Love the patio and decor here, but the beer selection is only okay and the food is fine but nothing incredible. The menu looks tasty but upon trying a number of dishes (quinoa apple salad, smoked salmon sandwich, fries, candied bacon, pickled veggies) I was left wanting. Has potential, especially for something a bit more casual and cool in the market, but comes out just like most other places around there - only okay. Too bad because the place is nice looking and the service is very friendly! I'll go again but not for a while. read more

It's my first time in Ottawa and I'm exploring the city alone today - so I was looking for a restaurant that looked accommodating to single eaters, and also good for a loitering lunch. I chose Lowertown Brewery because it wasn't an English style pub (which appears to be the norm in Byward Market) and because they clearly had good beer. Contrary to the name, they do not brew their beer onsite, but that's only because they just opened. They have the vats ready and are hiring a brewmaster in the next few weeks. I had a raspberry wheat beer ($6 CDN) which was tasty and refreshing. I sat outside on their large patio, so it was nice to have a light summery beer in the sun. For lunch, the server recommended the Root Beer and Maple Ham Sandwich with apple slaw ($10 CDN). It was very tasty, with more of an onion taste than I expected but delicious nonetheless. I also ordered the side of fries ($4 CDN) which were nice thick and crispy, but nothing monumental. I'll skip those next time. I'm also not thrilled that they came separately, but that may be the norm around here - I'll admit my cultural ignorance. Service was pleasant and attentive - he checked on me frequently but didn't seem I mind that I planned to take up the table for over an hour. I never felt rushed. I read my book, enjoyed people watching, and ate well- which is pretty much all a single diner can ask for in a tourist area. read more

Put the brakes on this place - although the service was great the meal left a lot to the imagination or taste. I ordered the Smoked Beef Brisket and my friend ordered the Butcher Gravy Poutine - now coming from Quebec my friend thought it the worst she had ever tasted - the fries were jumbo potato pieces served with an less than OK gravy. If they had just gone with the traditional cut and a nice gravy poured over and topped with curd cheese instead of trying to re invent- this would have been a lot better. I must at this time say we noticed another table that had ordered this dish also left most of it uneaten. Oh the Smoked Beef Brisket - leave it unless you like a lot of fat. I must mention that we sat outside and that there was bird poop on the back of a chair close by. A manager paying attention would have noticed this or at least a server. I pointed this out as we were leaving. Morley read more

Beer is quite good but the food wasn't by any means. Brisket had no flavour or sauce, fries were generic pre cut fries and the gravy was oxo. Below mediocre food but good good beer. read more

On my recent trip to Ottawa (first trip), my wife and I ate a number of places in the area of this new business. It was on our last day, and we stopped to have a beer and drink before we needed to leave to head home. We didn't have a meal, so I can't address that, but I did find the staff extremely courteous and attentive. I did enjoy the beer and my wife enjoyed her drink. We found it clean and pleasant setting It is a new business so I would say give it a chance. This review primarily addresses the engaging staff and service. read more

I can't say a single good thing about this place. We initially came in and were provided with a food menu along with a drink menu by the server. He seemed very stand off-ish and wasn't very friendly. When we ordered the drinks he took a long time to bring them out and they weren't very good. We ordered the food from a very limited menu and I was asked "what side do you want", we ordered from the horrendous selection and then were brought our meals. The food again was very frustrating and dry. It lacked all flavour. Once the bill came I found that the side was not actually included in the meal and there was an extra charge. When I protested the waiter apologized and asked how I was paying. It was frustrating for all of us and the server along with the food/drinks provided. This place deserves negative stars. I would never eat here nor would I ever recommend it. If I ever came here again it would be for the closing with a microbrew from the big rig. read more

Fantastic Service, good beer. Food looked good but I was not super hungry. Wish they had more apps on the menu.

The service is so terrible. We were the only customers on a Sunday afternoon. We had to wait for service while the 3 staff stood around gossiping. When we finally were served she was dismissive. To make it so I actually wrote this bad review (which I rarely do) we have been waiting 14 minutes with empty glasses. We just are waiting to pay to leave this terrible place. I could write 10 bad reviews in the time it would take for her to bring the bill or acknowledge us. read more

Good beer but horrible food. I tried wings and they were super dry and small with high price. I got chips which were cold and something you get from grocery store. read more

I have been a few times, and the service had always been exceptional. I decided to host a dinner there on Saturday the 23rd with 20 people. We sat just inside off the patio by the bay widows. Our female server maybe had too large of a section to handle, this was the first bad service I have experienced here. A meal check would have been nice, the brisket I ordered was 40% fat. The brisket last visit was great. The location of this restaurant is perfect for hosting dinners with clients. If I wrote a review two weeks ago I would have given 4 stars. I won't give up on this place, but hopefully I will receive a higher level of service next visit. UPDATE: Went back into Lowertown over the weekend and was served by another female. I made a point of asking her name(Shauna) she was great, and did the meal check that was missing from our last visit. read more

My friend and I went here yesterday and were very disappointed in the food. We were excited to finally go out and enjoy some food and drinks on a patio but were really let down. It's too bad because the beer was pretty good. read more

Excellent high quality smoked meat with great mustard and two beers went down real easy while people watching

