8 Cool, Quirky and Unique Cafés in Ottawa

One of the best ways to explore a city is through its café culture, and Ottawa has a cool mix of unique and quirky cafes, showing off the personality of the city and its locals. From cafés adorned with colourful flowers and local art, to spots where you can grab a haircut, do laundry or pick out your new favourite read, Ottawa’s unique cafes are the perfect way to get your caffeine fix while exploring the city.

Luxe Bloom Flower Café

As one of the most visually stunning cafés in Ottawa, Luxe Bloom Flower Café is the perfect place to grab brunch and a bouquet. Located in heart of the historic ByWard Market, this unique Ottawa café is both florist, and café, allowing you to create a custom arrangement onsite while grabbing, a coffee, cocktail, brunch or high tea.

Enjoy one of their inventive and colourful specialty cocktails garnished with fresh fruit or pink cotton candy, or sip on a healthy smoothie, flavoured lemonade, matcha latte or mocktail beside their signature flower wall covered in colourful blooms from floor to ceiling.

When you work up an appetite, there are plenty of goodies to satisfy your sweet tooth from Nutella and strawberry-filled croissants and lavender cheesecake, to French macarons in flavours like rhubarb, passionfruit and white chocolate. For a heartier brunch, try their signature bruschetta, goat cheese salad, avocado toast or croissant sandwiches. If you’re celebrating a special occasion, indulge in the high tea for two, with an elegant tiered platter with a customized selection of sandwiches, pastries, macarons and two pots of tea.

Art House Café

The perfect combination of art gallery and coffee house, Art House Café is a creative hub and popular spot for coffee lovers since 2017. With over a hundred local artists being showcased on the café walls and gift shop at any given time, Art House Café is a cozy, welcoming space for everyone to enjoy both visual art and the art of great coffee. Brewing up local roaster Happy Goat Coffee’s delicious brews, they also offer an extensive and unique tea list with flavours like Egyptian Chamomile, Hibiscus, Lemongrass, Ginger Lime, and Toasted Walnut Black - Lychee Congu. Come hungry for lunch and artistic inspiration and devour a soup, salad, sandwich or wrap, surrounded by walls adorned with original art.

Oat Couture Café

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and Oat Couture Café is bringing back flare to a favourite breakfast staple, oatmeal. Located in Ottawa’s Old Ottawa South neighbourhood, Oat Couture Café has reinvented the traditional bowl of oatmeal specializing in healthy, fun and tasty couture oatmeal bowls.

Build your own bowl with locally sourced steel-cut oats as the base, or overnight oats (soaked in coconut and oat milk for 24hrs), and then add your favourite toppings and stir-in flavours. For those with a sweet tooth, try a bowl mixed with roasted peaches, fresh mixed berries, honey and raspberry coulis, or if savoury is more your taste, create a bowl with hash browns, bacon, cheese curds, and A1 steak sauce. Oat Couture Café also has a series of couture bowls already customized with the perfect flavour combination. Try the Ramen Bowl with fresh radish, beet pickled eggs, ponzu mushrooms, green onions and black garlic sesame oil, or the Woodstock bowl with chia and hemp mix, granola and dates.

All bowl are available in gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan options, and for those craving more than just oatmeal they also offer classic breakfast fare like avocado toast, toasted paninis, hot breakfast sandwiches, baked goods, and all the specialty coffees and teas.

Ten Toes Coffee House and Laundry

Nestled into the old digs of a local laundromat, Ten Toes Coffee House and Laundry in Ottawa’s Chinatown is the perfect spot to get your caffeine fix while your delicates tumble dry. Instead of taking out the charm of the local laundromat, Ten Toes Coffee built their retro-inspired coffee house around it, with functional machines ready to do your laundry bidding as you sip on your morning cappuccino.

They offer a great selection of baked goods, sandwiches, beer and wine, as well as daily specials like mac n cheese, chili, pizza and quiche. On hot summer days locals flock to this neighbourhood spot for locally owned Sadie’s Bean Ice Cream, which pairs nicely with an iced coffee and a tumble dry. Ten Toes also has a variety of locally made products to take home including, coffee, wine, beer and snacks, and shares their space with local family-owned vintage clothing shop, Quincy James Vintage.

Ottawa Bike Café

Biking enthusiasts will love one of the newest cafés in Ottawa, the Ottawa Bike Café. Rent a bike, search for a new ride, find parts and accessories or get a tune up done while you enjoy, coffee, drinks, lunch or a quick bite. As a hub for locals and tourists with a passion for biking and the outdoors, the Ottawa Bike Café is located only steps from Parliament Hill on the pedestrian only Sparks Street. Fuel up for a ride with their menu full of tasty sandwiches, bagels, pastries, smoothies and coffees, or enjoy a post-ride cocktail, local beer, lemonade or affogato after a day of exploration.

The bustling bike-themed café, decorated with vintage bikes, also has beautiful art made from recycled bike wheels on display (and for sale) by local artist Second Spin Designs, as well as cool neon bike-themed signs. The Ottawa Bike Café also supports local small businesses including the Artery Community Roasters, which provides employment for people living with disabilities.

Headquarters

Need a trim and a tea? Then Headquarters is your spot! Located in the ByWard Market, this unique Ottawa hotspot is part cafe, part hair salon, giving you the ability to update your look, while enjoying some of the best brunch in town. Sip on a unique cocktail like their smoked pineapple express, or s’mores espresso martini while you get your ends trimmed, then head to the restaurant to enjoy their extensive menu of delicious cuisine. Some must-try plates are their espresso cream cheese pancakes, ginger apple grilled cheese, truffle parmesan fries and brunch poutine. Headquarters also has a wide variety of non-boozy drinks like their root beer maple, s’mores, burnt honey, wild berry beetroot or Hojicha lattes, as well as cool classics like ginger beer, dad’s root beer, fresh squeezed juice or exotic lemonades flavoured with hibiscus, matcha or rooibos.

Beandigen Café

Experience Indigenous culture and locally-roasted coffee at one of Ottawa’s most unique coffee shops, Beandigen Café. Conveniently located in the heart of Ottawa’s Lansdowne Place, Beandigen Café is 100% Anishinaabe-owned and operated, and supports Indigenous makers and artists from around the region. Browse Indigenous-made goods in their café shop including clothing, traditional art, food and craft supplies. Stake out a spot in the bright airy café and enjoy a cup of their Ondarez coffee, and specialty pastries made by Oji-Cree Pastry Chef Dominique from Kîsisam Patisserie like sweet clover bannock, maple tarts, hacksap berry muffins or honey sage cake. They also hold regular craft workshops where you can learn traditional Indigenous artisan skills like beading, quill work and block printing, as well as movie nights and special events throughout the year.

Black Squirrel Books and Espresso Bar

There’s no better combination than coffee and a good book, and Black Squirrel Books and Espresso bar is the perfect place to get lost in lattes and literary works. Located in Ottawa’s Downtown Bank neighbourhood, Black Squirrel Books is one of the few remaining independent book stores in the city, which pairs up the finest reads with premium local roasts in its cozy café environment. Browse their carefully curated collection of used books, and settle into a comfy spot to enjoy a locally roasted coffee, matcha latte, pint of suds or glass of vino. When you’ve worked up an appetite selecting your next favourite titles, feed your cravings with a tasty selection of pastries including date squares, cinnamon buns, spanakopita and fresh -baked croissants.