Wendy L.
Yelp
My friends and I went to this newly opened place for their Monday night trivia! Tonight when we went, they did Harry Potter trivia and the place was packed. Unfortunately we couldn't get in (protip, you actually have to email them to actually book a table and a place to do trivia) but we were OK with going to the Loft which is right upstairs. Fortunately, about 15 minutes in, we found out a team had dropped out, and they invited us to go back downstairs to join them. Dave, their trivia announcer, was great.
I will note that I noticed very little difference between the loft and Level one, other than their uniforms, both were board game bars and restaurants (although their menus and drinks are different and Level one had screens where we could watch the sad Jays game).
The atmosphere there was quite nice, young and rowdy in level one (since everyone was there for trivia). I wouldn't recommend this on a first date (since it is loud and mostly groups) but I would definitely recommend it as a place for you to go with friends as a group. There's a wall full of games, beer, TV screens and the waitress we had was quite fun. They also have very cool electronic order pads rather than the old school pen and paper.
The drinks were pretty standard but more expensive than usual for downtown Ottawa. A pint of beer was about 7-9 dollars and the drink I had, "butter beer" was hot tea, cream and 2oz of a hard liquor in it (wasn't sure what it was, it was too loud inside to hear the waitress).
The good was pretty good, the burgers came with zucchini and other veggies (however the cheese melted into all the vegetables so if you don't like onions and the like then definitely ask beforehand not to have them). The fries that came with them were OK, a bit soggy for my liking and not as crispy as they could have been. One thing that I will definitely recommend against is their fish and chips. It was the worst fish and chips I have ever eaten, they were soggy, the fish tasted like they were not fully cooked and as soon as I bit into them, water came out. I wasn't sure if they were just having an off night but it was just horrible.
Other than the fish and chips (which brought down the score to 4 rather than 5), the service was great, atmosphere was young and hip, beer and food were standard (albeit a bit expensive) and there is always something to do there (they have lots of board games, just like the Loft does).
I will definitely go with my friends again, but probably won't order their fish (I heard their poutine was good too).