What are the best Ottawa patios for beer lovers?

Lynn Saxberg highlights her top local spots that combine a well-crafted beer with a well–placed patio, preferably with a water view and a friendly vibe.

Alex Sirois and the Lowertown Brewery located at 73 York St. In Ottawa. Photo by Jean Levac/Ottawa Citizen Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia

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With the sunshine and warm temperatures slowly but surely arriving to this part of the world, local patio operators spent the chilly spring preparing for the glorious moment when everyone wants to be outdoors.

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This year’s season is already shaping up to be a banger. In addition to the usual pent-up, post-winter demand, a recent City Hall decision is boosting the sector: Council voted to waive patio fees for businesses that operate their outdoor seating areas on city property, such as sidewalks or streets.

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Designed to enhance Ottawa’s bicentennial celebrations, the tax break represents big savings for hot spots like Lowertown Brewery and Flora Hall Brewing.

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“We’re real happy,” said Alex Sirois, a managing partner of Ottawa Venues, the ownership group that oversees Lowertown and other restaurant-bars in the ByWard Market. He ballparked the monthly savings in the thousands of dollars. “That’s a huge expense for us.”

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A born-and-raised Ottawan, Sirois was already anticipating a monumental season on Lowertown’s sunny York Street patio, thanks also to the upcoming opening of a rooftop seating area with a retractable roof. The double-decker patio will expand the capacity by a few dozen.

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From Lowertown’s high-traffic, see-and-be-seen location on York Street to a nondescript corner of a strip-mall parking lot on St. Laurent Boulevard, Ottawa is home to a wide range of outdoor patios where you can sip on a fine local beer.

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For this list, I’m highlighting the spots that combine a well-crafted beer, preferably brewed on site, with a well–placed patio, preferably with a water view and a friendly vibe.

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Here are 9 of my favourites, from east to west.

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Dominion City Brewing Co.

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5510 Canotek Rd.

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Dominion City at 5510 Canotek Rd. In Ottawa. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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The Treehouse patio at Dom City was built almost a decade ago to make the most of the shade offered by a trio of mature trees in a corner of the parking lot. Five steps up, it overlooks the adjacent soccer field, creating a 30-seat oasis in the otherwise industrial area and regularly attracting a cross-section of soccer moms, dads, teammates and spectators.

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More recent is an expansion that adds another 30 seats below the Treehouse in a zone bordered by raised-bed garden boxes constructed for the purpose of growing organic food crops for the Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard.

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“It is a literal beer garden that grows throughout the season,” quipped brewery co-owner Josh McGannett. “My mom tends to it along with a couple of volunteers and we grow herbs and tomatoes and hot peppers and eggplant and other things that we harvest and take to the emergency-food cupboard here.”

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Speaking of food, a new item available on Dom City’s menu this year is New York-inspired pizza, courtesy of Stubby’s Pizza, the taproom’s in-house, fully equipped pizza joint. Pair it with a Sunsplit IPA, and you’re set for the kids’ game.

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Manor Park Brewing

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411 St. Laurent Blvd.

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Dave Renouf, co-owner of Manor Park Brewing, poses for a photo on his patio. Photo by TONY CALDWELL /POSTMEDIA

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I was pleased to discover the delicious beer made in a strip mall on St. Laurent Blvd. a few months back, and happy to hear the news that the brewery has changed its name, from the generic and hard-to-explain Small and Local to the neighbourhood-specific Manor Park Brewing.

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The rationale, according to co-owner Dave Renouf, was to “reflect the community that we’re part of.” He and his partners moved into the strip-mall location just two years ago, and were embraced by Manor Park residents, who have also demonstrated remarkably adventurous tastes in beer.

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Renouf said they expected their refreshing Original Local lager to be the bestseller, and it does well, but patrons are also drinking plenty of hazy IPAs and fruited sours, including the highly sought-after Purple Triangle, a blueberry-raspberry sour with a rich colour and juicy flavour profile.

