The Cornerstone Bar & Grill

food was good! steak wasn’t perfect though, lots of pieces i couldn’t chew but it tasted great so I can’t really complain much. The mix of spices used on the steak really help making it delicious. I asked for vegetables instead of the fries and they tasted great. The beans were crunchy and full of taste.
The staff could use more experience but that will come with time. I recommend giving it a try, see for yourself! Try thr lava stone steak for a different twist on the classic steak, turning it into a raclette-​style meal.

Went today on victoria day, they were very busy but i was able to get a patio table right away! The service was quick and she was very sweet
The gluten free hamburger buns are vegan! So i had a veggie burger and delicious sweet potato fries
I had two summer sangria splash drinks which were VERY REFRESHING i highly recommend it
⁴⁄₅ starts cause i found it a bit expensive 70 $ for 2 burgers with a side of small fries, 2 small cocktails and 2 beers

Cannot give it lower than one. Unilocal!Get on it!
The music however was obnoxiously loud. We had just come from a hockey game which was pretty loud. What boggles my mind is that there was no live music and no dance floor. So why are we suffering with this raucous?
BACARDI GRAS?! You’ve got to be kidding?!
Some lame wheel meant for spinning. No clue how it works but it definitely looked out of place, as much as it did a desperate attempt to win back a crowd. Nobody was spinning it.
Looking around at groups that aren’t talking because they probably don’t want to shout across a table. Needless to say the place cleared out quickly around 11.
I understand that it was 11pm on a Saturday but the noise seemed way out of place.
Food, if you manage to get that far is bush league. I looked at another review and I can confirm how dry the burger is.

Went there for a business dinner and was not impressed with the food at all. It seemed like the cooks are young rookies that don’t care of the quality of food they send out. My martini had barely next to none alcohol… the calamari was the worst over cooked and breaded thing they sent out and my $ 36 steak and shrimp… well lets just say I will not go back there… waste of money or just bad inexperienced staff for your menu.

My first visit to Cornerstone was many years ago – so long ago that I can’t remember what I even ordered to eat. My more recent visits, though, were last summer, and they turned me off so much that I haven’t been back since.
On one occasion, I ordered the fish tacos. They were piddly little things that had no taste to them and they looked like they had been tossed carelessly onto a plate without any thought. I usually eat most of the food on my plate when I’m dining out to get my money’s worth, but these fish tacos were just so yucky that I couldn’t even finish them.
The location is on some prime people-​watching real estate, but that’s only entertaining for so long.

I go here for the vibe mostly. I like the music and the service I receive actually isn’t that bad. It’s a good place to sit on a patio for a cold drink. Only once I had a bad experience with the calamari to be specific. But, all in all a pleasant summer spot.

filthy table… even when we asked for it to be cleaned… coffee was cold… food was cold… service was nice, but took forever just to get someone’s attention… the bathroom was disgusting… overall, poor experience. would NOT go back.

Not bad at all. Solid nachos, salsa and korean BBQ chicken tacos. Nice staff and pleasent surroundings. Sticky tables tho…

Incredibly tasty! Got the appetizer green beans and they were especially delicious. Spicy but not overpowering. Korean BBQ tacos were amazingly flavorful. Chips were exceptionally fresh, salsa delicious. Best food experience in Ottawa and will definitely go back.

Literally just walked out of this place…
Didn’t even get to try the food because we waited 20 min for our waiter after he served us drinks… he never came back to take our order.
Another 2 servers walked passed us and completely ignored us while we were trying to wave them down.
We had to go track someone down to get the bill to pay for our drinks.
The restaurant was maybe ¹⁄₅ full with customers so it wasn’t even busy.
Worst service ever… never going back!

We usually go to cornerstone when we are in downtown. We like the food, service and the environment. The last time was not very satisfying though. We went there on Dec 27^th with our friends from Montréal. I ordered BBQ Burger with salad. The vegetables in salad were not fresh at all. If you can’t provide a good quality time of food or salad in holidays, you should inform the customer about your limitations.

