Maxwell’s Bistro & Club in Ottawa, ON

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Telephone:	+1 613-232-5771
Website:	www.maxwellsbistro.com
Address:	340 Elgin Street, Ottawa, ON, K2P 1M6
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:	160 ftELGIN / WAVERLY 220 ftELGIN / GILMOUR 590 ftGLADSTONE / ELGIN
Categories:	Bars Canadian (New)

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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations	Yes
Delivery	No
Take-out	Yes
Accepted Cards	Credit, Debit
Good For	Late Night
Parking	Street
Bike Parking	Yes
Good for Kids	No
Good for Groups	Yes
Attire	Casual
Ambience	Casual

Noise Level	Loud
Good For Dancing	Yes
Alcohol	Full Bar
Happy Hour	Yes
Best Nights	Mon, Fri, Sat
Coat Check	No
Smoking	No
Outdoor Seating	No
Wi-Fi	No
Has TV	Yes
Waiter Service	Yes

Today

Today	–
Local time (Ottawa)	21:08 Friday, 23 May 2025

Business hours

Monday	–
Tuesday	–
Wednesday	–
Thursday	–
Friday	–
Saturday	–
Sunday	–

Description

Specialties

This iconic Ottawa restaurant is conveniently located on Elgin Street, one of the best night spots in Ottawa, close to Parliament Hill and where locals and visitors alike come to enjoy Bistro styled fare, complemented by an ambitious wine list and a uniquely personal level of service and hospitality.

Quality, service and reputation — that’s the stuff that legends are made of and that’s what you can look forward to experiencing on each and every visit to Maxwell’s Bistro and Club. We look forward to serving you.

History

Established in 1982.

Maxwells Bistro and Club owners and team will celebrate their 30^th year of dining and entertainment by showing their appreciation to all guests with a month of celebration in November 2012.

Maxwell’s has had the admiration of many clients over the past 30 years. Maxwell’s will continue to be a canvas for many talented chefs as in the past. The culinary standards expected of this establishment endure to sustain its success. «I am proud to be a component of a long standing tradition,» said Chris Blais, Owner and General Manager.

Maxwell’s showcases the latest techniques and creations in Bistro, elevated to new heights by our great Chef — Tim O’Connor and our inventive kitchen staff. The best sourced ingredients are superbly crafted into modern interpretations of classics as well as new culinary creations.

Continuing in the tradition of legendary founders Alfred Friedman and Walter Krepski, Chris Blais and Brian Hall have continued with a great reputation.

Meet the Business Owner

Chris B.

Business Owner

Chris was destined to be in the food and beverage industry. His outgoing personality, high level of energy and his passion for food and entertainment makes him a natural as Owner and General Manager of Maxwell’s. Whether he’s collaborating with the Chef on the daily special, training a new team member, conversing with team members on an upcoming event, or assisting a customer in arranging a special celebration, Chris’ business sense and personal touch are evident.

A native of the Ottawa area, Chris worked at a number of highly respected establishments including Rideau Carlton Raceway where he was Director of Food and Beverage Operations. In this establishment Chris worked closely with the AGCO (Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario) and obtained the required AGCO licenses. That knowledge of AGCO regulations became a key asset when Chris returned to Maxwell’s, and became Owner and General Manager.

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20 reviews of Maxwell’s Bistro & Club

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Loo D.

Place rating: 3
Gatineau, Canada

A very hot and humid Saturday and the place open to the elements. You could not breathe for gasping. The staff all sweaty and we were desperate for air con!!!
Staff friendly and timely until it came time for getting the bill. That stretches far too long.
The food was average. While. ordering eggs Benny was asked how I like the poached eggs. Asked for medium. Got runny. As in raw egg whites everywhere. My dining companion had the same problem. That’s a badly poached egg on any scale.
Home fries blah with two tiny cubes of tomato. I think this is reference to the salsa?!
Coffee good. Didn’t offer water all around.
Because we felt we were in a sweat lodge we won’t be coming back.

Michelle K.

Place rating: 4
Ottawa, Canada

Friday $ 5 apps with a drink purchase. really good food, and the tattooed long haired handsome waiter was best service ever!!! great for dates or girls night.

Robert C.

Place rating: 4
Vaughan, Canada

Had great breakfast with great service.
Come on by try breakfast a traditional Bennie

Laylady L.

