1
Google
Bar•Centretown•moderate
Afterlight
Afterlight suits a night out in Centretown when you want bar that feels grown-up without getting stiff.
Cocktails and snackscocktailsdate night
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9.6
Based on 59 reviews
Centretown · Ottawa
Best date night Restaurants in Centretown
The highest-rated date night spots in Centretown, Ottawa — sorted by Google rating and curated by TastyPals.
27 restaurantsAvg rating 8.7Updated July 2026
Top date night picks in Centretown
Fast answers for diners comparing date night restaurants in Centretown, Ottawa.
2
Google
Contemporary•Centretown•value
Town
Town doesn't bother with a manifesto, and that restraint is most of the point.
Centretown dinnerdinnercasual night
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9.4
Based on 784 reviews
3
Google
Seafood•Centretown•splurge
The Whalesbone Bank Street
Twenty years on Bank Street is a track record most Ottawa restaurants cannot come close to matching, and The Whalesbone has spent those two decades refusing to dress itself up as something grander than an oyster house.
Seafooddate nightspecial occasion
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9.4
Based on 635 reviews
4
Google
Seafood•Centretown•splurge
Pelican Seafood Market & Grill
Pelican Seafood Market & Grill has operated at the intersection of retail fish market and sit-down dining room, with a proper restaurant expansion following in 1996 — an unusual duality that the room appears to treat as a structural argu…
Seafooddate nightspecial occasion
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9.2
Based on 2839 reviews
5
Google
Northern Italian•Centretown•$$$$
North & Navy
North Navy may be the most carefully conceived Italian tasting menu in Ottawa, operating out of a converted Centretown townhouse that seats fewer than 40 people.
date night
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9.2
Based on 1732 reviews
6
Google
New Canadian•Centretown•splurge
Riviera
When Canada's 100 Best placed Riviera among the country's 30 finest restaurants in 2024, the reaction from Ottawa felt less like surprise than collective exhale — as though the city had been waiting for outside confirmation of something…
Special occasionspecial occasiondate night
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9.2
Based on 1662 reviews
7
Google
New Canadian•Centretown•splurge
Beckta Dining & Wine
Nineteen consecutive years of CAA 4-Diamond recognition is the kind of statistic that cuts both ways — it can signal genuine institutional excellence or the slow calcification of a room coasting on accumulated goodwill.
Special occasionspecial occasiondate night
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9.2
Based on 1070 reviews
8
Google
Peruvian•Centretown•moderate
Raphaël Peruvian Cuisine
Peruvian cooking remains one of the most underrepresented cuisines in Ottawa, which makes Raphaël Peruvian Cuisine in Centretown worth paying attention to.
Elgin Street night outdate nightgroup dinner
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9.2
Based on 692 reviews
9
Google
Breakfast•Centretown•$
Yolks
Yolks arrived on Bank Street as an Ottawa outpost of a Vancouver-born breakfast concept, and Centretown's weekend crowd appears to have adopted it with the kind of sustained loyalty that shows up as a lineup before the doors open.
date night
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9.2
Based on 633 reviews
10
Google
Steakhouse•Centretown•moderate
Harmons Steakhouse
Harmon's Steakhouse occupies a familiar and well-defined lane: a classic steakhouse format planted in Centretown, Ottawa, where the neighbourhood's appetite for downtown occasion dining gives the concept a natural home.
Elgin Street night outdate nightgroup dinner
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9.2
Based on 552 reviews
11
Google
Sustainable Seafood•Centretown•splurge
The Whalesbone Elgin Street
The Whalesbone on Elgin Street is the more polished sibling to the original oyster bar that put the name on Ottawa's map, and by reputation it carries the same foundational commitment: seafood sourced responsibly, rotated according to wh…
Seafooddate nightspecial occasion
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9.0
Based on 2129 reviews
12
Google
Contemporary•Centretown•value
Prohibition Public House
Prohibition Public House has been doing something Ottawa gastropubs rarely manage since opening in 2016: committing fully to a concept without letting the concept swallow the cooking.
Centretown dinnerdinnercasual night
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9.0
Based on 1251 reviews
13
Google
Lanzhou Hand-Pulled Noodles•Centretown•$
Le Mien Craft Noodle
Le Mien on Somerset West occupies a particular position in Ottawa's food conversation that is difficult to manufacture: it is the place serious, research-minded eaters keep returning to when asked where the city is actually cooking at a…
date night
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9.0
Based on 1111 reviews
14
Google
French Bistro•Centretown•moderate
Gitanes
Gitanes on Elgin Street has accumulated one of the more convincing reputations of any French bistro in Ottawa — not through reinvention or concept, but through the kind of sustained consistency that becomes its own argument.