I don’t think I’ve ever given a one-​star rating to any restaurant I’ve visited so far in Canada. Congratulations to the Cornerstone.
When I’m paying $ 18 for a Thai curry (especially in a non-​Thai place, where one would expect the quality to be somewhat compromised ANYWAY), I at least expect the chicken in the curry to be fresh, tasty and of good quality.
Clearly these expectations were unreasonable in the Cornerstone.
The chicken in the ”curry”(more about that later) had a rubbery taste and a shrivelled, ridged texture and appearance. Reheated? Microwaved? Just bad quality? Any which way, absolutely unacceptable quality for $ 18. It tasted and looked way worse than the average-​quality chicken I buy, cook for dinner and then microwave in work for lunch the next day.
And the Thai curry I received wasn’t even a curry. It was a heavily spiced and seasoned noodle/​rice dish with chicken and veg. Apart from the gross chicken, it actually tasted pretty good. But there was no curry sauce. I’ve eaten enough curries over the years to know that when you order a curry, there generally should be some visible sauce with it. :-)
My bf had the BBQ chicken pizza, which was small for the price, had similarly rubbery chicken, and stale-​ish dough.
The service was neither friendly nor fast, and I got a sense of pretentiousness from the establishment in general. The interior and overall atmosphere seems torn between being a comfortable, relaxing upscale lounge and a buzzing, loud sports bar. It tries to be both, and ends up being neither. Fail.
I’d usually only reserve one-​star reviews for unhygienic places or blatantly rude service, and I acknowledge that, chicken aside, my dish tasted quite good, but I can’t overlook just how ripped off I felt when I left this place.
The sad thing is is that this place will continue to attract lots of customers, as it is fairly reasonably priced (on the surface) compared to most other places in the market area. That’s what enticed us in, but we regretted it immediately.

Great Patio.
Their steak is served on a hot stone where you cook it yourself. It didn’t end very well for me. But the fish taco is amazing.

It was a fun environment for friends and a good patio, but the beer was overpriced, there was poor selection, and the nachos were drab.

This review is a tad late — I was here in June 2012.
That being said, the memory is still quite vivid. I wasn’t impressed with this place. I’d heard about it on hot 89.9 so I figured if they promoted it so heavily, it must be good! I was disappointed for sure.
I has the rock grill steak, and a margarita. The steak took so long to cook, I just ate it. It was still cold in the middle, but I like my steak rare so it wasn’t the worst thing. The side dishes it came with were good though! The margarita was horrible. I remember it tasting super salty, I sent it back. I had a whiskey sour instead and it was good.
The staff were very accommodating. We were less people than my reservation was originally for, and they had no problem with this. A few of my guests arrived late and again, no problem. I like that a lot!
All in all, I haven’t been back yet. I think there are other places that I’d go to before I’d go here again.

I stopped by this place in July for supper with my mom and friend who were in town. I really wished we didn’t. Service was slow and the drinks were watered down. I ordered a rockgrill steak, which I had to cook myself on a hot stone… not a fan. If I order a steak I want it cooked for me at the perfect temperature. The steak I had only had salt as seasoning and came with potatoes and veg. Bland. My mom had the red thai curry chicken. Again super bland! I’ve had many curries and lots of thai food, and this on a scale of 1 – 5 for spiciness was a 0. no flavor, just muchy food. My mom’s friend had the chipotle chicken. She like it. I have to say this place is way overpriced, the food is blander than baby food, service is super slow and terrible and drinks watered down (especially the mojito which is my favorite but was horrible here). Only good thing going for this place is the large patio.
I won’t be back here and I wouldn’t recommend this place. Also, gf options are sparse, really sparse and servers had no knowledge of what was or not gluten free on their menu.

Best patio in the market. Not gunna lie — they’ve got that. Pretty cool scene too, with the music and the prime location in the Byward market. The waiters are pretty friendly, and the place is packed generally so you’re bound to run into someone you know.
The things I don’t like: over priced food, but perhaps the most annoying — the not quite pint sized «pint» of beer.
Overall I’d recommend this place if you’re looking to relax after work or grab a beer with friends.

Thought I’d give this place another try.
My friend’s spinach dip was great last time. This time. Not so much. The chips were stale and the waitress tried to debate that with us. Awkward. They finally sent the table some warm pita bread long after the spinach dip had cooled down.
Someone had a portobello burger that looked pretty plasticky but tasted alright.
Music got too loud. Waiters got too busy.
This time, drinks were the saving grace. Sigh. No consistency = No more Cornerstone for me.

Came here for some drinks on the patio on a lovely afternoon in May. The service was terrible and the mojitos were over priced for what they were. Didn’t try any food myself but others at our table did and no one seemed thrilled. I’d say keep looking as there are a lot better places in the Capitol of Canada to check out. Play Food & Wine for example was amazing!

This place has a fantastic patio in the summer! It’s probably the largest one on Clarence St and you’re bound to be seen by the walker-​bys!
Here’s the problem, the service has been awful more times than good and the food is ok at best at average Ottawa prices. I’d recommend dropping in for drinks and bypassing a meal.
The staff is beautiful but the place needs either more staff or better staff. I’m not sure which one.
Again I love the location but it’s one of many Ottawa establishments were i recommend people come for a drink but miss on the food.