Rabbit Hole in Ottawa

Four Rooms, One 130-Year-Old Building, and a Door You Have to Find

Rabbit Hole reads less like a restaurant than a floor plan with a plot twist. A two-level dining room with an open kitchen sits on downtown Ottawa’s pedestrian promenade; a tiki bar hides four storeys up a back staircase; a speakeasy waits in the cellar behind a concealed door. One booking can become an entire evening without anyone putting a coat back on.

The Concept · The Story

The place opened in November 2018 — a project of Aaron Juneau with partners Pat Akeson, Scott Clement, Mitch Cole and Chris Juneau, who wanted the capital to have the sort of cocktail room Montreal takes for granted. The building is roughly 130 years old, and Centretown regulars knew its basement in an entirely different life: the stone-walled cellar that now holds the Jackalope speakeasy was The Cave, a nightclub of the 1990s. Instead of hiding the bones, the fit-out borrowed from New York heritage interiors — a long narrow corridor that opens into a cavernous room strung with pinpoint lights and tree-shaped fixtures.

What to Order

Pizza and oysters carry the kitchen. Around ten pizzas are built on a house blend of mozzarella and fior di latte, and regulars order two of them by number: the Red 6, with grilled chicken, applewood bacon, roasted red peppers, black olives and pickled jalapeños, and the White 4, with prosciutto, artichoke, pear and a honey drizzle. Away from the oven there is crispy pork belly as the house signature, plus steak frites and fresh pasta, on a menu rewritten every few months as the kitchen team’s own backgrounds work their way in. At the bar, ask for the Basillionaire, a basil-driven cocktail and the co-owner’s own pick — or surrender the choice entirely downstairs, where there is no drinks list and the bartender builds to your answers.

The Space

Upstairs holds a few dozen seats and the open kitchen; downstairs runs to about a hundred, with booths, low light and bare stone. The Sneaki Tiki rooftop trades all of that for palms and rum, and a seasonal patio spills onto the promenade in summer. The Jackalope is the strictest of the four rooms — adults only, by reservation, with quiet conversation and smart clothes expected. Weekends bring late DJs and a dress code to match; midweek the same rooms are calm enough for a long dinner.

Good to Know

Do I need to book? For the Jackalope, always — it runs on reservations only. The main room handles walk-ins comfortably outside the weekend peak.

What is the best order of operations? Oysters and pizza in the dining room first, then down to the speakeasy for a bespoke nightcap.

Is there a dress code? Yes on weekend nights and in the speakeasy, where smart attire is part of the house rules.

Which night is calmest? Midweek — Wednesday leans on oysters, and the room is still built for conversation.

Can I turn up in summer without booking? The promenade patio and the rooftop take walk-ins, weather permitting.

Opening hours