Elgin Street night outdate nightgroup dinner
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9.0
Based on 456 reviews
15
Google
Contemporary•Centretown•moderate
Manor Lounge
Manor Lounge on Elgin Street has built a reputation around a premise Ottawa's more self-serious dining rooms rarely attempt: that a genuinely good time and genuinely good food belong in the same room.
Elgin Street night outdate nightgroup dinner
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9.0
Based on 394 reviews
16
Google
Cocktail Bar•Centretown•$$$
Stolen Goods Cocktail Bar
Sparks Street runs on lanyards and lunch sandwiches — government-district energy, in other words, not the kind of block that makes you think cocktail destination.
cocktailhidden gemdate night
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9.0
Based on 283 reviews
17
Google
New Canadian•Centretown•value
Fauna
Fauna has appeared on Canada's 100 Best across multiple years, and the consistency behind that recognition is worth understanding before you book.
Glebe dinnerbrunchdinner
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8.8
Based on 1110 reviews
18
Google
Japanese•Centretown•value
Izakaya Shingen
Izakaya Shingen on Bank Street is doing something Ottawa's dining scene genuinely needs: a room built around the ritual of sharing rather than the performance of dining.
Sushidinnertakeout
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8.8
Based on 912 reviews
19
Google
Japanese•Centretown•value
Hanabi Japanese Cuisine
Bank Street has no shortage of Japanese restaurants content to coast on teriyaki combos and safe maki, which is precisely why Hanabi at 434 Bank Street draws the kind of attention it does in Centretown.
Sushidinnertakeout
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8.8
Based on 785 reviews
20
Google
Italian•Centretown•moderate
Giulia
Giulia is the kind of italian room in Centretown you reach for when the evening is meant to matter a little more. Burrata from Puglia and Tuna Crudo also give you a decent sense of the menu.
Elgin Street night outdate nightgroup dinner
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8.8
Based on 743 reviews
21
Google
Bar•Centretown•moderate
Charlotte
Charlotte opened on Elgin Street in Centretown back in 2017 with a clear premise: build the room around the glass, not the plate.
Cocktails and snackscocktailsdate night
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8.8
Based on 535 reviews
22
Google
Seafood•Centretown•splurge
Flipper's Seafood Restaurant
Flipper's Seafood Restaurant has occupied its spot above Von's Bistro on Bank Street for over forty years, reached by a staircase that functions as an informal filter.
Seafooddate nightspecial occasion
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8.8
Based on 192 reviews
23
Google
Contemporary•Centretown•value
Rabbit Hole
Rabbit Hole is solving a problem Ottawa's bar scene has historically had no interest in solving: building a room with actual layers.
Centretown dinnerdinnercasual night
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8.6
Based on 1472 reviews
24
Google
Canadian•Centretown•$$$
Zoe's
Zoe's is not, in the strictest sense, a Centretown restaurant — it occupies the Fairmont Château Laurier, which means it arrives pre-loaded with the gravitational pull of a room that has witnessed actual history.
date night
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8.4
Based on 965 reviews
25
Google
Contemporary•Centretown•moderate
Good Neighbour
Good Neighbour suits a night out in Centretown when you want contemporary that feels grown-up without getting stiff.
Elgin Street night outdate nightgroup dinner
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8.4
Based on 109 reviews
26
Google
Contemporary•Centretown•value
Citizen
Citizen suits a night out in Centretown when you want contemporary that feels grown-up without getting stiff. Fried Olives All'Ascolana and Beef Carpaccio also give you a decent sense of the menu.
Centretown dinnerdinnercasual night
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4.7
Based on 540 reviews
27
Google
Tapas•Centretown•value
Aroma Meze
Aroma Meze is the kind of tapas room in Centretown you reach for when the evening is meant to matter a little more. Spanakopitakia and Saganaki also give you a decent sense of the menu.
Centretown dinnerdinnercasual night
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4.6
Based on 1510 reviews
Common questions
What are the best date night restaurants in Centretown?
The top date night restaurants in Centretown, Ottawa include Afterlight, Town, The Whalesbone Bank Street. TastyPals curates these picks based on Google ratings and editorial judgment.
How many date night restaurants are in Centretown?
TastyPals currently tracks 27 date night restaurants in Centretown, Ottawa.
TastyPals curates picks based on Google ratings, community reviews, and editorial judgment. Learn how we choose →
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