In this feature, Apt613 asks blog contributors and local food lovers about their recent Ottawa area restaurant highlights to help you find new tasty treats to discover or revisit when someone inevitably asks, “Where do you want to eat?” We want to hear about something that you ate and loved! Leave comments below, and if you’d like to contribute to a future edition of Best Bites, email <editors@apt613.ca>.
Best Bites this week:
- Fiazza Fresh Fired ( 205 Richmond Rd, 3181 Greenbank Rd, 86 Murray)
- Wolf Down ( 380 Bank St, 4104 Kanata Ave)
- Burger Factory ( 293 Dalhousie, 780 Eagleson Rd )
You’ve probably already heard of Fiazza, one of the very first fast order, fire baked pizza joints in town. Is their pizza great? Yes it is. But today, I’m here to tell you about their cheesy garlic bread. Now, you and I both know that all garlic bread is good garlic bread, it’s one of those perfect foods. But recently friends and I were feeling snacky, and once you get a hankering for garlic bread, there is nothing you can do about it. Lots of pizza places serve great garlic bread like a flatbread, and that’s what I assumed Fiazza does. Nope. Friends, they roll fresh dough into a loaf, wrapped around a healthy chunk of cheese, baste it in garlic butter and bake it in their fire oven. It comes out garlicky, cheesey and crusty like a stuffed baguette. They slice it into chunks, perfect for dipping into red sauce if you like it that way. The cheese is hot and stringy, and the bread is so very light and chewy and crispy, drenched in garlic. For under $9 it is an excellent snack, and probably the best garlic bread I’ve ever had. Run, don’t walk the next time you get that garlic bread craving.
Fiazza garlic bread. Photo: Kiersten Vuorimaki
Wolf Down has been putting out fresh and delicious Berlin style doner in Centretown since 2019, and they opened a new location in Kanata this past January. The menu isn’t big, but it definitely doesn’t need to be. Offering doner, chicken, and tofu as proteins in either a sandwich, salad or rice bowl you get to pick your adventure every time. An experienced friend brought me to try it out, and got the gluten free rice bowl with chicken and vegetables piled high. I had to opt for the classic sandwich on a stuffed flatbread for my first experience. I got the classic beef doner, which you can barely see in the photo because this sandwich was absolutely teeming with fresh veggies and sauces. I got the dairy free spicy sauce and vegan secret sauce which was definitely not too spicy but had a great kick. The crunchy cabbage and cucumbers were the perfect balance for the salty beefiness of the doner, and the creamy heat in the sauces. It is hard to know how to correctly get the sandwich into your mouth, and it is most certainly a two-hander, but you just need to go for it and never put it down. For $15.50 it’s a delicious quick option for lunch or dinner. The sandwich can definitely get very messy, so the salad or rice bowl are a good option if you aren’t in the mood for a hose down afterwards.
Wolf Down. Photo: Kiersten Vuorimaki
There is a very handy chart on the wall that breaks down the most common allergies and preferences, and which menu choices would best suit your situation. Gluten free, vegan, dairy free, keto friendly and Halal diets are all easily navigated, which is an absolute delight. They also have a list of allergens on the website, so you can easily make your choices without holding up the line.
There is no shortage of burger places in Ottawa, but it’s always nice to find one that has lots of options for everyone you know. Recently a friend and I stumbled on Burger Factory in the market when we were looking for a quick, affordable meal downtown. The bright location on Dalhousie was clean and the food was cooked fresh to order. Normally, we don’t really eat at chain restaurants, but this place is worth making an exception. The menu is enormous, with lots of different variations of beef and chicken burgers, sides like tornado fries, jalapeño poppers and poutine, and funnel cakes for dessert (very American). I got the cheeseburger combo with sweet potato fries and a drink for $14.95, and had trouble choosing from the 13 free toppings, and laundry list of extras. They offer beef bacon, jalapeños, mac n’ cheese bites, and fried eggs to name a few.
The burger patty was juicy and clearly not processed. My friend got hers on a gluten free bun for an extra $2.99, and thoroughly enjoyed the crispy fresh cut regular fries. The burger was a saucy, juicy, messy experience like all good burgers should be, and reminded me of a good chip truck burger. The whole menu is Halal, and they offer gluten free and keto buns and labelling on menu items, which was very helpful.
We want to hear about something that you ate and loved! Leave comments below, and if you’d like to contribute to a future edition of Best Bites, email <editors@apt613.ca>.
