

Wine and cocktails are part of the way Amuse frames the meal, which matters because the food is built for pacing. The best orders move across cold plates, richer hot plates, and beverage guidance rather than treating drinks as an afterthought.

23

Town

9.3
Italian · Elgin Street Corridor · $$$

Town's bottle-shop context and dinner pacing make wine part of the visit rather than an afterthought, especially for diners building an evening around snacks, pasta, meatballs, or richer mains.

24

Del Piacere

9.2
Italian · Little Italy / Preston Street · $$$

Wine has a practical role at Del Piacere, especially during Happy Days for select bottles. It gives pasta, pizza, and seafood orders an easy pairing path without pushing the meal toward a formal tasting format.