Place rating: 1
Ottawa, Canada

I ordered their veggie panini, it was really awful. It looked like there was good content from how it was described in the menu but it all come together wrong. I ordered mashed potatoes with it which were grainy and tasteless, I asked for fries instead and they came out super dry. It definitely didn’t hit the spot and was an over priced meal to begin with. Good service though, so there’s that.

Nat M.

Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada

spent most of my NYE night here eating, toasting with shots, mingling with new friends, grooving and dancing to awesome tunes. It wasn’t packed but a great crowd came out over the course of the night and soon we were all dancing in the new year together
(awesome hip hop video mix downstairs starting 9pm/latin, top 40, regular new years Eve classics upstairs starting 10pm with $ 6 cover which was waived since we spent so much already). I love the cocktail menu they have downstairs like the polar bear and Swedish berry shooters and the Caesar, beer and/or bacon fusion cocktails (yum. crisp bacon and alcohol… a kings diet). they had a small menu available with quality options for everyone and I fully enjoyed the apple chuck burger and poutine. either the food was pure perfection or my slight tipsyness level slightly skewed my judgment lol. the burger was moist and juicy and didn’t need a drop of any hot sauce, BBQ or any other condiment imaginable — kudos to the chef.
Our bartender was really cool and friendly and just one of those good guys that everyone wants to chat with. Thanks to Maxwell’s and the two great dj’s for a memorable NYE celebration and happy new year again to all the mates we shared a drink or smoke with that night from the 3 handsome and funny Canadian men in their late 30’s, the certified and hilarious Maxwell cougar party girls, the beautiful and charming Quebecoise mature ladies (perhaps in the cougar category too or just MILFs) and all the other randoms upstairs! can’t wait to come back again and bust up the dance floor. p. s. leafs played a good game that night and won against Boston so sorry to the gentleman for bashing his team the leafs but I still say Montréal has the best Canadian team!

Abbie S.

Place rating: 5
Halifax, Canada

I know Maxwells may have a reputation for being a ‘cougar bar’ (which shouldn’t be a negative thing, by the way); but management has shifted here in the past little while and there have been some great changes.
The servers here are really great, friendly, flexible. It’s got a great ambience, and it’s CLEAN (which is hard to say for most bars/clubs/lounges in Ottawa), great selection of beer, the music here is always great (DJ Emmett from Sunday night’s Mod night at Babylon is here once a week I think?).
What I love most about Maxwells is the consistent great experiences you get here– whether it’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, or dancing. I took my parents here for dinner one night, and my mother has some incredibly high standards, and she loved Maxwells. Their food here is delicious! On Monday nights they have $ 3 burgers (full size burgers, what!!?) and $ 5 pizzas; Friday night you’ll get half price apps. I’d suggest the spinach dip and the wings! As well, their cheesecake here is the BEST I’ve ever had.
Maxwells is my go-to spot. I’d recommend it, and I’ll definitely be back there.

William J S.

Place rating: 4
Ottawa, Canada

I ended up here on Halloween night because a friend thought it was a great place to hang out and find a new girl friend for himself.
I’ll have to say that it was hard to stand up here because there were so many people (many of them beautiful women).
I didn’t eat there, but they had a decent selection of beer.
But what stood out for me was the band they chose for Halloween. The Hornettes played the whole Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’ album in song order. They sounded fantastic and had d everyone dancing (which led to many shoulder checks).
Maxwell’s is a nicely decorated place on Elgin that seems to attract nice people. And their choice of music pleases my ear.

Brianna P.

Place rating: 2
Toronto, Canada

After my failed attempt to eat at the highly praised Scone Witch (it was PACKED), I found myself mindlessly roaming the streets for a great spot to have breakfast. I could no longer ignore the growls coming from my stomach, so I walked into Maxwell’s… I wish I would have walked a little longer.
Our server was somewhat attentive but quite cold. I asked how she was doing and she just stared at me until I gave her my order. Not sure if i startled her or something! Anyways, I had the Belgian waffle with blueberry sauce and my brother had the Glengarrian omelet with steak, onions and sautéed mushrooms with crispy fries as a side.
He really enjoyed his. Everything was well cooked and the fries were his favourite part. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same. Primarily my waffles were cold. They were also incredibly dry and crumbly to the point that I struggled to pick up a piece with my fork. They also lacked crispiness and the blueberry sauce lacked flavour.
Maybe they do other dishes better but I DEFINITELY don’t recommend the waffles!

