Restaurant in Ottawa, Canada
Ingredient-led cooking, natural wine, easy to book.
ARLO is the most reliable special-occasion restaurant in Ottawa's Centretown, combining Jamie Stunt's concise, ingredient-focused Canadian cooking with Alex McMahon's natural wine program. The back booths suit a quiet dinner; the summer terrace is the best seat in the city for the season. Easy to book by Ottawa standards, and worth every effort to get there.
ARLO opened in 2020 on Somerset Street West in Ottawa's Centretown and arrived with a confidence that most restaurants take years to earn. Co-owner and self-taught chef Jamie Stunt won silver at the Canadian Culinary Championship in 2013. Co-owner and sommelier Alex McMahon trained at Noma in 2015 and previously worked at Fauna and Riviera in Ottawa. Those credentials matter less for their prestige than for what they produce on the plate and in the glass: a concise, frequently changing menu of ingredient-focused Canadian cuisine paired with natural wines that McMahon makes genuinely accessible. If you are looking for a special-occasion restaurant in Ottawa that earns its place without theatre or pretension, ARLO is the answer. Book it.
Walk into ARLO and you are immediately reading two different rooms. The front bar and dining area run warm and social, the kind of space where conversation carries easily between tables. The back booths are quieter, more contained, and better suited to an anniversary or a business dinner where the conversation matters as much as the food. In summer, the back terrace becomes the most sought-after seat in the building: leafy, relaxed, and unhurried in a way that the indoor rooms, however pleasant, cannot quite replicate. If you are booking for a date or a celebration and the season is right, request the terrace.
ARLO's reputation is built on its dinner service, and that is where the full experience lands. The ever-changing menu, McMahon's wine pairings, and the buzzy front room all converge most effectively in the evening. Dishes like beef tataki and barbecued eel with chili, pickled shallots, crispy sweet potato, and aioli, or scallop tartare with black garlic, kohlrabi, cilantro, and mushroom vinegar, are the kind of cooking that rewards attention and time. Dinner is the format this menu was designed for. If ARLO offers a daytime service, it is worth checking directly, but the venue's identity and the depth of its wine program make the evening the stronger case for a first visit. For a special occasion, book dinner. The room and the menu both perform better under evening conditions, and McMahon's natural wine list reads more fully when you have the time to explore it.
McMahon leans decisively toward low-intervention and natural wines, but his approach is not didactic. His recommendations are accessible, and his enthusiasm is one of the more disarming things about the ARLO experience. If wine is a priority for you, this is one of the better programs in Ottawa, and it is worth letting McMahon guide the pairing rather than selecting independently off the list. For natural wine drinkers, ARLO is among the most reliable options in the city.
ARLO is rated easy to book by Pearl standards, which is relatively unusual for a restaurant at this quality level in Ottawa. That said, the back booths and summer terrace fill quickly, so if you have a seating preference or a specific date in mind, book ahead rather than assuming availability. The terrace is the strongest argument for a summer visit. For cooler months, the back booths offer the most comfortable setting for a longer, occasion-focused meal.
| Detail | ARLO | Atelier | RIVIERA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking difficulty | Easy | Hard | Moderate |
| Format | À la carte, changing menu | Tasting menu only | À la carte |
| Wine program | Natural wine focus | Conventional list | Conventional list |
| Leading for | Special occasion, date night | Serious tasting experience | Lively dinner |
| Summer terrace | Yes | No | No |
See the full comparison section below.
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| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARLO | When Arlo opened in 2020, the exceptionally warm Centretown restaurant already had the vibe of an establishment that knew what it wanted to do and how to do it. Chalk up that assured start to the bona fides of Arlo’s principals. Co-owner and self-taught chef Jamie Stunt won silver at the Canadian Culinary Championship in 2013. Sommelier and co-owner Alex McMahon worked previously at Fauna and Riviera in Ottawa and also interned at Noma, in 2015. But customers flock to Arlo not to admire CVs. They’re drawn in by Stunt’s concise, ever-changing menus that exemplify playful but potent ingredient-focused Canadian cuisine. Count on dishes with intriguing but deft combinations such as beef tataki and barbecued eel with chili, pickled shallots, crispy sweet potato and aioli, or scallop tartare with black garlic, kohlrabi, cilantro and mushroom vinegar. McMahon leans hard into natural wines, but his recommendations are always accessible and his enthusiasm disarming. The front room and bar are usually packed and buzzy, while booths in the back are more intimate. In summer, the relaxed and leafy back terrace is the place to be. The NEXUS for low-intervention wines, IMPECCABLE service and comforting, DELICIOUS food. Daniel Hadida | — | |
| Atelier | — | ||
| Gitanes | — | ||
| PERCH | — | ||
| Trattoria Cafe Italia | — | ||
| RIVIERA | — |
How ARLO stacks up against the competition.
ARLO's menus are concise and change frequently, built around specific seasonal ingredients, which means the kitchen is working with a tight, deliberate selection rather than a broad à la carte list. Contact them directly before booking if you have serious restrictions — the format rewards communication in advance. Vegetarians and pescatarians will find more traction here than at a meat-forward tasting-menu restaurant, given the kitchen's emphasis on produce and seafood combinations.
The menu rotates constantly, so there are no permanent dishes to single out. What you can count on is chef Jamie Stunt's signature approach: ingredient-forward combinations with real technical intent, along the lines of beef tataki with barbecued eel and pickled shallots, or scallop tartare with black garlic and mushroom vinegar. Let sommelier Alex McMahon guide the wine — his natural wine pairings are the strongest argument for ordering a full pairing rather than picking by the glass.
Yes. The front bar area is well-suited to solo diners — it runs warm and social, and McMahon's wine programme gives you something to engage with at the counter. ARLO's concise menu format also works better for one than for groups trying to share widely. If you want a quieter solo experience, the back booths are more contained, though those are better suited to two.
It works well for a special occasion, particularly for a couple or a small group that values food and wine over ceremony. The back booths offer more intimacy than the front room, and the back terrace is a strong choice in summer. ARLO does not have the formal occasion register of somewhere like Atelier, but if you want a dinner that feels considered and personal rather than theatrical, it fits.
Atelier is the most technically ambitious option in Ottawa and suits diners who want a full tasting-menu commitment with more theatrical pacing. RIVIERA, where co-owner Alex McMahon previously worked, has a broader menu and a more overtly social atmosphere. Gitanes offers a different register entirely — looser and more casual. ARLO sits between Atelier's formality and RIVIERA's accessibility, which is its clearest competitive position.
The room is warm and neighbourhood-rooted rather than stiff — a polished casual approach works well. You will not feel out of place in a jacket or without one. ARLO's Centretown location and its reputation for a relaxed but focused dining experience both point toward dressing with some intention without any pressure to dress up formally.
Book dinner rather than lunch — that is where the full experience of Stunt's cooking and McMahon's wine programme comes together. Pearl rates ARLO easy to book by Ottawa standards, which is genuinely unusual at this quality level, but the back booths and terrace fill ahead of the front room so request your preferred space when reserving. Co-owner Alex McMahon interned at Noma in 2015 and won silver at the Canadian Culinary Championship in 2013 — the credentials behind the operation are real, and the experience reflects them.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