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“It’s a real hit, especially in the summer,” Renouf said. “Overall we sell more of the other beers than we do Local lager, which is kind of wild. We didn’t expect that.”

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As for the patio, it flows off the main taproom, extending the capacity by about 15 seats with picnic tables, astro turf, shade and decorative lighting.

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“We just try to soak up every last drop of the spring, summer and fall that we can,” Renouf said.

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Lowertown Brewery

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73 York St.

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The Lowertown Brewery located at 73 York St. In Ottawa. Photo by JEAN LEVAC /POSTMEDIA

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While some of the trendier bars in the ByWard Market are focusing on cocktails in response to shifting tastes, Lowertown has stuck with the craft-beer-and-barbecue model, tossing in some live music and mocktails along the way.

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In the aftermath of the pandemic, the big change at Lowertown is they no longer brew the beer on site. Production was suspended during the lockdowns and is now contracted out to local breweries such as Broadhead or Calabogie.

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The beer and food are decent, and available on the big, sunny patio all day and into the wee hours, with the kitchen open until 1 a.m. You can sit with a beer and a meal at 11 a.m. or 11 p.m., and people-watch a continuous stream of passersby from all walks of life.

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The clientele ranges from government workers to tourists, and usually includes a few patio hoppers on a mission to check out as many spots as possible in a limited time.

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The efficient service makes Lowertown ideal for a quick pit stop but if you stumble upon events such as Live Band Karaoke on Tuesdays or Stampede Saturdays, a country-music shindig, prepare to make a night of it.

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Beyond The Pale Brewing Company

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Two locations: City Centre and ByWard Market

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Shane Clark, co-owner of Beyond the Pale, on the patio at the City Centre location before they opened Saturday, May 16, 2026. Photo by ASHLEY FRASER /POSTMEDIA

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After more than a decade in the craft-beer industry, brewmaster Shane Clark, co-owner of Beyond The Pale, one of Ottawa’s flagship independent breweries, knows the lure of a good patio to a population that’s been cooped up for months.

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“The second the weather even gets above zero and it’s sunny, people start sitting on patios,” Clark said, pointing to the expansive patio at Beyond the Pale’s City Centre headquarters. It was open for about a dozen pre-season patio days in March and April.

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“They were there with their coats on,” he recalled. “People were ready for a patio.”

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The City Centre patio, with its white picket fence, is a hub of Centretown that serves as a meeting point for everyone from runners and cyclists to live-music fans, artsy types and beer snobs. On weekends, families stop by for brunch; well-behaved dogs are welcome, too.

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As for BTP’s second location in the ByWard Market, its old-world-style patio is finally open, thanks to the completion of a nine-month construction project undertaken by the National Capital Commission to renovate the historic cobblestone courtyard.

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Housed in a 200-year-old former hotel on George Street, Beyond the Pale was one of several courtyard establishments forced to cut off patio season early last year because of the construction.

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Although the setback puts pressure on this year’s season, Clark is taking it in stride.

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In addition to the patio biz, he’s dreaming up ways to make BTP the official beer of every outdoor party in Ottawa. So far, the list includes sponsorship of Tamarack Race Weekend, the Ottawa Jazz Festival, the Ottawa Dragon Boat festival, the Ottawa City Run Club and a host of live-music events on the club scene.

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“We really like to be involved in a good party,” said Clark, explaining his theory that seeing a local beer brand at an event drives more engagement than online advertising.

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“We find people want to be involved in these big, institutional events in Ottawa and having our name on it and being able to participate in it has been great for us,” he said of the partnerships. “It’s getting really expensive to sell beer into other markets so we’ve moved back to a 20-kilometre-radius strategy.”

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Meanwhile, back on the picket-fenced patio, the most popular beer crafted in the City Centre vats is Clean Cut, a crisp and smooth German-style Kolsch that Clark spent years perfecting.

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“It’s easy drinking, and everybody loves it,” he said. “And yeah, it’s the go-to for patio season.”