Mike G.

Place rating: 1
Ottawa, Canada

Terrible. No one knew anything about the menu or bar selection and the food took literally an hour and forty minutes to arrive. The manager was completely dismissive when we spoke with him and obviously didn’t care about our issues.
The food, when it finally came, was pretty good.

Vanessa D.

Place rating: 2
Ottawa, Canada

Maxwells is always reinventing itself. The problem is the menu takes typical classics and twists them beyond recognition. Cajun cod on top of linguini in a cream sauce with grilled apples: it’s too weird and awkward to eat; the consistencies and flavours seem wrong. The pizza with mushrooms and pepperoni is competent, the ravioli ruined with parsnip stuffing, covered in caramelized onions, and balsamic vinegar sounds revolting. Everything seems to be covered in balsamic vinegar now that I look at the menu again. Dishes are all priced around 20 $, but so are their appetizers.
Next time I’ll just stick to drinks.

Gretchen S.

Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA

Strolled in after landing in Ottawa, a long flight from LA. Friend and I wandered down Elgin looking for a nice place to relax and eat a good meal. Lots of places to choose from but something on their menu caught our eye, so we wandered our way back and sat in the window of the bar to have a chat with the manager (owner?) Sure it was slow at the moment so we got very attentive service but I have a feeling that’s what they strive for anyway. And the food — big raves for the chef from the staff and so we looked forward to what we ordered. Great caesar salad — not overly creamy, just lemony and delicious. The special arctic char was amazingly good. My colleague enjoyed her dish immensely as well. Both of us were impressed enough to suggest going there when we connected with the rest of the conference attendees (we did not, we went with majority rules.) Great food, great location, fun people watching and terrific service. Would go again in a heartbeat! Next time in town!

Rick F.

Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA

So-so food, okay service. Probably the best local American cuisine restaurant in the Elgin/Golden Triangle area which I have visited,

Christopher C.

Place rating: 2
Buffalo, NY

Upon my travels, sometimes I’m not in control of where I get to eat. While I would have never picked this place, it’s just because it has a fancy and nice ambience to it. At first glance, it has a great look to it — I like my dives more. But the reason this has 2 stars is because of the cleanliness and good nature/service of the place.
But, for the price and how long we waited (though we were a large group), this place failed at all expectations. Upon arriving, the waitress took our drink orders and left a small dish of butter. About 10 minutes later, not exaggerating, she delivered bread to us. As the evening progressed, it took some time for our food to arrive (our meal ended up being about 2.5 hours, but we were a large crowd — but we had reservations). Two friends had the Haddock which was small, poorly seasoned, and the haddock was hard to find within the dish. Another friend also ordered it and she enjoyed her dish (it had been personally made, however, due to allergies, so congrats to the chef for taking the time for allergy-customers). My dish was a wet collection of noodles and thin slices of vegetables (the Farmer’s Market pasta dish). The sauce was weak and not flavorful and all of us at the table required salt and pepper, as well as a lot of cheese, to make the meals as ‘fabulous’ as the waitress described.
This experience did not bode well since the price seemed so steep. My Farmer’s Market was 14 dollars — which amounted to a very cheap dish with no flavor. Pasta and some veggies, assumably from a farmer’s market, would have been around 4 dollars if I made it at home.
Lastly, this is not a vegetarian friendly place. There are very few options. Though, if you have an allergy or are vegetarian/vegan you can get specially made dishes. My only issue is that there probably wouldn’t be an adjusted price for the lack of meat or cheese, meaning you’re still paying omnivore prices for your herbivore food. That bugs me a lot.
In summary, prices aren’t worth the food, there isn’t a lot of selection, and it seems the kitchen really needs to step it up in terms of planning and getting food out on time.

Fauve G.

Place rating: 3
Ottawa, Canada

Went to Maxwell’s last week for a Burlesque show!
The show was fun, the drinks were decently priced, and the crowd was rowdy!
There was a serious lack of seating for a show that sold tickets in advance though…

Mark T.

