The Dominion Tavern

I really like this place. Punk music, cheap beer on tap and awesome location. The bartenders are nice as well.
But as you might guess, it is not a place for everybody.

I have been going to the Dom for the last 8 years and it holds a special place in my heart! A really close college friend took me here to try the pickled cheese and have a quart of beer. Since that day I was hooked! What I love the most about this place is every walk of life hangs out here and everyone seems to get along. It might be because I come from a small town, but this place reminds me a little of home. You can’t go wrong with a quart of beer, a knot of pickled cheese (a must try) and a good friend for a night at the Dom!

Always a good drink and entertaining people to talk to.
You can always count on music that is real!
Jags are always cold!

It’s been years, but the beer was good and cheap, it’s a dive with a punk rock crowd, and a few scenes of Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter were filmed here, for Christ’s sake! I recall a really drunk, but friendly Canadian patron chatting us foreigners up (my brother and me). The bartender, and I’m guessing/​hoping he’s still there, has a kick-​ass mohawk you could only dream of having. This bar is the tits. Or balls. Depending on your gender/​persuasion of course. Ottawa is way out of the way for me, but I’d head here at dusk the first chance I get. Just watch out for the lesbian gobbling vampires if you’re a lesbian. Unless you’re into that sort of thing.

Oh the Dom, how many hangovers have started here? When I am in the market my evenings usually start or end (or sometimes both) at either the Dom or the Laff. The Dom is one of the better dive bars around and a great punk bar. The people are super friendly, the beer is cheap, and the music is good, what more can you ask for in a dive bar?
The beer selection is good (at least a half dozen taps of mostly microbrew) plus quarts. They have a great secluded patio at the back that used to be the smoking area, but now that smoking is banned on patios it should be nicer. They do have food, I ate the food once, it’s not amazing, but you don’t go there to eat, it is a place to drink. They also have renovated the bathrooms, they used to be pretty sketchy but now they are OK. All in all a good place to go out and drink.

I like this place.
I was drinking alone, in a strange city, it is Halloween night, but dive bars are just so darn comforting! I was having trouble telling who was dressed in their normal gear versus who was in costume. Like, that short guy with a huge beard, was he really an old man or just a short guy wearing a falsie? The chick dressed as Paurappa the rapper, I could thankfully tell was a costume.
Beer was cheap, good selection on tap, mohawked bartender, great punk playing.
Can’t go wrong, unless someone had talked to me, that would of been nice.
If I lived in Ottawa, I would frequent.

I don’t mind dive bars and this is a dive bar! I grew up in a small town where a place like the Dominion would probably be the classiest joint in town but I’d much rather spend a laid back night drinking 50 across the street at the Laff than at the Dom.
The carpet in the place stinks and the bathrooms really sketched me out the night I was there with friends. This place is really inexpensive and very popular with students as they can drink really cheap.
For people like me it’s like a throw back to growing up in a small town and your first night out a tavern. But if you’re looking for a bar like this with more character and better entertainment just go across the street!

If someone walked up to me in the Market and asked to find a true Canadian drinking establishment, I’d send them to The Dominion. What Jason and Amanda said before me is completely true, but I’d like to add that you can often find interesting bands playing here, of the punk/​rock variety.

The Dominion tavern, or The Dom, as regulars know it, is a real curiosity in the Byward Market. The Market is a tourist trap designed to lure in upscale yuppies who can tell a merlot from a pinot noir and would actually order either one on a night on the town. The Dom is the antithesis of the Market concept. The Dom is a tavern. Period. It exists to serve beer and hard liquour. Sure, music is blaring in the background, sports are usually playing on the TVs and there is a pool table. But, the core of the Dom is the drinkin’. I ended up there one night only because my brother-​in-​law knows one of the owners. Ordinarily, the likes of me (I talk smack, but I ain’t that much of a bad ass) would go elsewhere for drinks and music and sports. But, my brother in law dragged me in and I was pleased to discover a real honest drinking establishment. Shaved heads abound — and those are just the girls! Ha! But seriously, it is a black t-​shirt, jeans, Doc Martens kind of scene. But, it is legit. There is nothing phony about the Dom. It is what it is and damn proud of it. Cigar aficionados need not apply. But, if you are a true-​blue Canadian who likes to drink and hang with real people, then head out to the Dom tonight. Yeah, tonight. You shouldn’t care that its a school night!

This isn’t a bar for everyone, but if you like dirty vibes, an eclectic clientèle, pool and huge bottles of beer, then you’ve come to the right place. I like this place because I enjoy a bar with character. You can come to be a tourist or strike up a conversation with someone you may not otherwise befriend outside the Dom’s doors. The beers are cheap, the music isn’t Top 40, sports are often playing on the TV and the back patio seems to be exclusively devoted to smoking. Patrons can also kill some time playing pool, darts or the various board games stashed under the television’s stand. Of course, it’s also a neighbour of Barefax strip club.
If you’re hungry after a night of drinking, head over to Sasha’s chip wagon next door for some delicious poutine.