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Flora Hall Brewing

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37 Flora St.

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Flora Hall Brewing owner David Longbottom on the patio of Flora Out Front. Photo by Jean Levac /Ottawa Citizen

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Some of the lowest-alcohol beers with the most flavour come from the kegs of Flora Hall, an architecturally interesting Centretown warehouse that was once home to a motorcycle parts shop called Cycle Salvage. The building marks its 99th birthday this year.

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Contrary to popular belief, owner Dave Longbottom says it was never a fire hall.

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In fact, it was a vacant eyesore when he took over in 2016 and gave it a full renovation, opening doors on the craft-beer operation in 2017. The patio seating on the street, known as Flora Out Front, evolved out of the pandemic-era need for space between patrons.

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“If there’s one positive byproduct of that COVID disaster, it would be that the city relaxed the patio rules for a while, and some of that has stuck,” Longbottom said. “It would have been more complicated to get approval for Flora’s streetside patio back in the day, whereas now, it’s sort of baked into the consciousness and we can host it every year.”

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Decorated with umbrellas and art, the patio usually seats about 30 people, but, on select summer weekends, it fills the street. About four times a season, Longbottom secures a permit to close the east end of Flora for a pop-up beer festival, featuring Flora brews as well as those of other brewers in the area.

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As mentioned, Flora makes excellent low- and no-alcohol beer options, including the latest, a nano IPA called Dolcita with a 3% ABV. Also available is their no-alcohol English Bitter and the new Sparkling Hop Water, a zero-alcohol bubbly infused with fruity hops.

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Despite a steep increase in the price of everything that goes into making a good beer, from grain and hops to the tariff-battered aluminum required for canning, Longbottom believes there will always be folks willing to pay for a quality product.

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“I’m convinced that we’ll never see a loss of appetite for freshly made, locally made craft beer because it just tastes better,” he said. “The craft-beer industry is pretty vibrant and will remain so.”

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Spark Beer and Pizza

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702 Somerset St. W.

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Spark Beer and Pizza has a great patio, dubbed the “Sparking Lot.” Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia

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Spark, a cozy brew pub in Chinatown, more than doubles in size during patio season, thanks to the roominess of the adjacent parking-lot-turned-patio the owners dubbed the Sparking Lot.

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It holds up to 200 people at picnic tables and Muskoka chairs, but they don’t offer reservations because if the weather suddenly turns nasty, there isn’t enough room indoors for everyone.

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For co-owner Andrea Gormley, a dog lover, the beauty of the patio is that people are welcome to bring their four-legged besties.

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“It’s when we get to see our dog friends again,” said Gormley, who’s the mom of a rescued potcake named Henry. “People can’t have them inside but our customers who have dogs will start bringing them on the patio. Sometimes we demand they bring them.”

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To win over the canine customers, the bar makes ‘pupsicles’ of frozen yogurt or bone broth. For the owners, there’s an eclectic selection of thirst-quenchers, from sour-beer slushies to the 7% oak-aged saison called Amiable, plus a wild and wonderful array of pizzas, including a dill-pickle pie and one piled with succulent East Coast donair meat.

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Mill Street Brewery

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555 Wellington St.

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Patrons enjoyed the patio at Mill Street during the warm spring weather in Ottawa. Photo by ASHLEY FRASER /POSTMEDIA

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A decade after the multinational beer giant Labatt took over this Ontario brewer, the Ottawa location remains a gem among brew pubs.

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It occupies the historic Thompson-Perkins limestone mill, originally built in 1842 to service the lumber industry, right on the Ottawa River. In fact, the lower patio, known as the Ruins, is so close to the river, it floods almost every spring. It’s closed for rehabbing this summer, but there are still two other spacious patios to the east and west of the building.

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Keep in mind, it’s a tricky location for parking, with limited spaces in the lot, but fantastic to access by bicycle, as it is situated along the Ottawa River Pathway.

