Unlimited breadsticks are making their long-awaited return to the capital. Olive Garden has opened its doors in Westboro, marking the Italian-American chain’s first Ottawa location in more than two decades and giving local fans of family-style pasta one more reason to head to Kirkwood Avenue.
A Homecoming Decades in the Making
The new restaurant sits at 675 Kirkwood Avenue in Hampton Park Plaza, taking over the former East Side Mario’s spot. Olive Garden originally arrived in Ontario back in the 1990s, with two locations opening in Ottawa at the time, but the chain quietly closed all 11 of its Ontario restaurants by the end of the decade as cross-border expansion proved difficult.
This time around, the comeback is being led by Recipe Restaurant Group, the Vaughan-based company behind familiar Canadian staples like Montana’s, Swiss Chalet, and Harvey’s. After acquiring the eight existing Olive Garden locations in Western Canada from U.S.-based Darden Restaurants in 2025, Recipe struck a broader deal to expand the brand across the country, with Ottawa’s Westboro location and a second restaurant at Vaughan Mills marking the first new openings under that agreement.
Big Plans on the Horizon
This isn’t a one-off return, either. Recipe has committed to opening 30 new Olive Garden locations across Canada over the next decade, alongside further international growth in India and Spain. Company leadership has framed the Ottawa and Vaughan openings as an early step in that broader push, with plans for additional Canadian locations already in various stages development.
What to Expect
For anyone who grew up on Olive Garden’s classic menu, the new Westboro location brings back the essentials fans remember: bottomless breadsticks, family-style entrees, and the chain’s signature create-your-own pasta options. It’s a familiar comfort food experience that hasn’t had a home in Ottawa in more than 20 years, and with the doors now open, that wait is officially over.
