For the first time, an Ottawa restaurant cracks the exclusive 50 Best Discovery guide

Chef Jamie Stunt, left, general manager Mark Ghali and sommelier Alex McMahon, right, are co-owners of Arlo on Somerset Street West. They are shown above in the summer of 2025 in Arlo's back patio. Photo by Jean Levac /POSTMEDIA

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Arlo on Somerset Street West has just landed a listing in the just-released 50 Best Discovery guide, making it the first and only Ottawa eatery to join the prestigious online database.

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Updated this month, the 50 Best Discovery guide now features more than 3,500 restaurants, bars, hotels and vineyards in more than 800 cities and towns around the world. The updated added 210 restaurants, of which Arlo was one.

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The database is curated by the 50 Best brand, which creates annual 50 Best rankings of the world’s restaurants, bars and hotels, as well as regional rankings such as North America’s 50 Best Restaurants. Its flagship World’s 50 Best Restaurants list was launched in 2002 and has since been published each year.

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While Arlo is not on the North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list, it made it into the 50 Best Discovery database after receiving sufficient votes from the panels that create 50 Best’s leading global and regional lists. Restaurants and bars cannot apply to be part of 50 Best Discovery.

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Arlo opened in 2020, during the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic, launched by its owners, chef Jamie Stunt and sommelier Alex McMahon. The write-up for Arlo at world50best.com lauds its “playful, anything-goes vibe … friendly welcome and commitment to natural wines.

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The listing also mentioned signature dishes at Arlo, including anchovy-topped lardo toast, schnitzels and ribeye steaks to share. “If it’s on the menu, try the duck frites, slathered with green garlic aioli,” says the listing.

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Arlo was also one of a dozen featured participants in last fall’s inaugural Ottawa Citizen Best Restaurants event.

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Chef Jamie Stunt from Arlo, at his restaurant’s station at the inaugural Ottawa Citizen Best Restaurants event at the Canadian Museum of Nature on Oct. 6, 2025. Photo by JULIE OLIVER /POSTMEDIA

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