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For $10, you can also take a tour of the building, which lies in a corner of the city where brewery and distillery locations flourished over the last century. It’s a chance to see the modern brewing rig and try the beer, including the unique-to-Ottawa small batches that are made on site.

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The perennial Mill Street faves, such as Tank House Pale Ale, Organic Lager and 100th Meridian Amber, are always available, too, as well as a menu that boasts meals for kids, dogs (on the patio), vegans and brunch lovers.

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Westboro Beach Club

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745 Kichi Zībī Mīkan

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Terry O’Sullivan, general manager of the Westboro Beach Club. Photo by ASHLEY FRASER /POSTMEDIA

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This isn’t a brew pub but I’m including it because of the spectacular view and the fact that it serves the beer of Whitewater, based upriver at Forester Falls, and one of my top-three favourite local breweries.

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Not to be confused with The Grand restaurant inside the pavilion, the Beach Club is a seasonal café run out the Strutt towers, those mushroom-shaped concrete structures designed by the eminent Ottawa architect of the 60s, James Strutt, as change huts. After the NCC’s $21-million renovation of the site, completed last year, they’re again suitable for changing.

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Now operated by the river-rafting pioneers at Wilderness Tours, the Beach Club is situated to make the most of the view of the Ottawa River, framed by the landscape of the Gatineau Hills off in the distance. The 150-seat patio is arguably the best place in the city to watch the sun set.

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The beach is also where you can sign up for a Lazy River outing in an inflatable kayak, an excursion that last year attracted families and team-building corporate types alike. Kayak, canoe and paddleboard rentals are also available.

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The water is fairly calm at this part of the river, and swimming is supervised from June to August. A playground and outdoor showers round out the amenities.

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As for the menu, it features quick bites, like sandwiches, hot dogs, ice cream and coffee, as well as poke bowls and smoothies. Beer is served in cans.

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New this year will be a seating area directly on the sand of the beach.

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“It really is the only place in the city that you can have your feet in the sand while you’re having a margarita and watching the sun go down,” noted Adele Kowalski, a member of Wilderness Tours’ board of directors.

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Ashton Brewing Company

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113 Old Mill Rd., Ashton

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The patio at Ashton Brewing Company in Ashton. Photo by TONY CALDWELL /POSTMEDIA

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A veteran of the Ottawa beverage industry is Art Hodgins, the bushy-bearded patriarch of Ashton Brewing Co., or ABC as it’s known to regulars. He and his wife, Kerry, had been running neighbourhood pubs in the Ottawa area for a few decades when, in 2011, they took over an old mill in the village of Ashton and turned it into a brewery and pub.

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Their first brewmaster was Lorne Hart, formerly of Hart Brewing in Carleton Place, and a local legend who’s considered the godfather of the Ottawa Valley’s craft-beer scene. The first ABC beer, an Amber ale, is still a bestseller.

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Today the Ashton brewery is known for its English-style ales, still made using a traditional open-fermentation process. The brewing is overseen by Quinn, one of three sons born to Art and Kerry, but in a classic example of a hands-on family business, they all play a part in running the empire, which also includes Patty’s Pub and Quinn’s, two bars on Bank Street, both with ABC beers on tap.

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But, of the three establishments, Ashton has the best patio, a screened-in and roofed- over space that practically hangs over the Jock River flowing behind the building.

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The weather- and bug-proofing measures were added based on customer feedback, according to eldest son Quinn Hodgins. “The bugs are pretty bad back there,” he said.

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In his decades in the hospitality business, the 46-year-old has seen the appeal of a patio wane, partly due to the increasingly unpredictable nature of weather patterns in the region, and partly because people don’t want to overdo their exposure to the sun.

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“There are fewer people who care to sit directly in the sun. There has to be the option for some shade,” he said. 

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“Before, you had to have a patio or you were in big trouble. But the weather is so screwball now, restaurateurs have to become more and more inventive in trying to figure out how to run a business.” 

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“We made it so people can stay out there longer, and they seem to enjoy it. It’s full almost all the time.”

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