Place rating: 2
Ottawa, Canada

Sunday brunch at Maxwell’s is everything I don’t want in a brunch.
A tepid eggs benedict consisting of an overly-poached egg unhappily perched on dry ham atop a soggy english muffin.
A small dish of tasteless assorted fruits.
And barely warm, deep fried potatoes strewn across the plate. I was, however, intrigued by the appealing cross cut fries served at the neighbouring table, but had missed the memo explaining those were served upon request only.
A note on Maxwell’s recent renovation. The overhead flotilla of large globe lights is an odd and disconcerting addition to a much needed but otherwise successful refresh.
On this particular Sunday, Maxwell’s was offering seven variations on eggs benedict. The kitchen would be well advised to focus on fresh, perfectly prepared ingredients, served hot, before further attempts at culinary acrobatics.
Not recommended.

Coy W.

Place rating: 3
Ottawa, Canada

2 reviews in 1!
When I first moved to Ottawa I was told about a «cougar bar» to avoid. Nobody ever told me the name so when I moved into the neighbourhood, I started to explore it. I came into Maxwell’s on a Saturday night. When I got upstairs I knew this was the bar that people told me to avoid. Honestly though it’s not as bad as people made it out to be! Top 40 music and fun crowd :) Grabby women though! This is your warning… or heads up ;) :P
My friend told me to meet here for breakfast one morning. I thought she was kidding, but she wasn’t, so I didn’t know what to expect. What I discovered was probably the best bacon and egg breakfast on Elgin st. Yup that’s right Manx, I’m looking at you. Manx does everything else better but if you want a solid bacon and egg breakfast you should check out this place first.

Geo P.

Place rating: 4
Placentia, CA

I was here on business and the Concierge of our hotel recommended we go to Elgin street as they have a pretty good bar scene and restaurants.
The pleasant cabbie dropped us off right in front of Maxwells and though we were eyeing the steak place across the street, my colleagues and I decided to have a quick glass of wine at the bar and the head across the street for dinner.
The bar is set up nicely with huge windows that open up to the street so you can people watch. Mark the bartender greeted us warmly and suggested a few glasses of wine that we chose from. We ordered four appetizers, smoked salmon, bruchetta, capresee salad and calamari. All were good and the calamari was nice and fresh, not rubbery as it can get.
The appetizers being so good we decided to eat dinner here also and i had the chicken in a mustard sauce with veg and potatoes, very good. My colleagues each ordered steak and they said it was good, though a bit on the thin side.
The manager Rob came over and introduced himself, nice chap, and mentioned that they have live music upstairs at 9:30, no cover. All the excuse i needed to enjoy a few more glasses of wine and watch the end of the hockey game.
We went upstairs around 10 and Johnny Vegas and his band was performing cover tunes from Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and many others. OK, I know what you are thinking, Johnny Vegas? Yeah it sounds cheesy but this guy and his band are really good. the crowd is a bit older, women out numbering men by 2 – 1 but everyone was have a great time and the dance floor was full. I stayed until about 11:30 and enjoyed every bit of it.
Next time i come back to Ottawa I will definitely come back!

Damon r.

Place rating: 2
Los Angeles, CA

Not worth it. Expensive and boring. They have a menu that is a long a the LORD OF THE RINGS, how can you possibly stock all those items and cook everything well? Service seemed lost. The décor was like an upscale keg. I hate bad mouthing people trying to make a living but this could be so much more. A $ 20 salad needs to have a wow factor.

Darren M.

Place rating: 3
Ottawa, Canada

The downstairs restaurant and bar has undergone a face lift over the last couple of years and it looks quite nice. Despite having a couple of drinks on the main level in the summer (they open up the big windows looking out over Elgin Street) I’ve never actually eaten at Maxwell’s.
I have experienced upstairs club and what an experience that can be. First off, it’s not really my crowd and my friends and I knew that going in.
The patrons here are typically older women and younger men. I found myself looking around the bar at one point in the evening and wondering if I was at a PTA meeting gone horribly wrong.
The music sort of suits the crowd. They seemed to play a lot of Black Eyed Peas, some Chumbawamba, AC/DC and of course lots of Bryan Adams! The bathrooms upstairs are quite small and I just didn’t find the crowd to be all that pleasant — although we knew going in that this bar has a reputation as not really being a place for people in their 20’s.
By the end of the night the dance floor was packed and the bachelorette and even one «divorce party» had filled the place. The conversations you hear in the smoking section as you walk out the front door are always entertaining too.

Minh D.

Place rating: 3
Gatineau, Canada

Really love the breakfasts here. Classy joint.