Ottawa's Little Italy has always been synonymous with red-sauce classics along Preston Street, but the neighbourhood's food scene has quietly become one of the most diverse in the city. According to a recent roundup from a longtime local food writer who has spent six years eating his way through the strip, the best bites in Little Italy today go well beyond cacio e pepe and veal parm.
Still an Italian Stronghold
Make no mistake, Preston Street remains a destination for excellent Italian cooking. Longstanding spots continue to turn out housemade pastas, wood-fired pizzas, and rich, slow-simmered sauces that have kept Ottawa diners coming back for decades. The roundup highlights several pasta dishes as genuine standouts worth a special trip, proof that the neighbourhood's founding cuisine hasn't lost a step even as the strip has diversified.
An Unexpected International Mix
What sets today's Little Italy apart is the international company those Italian mainstays now keep. Among the dishes singled out are a Burmese-style tea leaf salad, prized for its punchy, textural mix of fermented tea leaves, crunchy fried beans, and citrus, and a lamb birria — the richly spiced, slow-braised Mexican dish typically served with consommé for dipping. Their inclusion on a list otherwise anchored by Italian classics says a lot about how much Ottawa's dining scene has shifted in just a few years, with immigrant-owned restaurants opening alongside — and sometimes inside the same blocks as — the neighbourhood's Italian institutions.
Why Preston Street Still Matters
For Ottawa residents, Preston Street has long been a rare stretch where a single walk can deliver an entire evening out: dinner, dessert, and a coffee or espresso to cap it off. That density is part of what makes the strip such fertile ground for a roundup like this one. Unlike food halls or scattered pockets of good eating across the city, Little Italy rewards wandering — diners can hit a handful of the 16 recommended spots in one outing without ever moving the car.
The roundup also serves as a reminder that some of Ottawa's best food writing comes from repeat visits rather than one-off reviews. Revisiting the same strip over six years allows for a clearer picture of which dishes have stayed consistent, which restaurants have leveled up, and which newer arrivals deserve a spot alongside the neighbourhood's old guard.
The Takeaway for Ottawa Diners
Whether you're after a plate of fresh tagliatelle, a bowl of birria for dipping, or something as unexpected as a Burmese tea leaf salad, Little Italy has quietly become one of Ottawa's most rewarding strips to eat your way down. For anyone planning a food-focused night out in the capital, Preston Street remains an easy, walkable bet — just come hungry enough to try more than one stop.
Source: Ottawa Citizen