Meh, the restaurant stunk of fish so bad it made me not want to eat.They charge $2.00 to substitute fries for a side salad which is ridiculous, and my brisket sandwich was incredibly plain, and not worth what I paid for it. Wouldn't go back. read more

Two friends and I had dinner and beers here... The brisket and pork were very fatty and bland - definitely a disappointment. We each had one beer, and were uniformly disappointed with the watered down taste. Bathrooms were also filthy. The bright spot: good service and wait staff, and a fairly nice patio. With all of the other choices around the area, I would give this place a miss. read more

The immediate impression based on the menu and the design of the restaurant was appealing and seemed to be my style. The rough and possibly reclaimed wood used for the tables, benches, and bar had a very warm and inviting feeling. Turns out they are fairly uncomfortable and a large ridge in our table top caused a very full drink to spill. My mate tried to direct the fact to the attention of the server however he was very disinterested and walked away mid sentence. The service was sub par for the rest of the visit as well. As another reviewer mentioned, they have only two brews of their own on tap. When we inquired the server immediately mentioned that they were out of the lager and recommended the "other one", turned out to be a dark. Not sure how they ran out of beer on a Wednesday night, but we didn't inquire and tried the dark, which was drinkable at best. I did sample two of their cocktails later which were tasty, but overall the available drinks are not enough to draw me back. The food was also disappointing. I tried the poutine which was lacking flavour and used thick potato wedges instead of chips. Unique idea but they are not poutine appropriate as each bike contains far too much potato. My mate had a sandwich and also complained it was uninspired. Our original plan was to sample a few dishes however after the first round we decided not to gamble any further with the food and have another drink. Ended up moving to another restaurant to complete our meal and evening. The will do well in the summer as to the location, patio, and frequency of advertising on the radio. I believe they will be quiet winters though, as not sure how much return business they will be able to attract. I may try returning in a year or so if the reviews have improved along with their menu and drink selection. For now I will be advising anyone looking for a recommendation to steer clear. There are other restaurants in the Market not a two minute walk with the same general feel but that put this place to shame. read more

Yes, for a brand new restaurant trying to attract customers .. they've sure got it wrong. The servers were terrific, but the food was terrible. The Butcher Gravy Poutine was disgusting ... basically massive potato wedges which you had to cut up with a knife and fork to edible pieces with a bit of less than stellar gravy and a small portion of cheese curd. How you screw up poutine is beyond me, but I think in some misguided attempt to be different, the final product missed the mark completely. My friend had the Smoked Pork Belly BLT .. again inedible .. rather than shave off the fatty portion on top of the pork belly and making a crispy crackle to put in the sandwich, they just left the fat on and in the sandwich, most folks don't enjoy chowing down on big pieces of fat, especially in a sandwich .. very bad food experience, shame on the chef and management who approved the menu .. I know I won't be going back. We spoke to the waitress about the food to pass on to management, to which she responded "So aside from that, was the food good ?" My dining partner commented .. "Well the bread of the sandwich was good !" Avoid at all costs people. read more

We were a bit hesitant going to Lowertown after looking up the menu and not seeing a terribly broad selection - but we went because we had a gift card. It was a terrible experience. Firstly, when we arrived, we asked politely to switch one of the TVs to the Sens game, this was apparently blasphemy as we were given extreme attitude by both people we asked. We are in Ottawa, and it was a big game for the Sens this particular night so we did not think it would be a problem to see the game. We were looked at as if what we had asked was absolutely unreasonable and unheard of. Moving on, we ordered drinks which took awhile to reach us as our server did not seem interested in our table at all. She did not ask us what we wanted, if we had questions, she did not tell us about any specials on. When we ordered drinks she barely listened and started walking away before we were even done speaking. It also happened to be "buck a shuck" night, which we saw on posters (not because she informed us) so when our drinks eventually came we asked for 2 dozen oysters to share with our group. After another 20 minutes or so of waiting we were brought a tray of 1 dozen oysters, no sauces, no small plates, no utensils to share the minionette. We had to wait another 10 minutes for the server to even look in our direction for us to flag her down and ask for plates. When she came, we asked if our other dozen oysters were just on their way. She then told us that they sold out of oysters - she only told us this when we asked where the rest were. She was extremely disinterested, and the food was not great. We decided to use our gift card and leave to have dinner somewhere else. Terrible service. Will definitely not go back. read more

Usually we love coming to this pub, the food is awesome and well priced and we love the atmosphere. We enjoy coming in the summer to enjoy the patio and and pickled veggies. We bring our new baby quite often and have a great time with her, she loves the veggies and is very friendly. Tonight may have been an off night, but our server wasn't very pleasant or considerate. We weren't offered a child seat when we came in, our baby was a little fussy, so we ordered bread for her which arrived with our dinner, not before (20 minutes) and when I accidentally dropped the debit machine while paying, I was so embarrassed, and the waitress was rude about it. I understand that maybe she was having a rough night, but there was very few people in the restaurant. Its very difficult to find places that are accommodating to young families, and to be made to feel unwelcome really is unfortunate. This is one of the few places in the market I can fit a stroller. I really hope it was just an off night, as my husband and I go often on our own, love the beer and food, and would love to continue visiting! read more