Elmdale Oyster House & Tavern

Fantastic place! I went for their ship Hop Karaōke Night which they host every fourth Friday of the month. It looks a lot better on the inside then it does outside. The outside is pretty bland and easy to miss.
The inside has a very large bar area with a lot of comfortable seating. The bartenders were really friendly as well. The only negative I would have is their coat check which isn’t really a coat check. There’s a wardrobe rod where everyone puts their coats using these flimsy hangers. There isn’t too much care put into people’s things. But other than that I had a great time and I would definitely go again!

Probably the best restaurant in Ottawa. Great atmosphere, fresh oysters and please try the tuna crudo. Great selection of beer but what makes this place is the staff. They are smart, knowledgeable and always ready for a laugh. Do yourself a favour, sit at the bar and let them decide where they will take you. You will be happy.

Holy crap so expensive !!!
When you look at Elmdale House Tavern from the outside, you’d think it’s for bums and would assume cheap food.
But now Whalesbone has taken over and HOLY CRAP SO EXPENSIVE !!!
Nice fatass oysters from whalesbone was delicious and might be worth $ 3 each ???
The lobster boil was fantastic however the price was crazy.
12 oysters, a lobster boil, a fish I don’t remember the name of, and two glasses of water came out to $ 124 including tip.
Oh and the servers are fantastic there.

Nice place, took a fish & chips that was really nice, but the service was a little bit light

This place has none of the things in the regular places that I would visit… but has all the awesomeness that everyone one of those places should have. This place is a dive… wait, A DIVE!
Situated between Tennessy Willems and Hintonburger it’s an easy place to miss or walk by. There doesn’t see to be anything appealing about it.
On the inside it’s a large bar with furniture that I would best describe as… do you remember when you were a poor student and someone threw out a piece of furniture and you thought about dragging that piece of furniture back to your dump of an apartment? That piece of furniture you didn’t pick up might have ended up here! They have these awesome older tables and chairs. Inside is also a handful of TVs and a pool table.
The bartenders… some people might find strange but they’re friendly as hell and very accommodating. I’ve had some good conversations with them.
One of my favourite things is that they allow the Tennessy Willems and Hintonburger patrons to come eat here when the other places are full. They just don’t allow you to bring in external drinks. I make it a habit to come here instead of staying at the other 2 places now because they’re awesome like that and I get a drink here.
I’m not sure why but I’ve never asked about their selection of beer. I try to get the worst beer possible at dive bars and this place doesn’t disappoint me!
This place also doubles as a music venue which I still haven’t come by to experience yet.
If you’re thinking about day drinking, you could do much worse than the Elmdale but mind you that you’ll be with the regular day drinking crew and some people definitely can’t handle that!
NOTE: This place was recently bought by the awesome people over at Whalesbone. I hear they’re going to keep it in tact with a few upgrades and of course, OYSTERS!!!

Decades ago I lived directly across the road from the Elmdale and I can tell you that it wasn’t the sort of place most young, single woman went to. I definitely never ventured through the doors despite my my penchant for what my mum deemed as ‘the wrong side of the tracks’.
Last night I was out with some old friends and a Ska band called Rude Boy was playing. Well as the band stated at one point, they’re neither rude nor boys. Oh well. :) I was hoping these ‘soccer dads’ would at least have dressed the part but this isn’t a review of the band so I’ll leave it at that.
We paid an $ 8 cover which in MHO is a great price for a live band even if they’re mediocre. The staff here (two young guys on the bar) have possibly the biggest grins of any bartenders ever. The washrooms are clean. They have a selection of local beers on tap — I tried the Hogs Back Ale in memory of my youth spent adventuring around Hogs Back Falls.
The room isn’t big and a pool table dominates one side. It filled up with a variety of young to middle aged people. My girlfriend and I got up to dance to one of the few songs that was actually fast in hopes of picking up the momentum — no such luck. We then stuck around for what turned out to be a seemingly never-​ending version of Stir It Up and one other guy also danced. Hmmm Ottawa, why so uptight?
Well we left after the first set but I’ll still say this is a sweet spot to be adventurous if you want to check out some live music, have a tasty pint and perhaps a pickled egg. If I lived here I’d definitely be game to risk the paltry cover in hopes of catching a good show. Cheers!
PS — they don’t have Scotch here as they said nobody ordered it. Weird.

Many moons ago, this was a smoke-​filled, unwelcoming tavern that was avoided by most. Today, this is one of Ottawa most interesting, and best live music venues. Looking to hear some live music in Ottawa — check this place out. Quarts on the menu, a pool table, and great ambience.