BROADWAY BAR & GRILL, Ottawa ON

There are several local chain/bar establishments that are unique to Ottawa. 3 big contenders. Heart & Crown, the Royal Oaks, and the other, existing more on the fringes of the Capital is Broadways. There are 11 locations in the region, but I had only been to one before, this location, meeting up with some friend/acquaintances from back home. I didn't have food, so it was about time to go back and see what I might have missed.




It's a fairly big location. There is a 'bar' area, then a large dining area split into different levels, tables, booths etc. Trying to identify what kind of place is hard. It's nicer than a tavern by far. It's kind of a sports bar, with TV's with the game on all over the place. It's friendly like a family restaurant. It all works, but nothing decor wise stands out.

It was quite quiet on this evening. A table here, a booth there. The bar was empty. My waitress Brittany said it had been really slow, at it was at it's busiest of the night. Brittany was very friendly and dedicated to her work. She took the time to learn every one's name at all the tables. She seemed genuinely concerned about everyone and their meals. And she brought me lots of refills on my pop.

I was in on a Tuesday, and my luck, it was wing night. Woot woot. Brittany went over the flavours with me, saying the Guinness BBQ was particularly good. I have had not the best experiences with Guinness BBQ sauce on wings, but I decided to go with a 1/2 XXX hot and 1/2 of the BBQ. She then suggested they could be mixed, the hot and the hickory.

I said it sounded interesting (which it did), but would stick with the two. I then got confused because she asked if I was sure about the BBQ, but then I thought she didn't understand that I did want BBQ and Hot. She explained she meant she didn't want to pressure me into getting the Guinness if I didn't want it, but I assured her I did. Funny moment.

The wings are deep fried naked, then tossed in sauce. There were about 8-10 in an order, which came with a big cup of sour cream. I felt bad because it was a big cup, but really, who puts sour cream on wings?

The chicken on its own was decent. A medium sized wing, with medium levels of meat. Not bad but not great. The wings came apart fairly easily, and the skin was just crispy enough to pass. Broadways also has breaded wings, which are an additional $2. This might have been more interesting, but I was not interested in the extra expense.

XXX HOT

This is just Frank's Xtra Hot sauce. In fact, it might even just be Frank's. They advertise the brand either way. And either way it wasn't that hot. I mean Frank's is a good sauce, so there was nothing new here. Classic pub wings.

Guinness BBQ

As I stated before, I have had some not so enjoyable Guinness BBQ sauce for wings in the past. Usually the sauce has a sour flavour I don't like. This sauce, on the other hand, was good because it was still that savoury-sweet from the BBQ and had the hickory flavour that one wants from these wings. Still, not my favourite BBQ, but if I wasn't trying to do a base review of the sauce, I would have gone with Brittany's suggestion of mixing the two.

FINAL SCORE: If your looking to get your drink on and you want munchies, these are your wings. If you are looking for amazing wings, these are pretty meh. But the service was superb. And I was told their big for their breakfasts, so that might be the way to go. 4.5/10

Broadway Bar & Grill

1896 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa ON (and other locations)

broadwaybarandgrill.ca