Opening a Restaurant in Ottawa: Menu and Online Presence Checklist

Ottawa is a bilingual city where English and French are both part of daily life. Your digital presence should reflect this from day one. A bilingual menu is not a nice touch in Ottawa. It is a baseline expectation for a significant portion of your customer base.

The city also has a growing international food scene, a strong government and tech workforce that eats out regularly, and year-round tourism driven by Parliament Hill, the museums, and the Rideau Canal.

8 Weeks Before Opening

Google Business Profile

Create at business.google.com. Verify via video walkthrough. Ottawa's bilingual customer base means your Google description should work in both English and French. Google allows you to set a primary and secondary language for your listing.

City of Ottawa business licence

Apply through the City of Ottawa's business licence portal:

• Food premises licence required
• Ottawa Public Health inspection and approval
• If serving alcohol, apply through the AGCO (Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario)
• Ontario liquor licence applications typically require a public notice period
• Confirm zoning for food service at your location

Domain and web presence

Register your domain. Set up a landing page.

6 Weeks Before Opening

Digital menu (bilingual from the start)

Ottawa is different from most Canadian cities in that a French-language option is expected, not optional. Build your menu in English and add a French version before opening.

Gatineau is right across the river, and many residents cross back and forth regularly. A bilingual menu serves both sides.

EasyMenus supports 21 languages including French. Build your menu once in English, duplicate and translate to French. Customers see a language switcher on the published menu.

For a guide on bilingual menus: How to Create a Bilingual Restaurant Menu (English and French)

Social media

Instagram and Facebook. Ottawa-specific hashtags: #OttawaEats, #OttawaFood, #OttFood, #613Eats, #OttawaFoodie.

Key Ottawa food neighbourhoods: ByWard Market, Elgin Street, Westboro, Little Italy, Hintonburg, Glebe.

4 Weeks Before Opening

Claim other listings

Yelp, TripAdvisor, Bing Places, Apple Maps. Ottawa Tourism's restaurant directory.

Delivery platforms

DoorDash, UberEats, and SkipTheDishes all operate in Ottawa-Gatineau.

Local food media

• Ottawa Citizen food section
• Apt613 (Ottawa arts and culture, covers food)
• Ottawa Magazine
• CBC Ottawa food coverage
• Local food Instagram accounts (search #OttawaEats)

2 Weeks Before Opening

• Bilingual menu on Google Business Profile
• QR codes printed (consider bilingual instruction: "Scan for our menu / Scannez pour notre menu")
• Soft opening
• Platform accuracy check

Opening Week

• Daily Instagram posting, tag your location
• Google review responses within 24 hours (respond in the language the reviewer used)
• Menu updates in real time
• Review requests from happy customers

• How to Create a Bilingual Restaurant Menu (English and French)
• Opening a Restaurant in Toronto: Menu and Online Presence Checklist
• How to Add Your Restaurant Menu to Google Business Profile

Ready to create your digital menu?

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