The Laff

Ottawa’s oldest pub was a great experience. Spent about 4 hours here, sat at the bar spoke with bartender , met and spoke with a local plus many visiting Canadians. Would love to return as they have daily live music in evenings. Place has a great vibe, terrific staff and good range of beers and drinks. Did not try the food so cannot comment on it. Must support our local, Mom and Pop owned and operated businesses.

Enjoyed my first time visiting The Laff with friends in September 2025, while I was in town for a work conference. It was Tuesday Open Mic Night and the atmosphere was electric! Busy place with a variety of locals playing on stage …keyboard, guitar, trumpet…was a real blast! And here’s the kicker…I had so much fun on that hot September eve that I accidentally forgot my beloved black knit sweater that I have owned for decades and had been lovingly repaired recently by my Nanny. When I got home that week (3 hours from Ottawa) I realized I didn’t have my sweater with me and began the daunting task of trying to track it down…knowing my chance of finding it, much the less retrieving it at this point - 3 days later - was highly unlikely. I sent an email to the general email address of The Laff recalling I had worn it that night but wasn’t sure if it had made it that far into the evening…like I said, it was a gorgeous hot September evening so I had been carrying it with me from the hotel, to the conference centre to several shopping places, then to dinner…in essence, everywhere I went. To my surprise and delight a message from Dominique, the Manager at The Laff, appeared in my email inbox saying she believed she had found my missing sweater. After a few emails and a phone call, Dominque assured me she would reunite me with my sweater no matter what. She took the time to ship it to me at the company’s expense (I paid them back when it arrived). Dominique also sent me text message updates and made sure the shipping company kept me personally in the loop with regard to its return. LONG STORY short…I can’t say enough good things about this establishment and its dedicated, genuinely awesome staff. THANK YOU DOMINIQUE AND THE LAFF…you renewed my faith in strangers, gave me a great story to tell and have solidified me as a fan for life! I look forward to returning to Ottawa and spending more time enjoying the outstanding experience that is a visit to The Laff!!! 💯🎶🍻🙏

This has been my favourite place to go on a night out for 11 years. They have a nice beer selection and the peppercorn gravy poutine is, in my opinion, the best poutine in Ottawa. The people here are great, too. The staff are always courteous and prioritize guest comfort, even on busy nights. It's a friendly, cozy, and fun atmosphere and a perfect place to grab a drink and a bite with friends.

Great visit to the oldest pub in Ottowa, friendly service and some great local beers on tap. Plus the Hot Honey wings were really good with the beers.

Great spot if you’re into proud “dive bars”. Fantastic little spot where we had a couple pints and listened to some excellent live music.

Love the old character and the great ambiance of this place. The little pictures and paintings here and there are wonderful. The bartender was professional and friendly. The burger and smoked meat sandwich were both amazing! And we tried some new beer that we loved as well. Highly recommended.

The Laff in Ottawa was a cool oldest pub here with a cozy atmosphere and delicious poutine and refreshing cider beer. The poutine is perfectly cheesy and has a savory gravy on the fries. The cider beer on tap compliments it with a crisp, fruity taste. Finally the music of the longtime musician was great as he’d sing many classic American songs. Was a great place to go and hang out!!🍟🍺

Small bar in the middle of Byward market in an old building and can be busy on Saturday nights. The ratio of male to female customers is at least 2 to 1, sometimes as high as 4 or even 5 to1 which from a guy's point of view is far from ideal. Not sure what steps can be taken to attract more female customers. Also much older crowd compared to neighboring bars. Less than 10% of crowd is under 30 and less than 25% under 40. Not sure what to do to attract younger crowd either. Unlike neighboring dance bars this one has free admissions which is nice. I come in usually for a brief time as I usually visit several bars on Saturday nights during the two half-hour dance break from neighboring Lookout bar and if I like it, I buy a drink and stay for half an hour and if don't like the atmosphere (usually if it is too crowded or if there are too many guys) I leave right away without any damage to my wallet which is great. There is a very limited space in between the tables and chairs where the patrons use that space to dance. On busy nights it is nerve-breaking as people keep walking across a densely populated small dance floor surrounded by table and chairs, disturbing the dancing population. Not sure why they have to walk across the floor so many times. This is not Champs-Elysees! I love the pop music (usually top of the pops songs in the 80's and 90's) that the D.J. in this bar plays. This is one single factor which attracts me to this bar. Unlike other bars (Club 27 and City at Night) I really like the music in this dance bar. That said sometimes the Saturday night DJ plays slow songs which freezes the dancing audience. The bartenders are polite and but, in my view, slow not up to speed. Sometimes it takes really a long time to get a drink on busy Saturday nights.

What a fun place! Live music, locals and tourists, good beer and basic cocktails, and food! We were so hungry, and the smoked meat poutine hit the spot. We each had a cocktail, as that's usually our preference, but it's definitely a beer bar, so we had one of those too. Had great laughs with some locals and some tourists; everyone was so friendly from the bartender to the guests. A fun place!

I'm gonna be honest. This place gets 4 starts for 2 reasons: 1) They have great beet and a large selection 2) The service is GREAT. We had the best waitress. She was helping us navigate the beer menu, giving us recommendations, checking in on us, and telling us about the different flavor profiles of the beer. The vibe here was chill. It looks like a bar on the inside, but i like that they have outdoor seating. They also supposedly have live music here every now and then, but I didn't get the chance to experience it. I would definitely come back here again.

Came here on a day trip to Ottawa and was impressed by the service of our waitress Angel. She was extremely nice and accommodating! She was very attentive and was very proactive about her service. She went above and beyond for us! As for the drinks, there is an extensive menu and is about $10 for each of our beers. There is a lot of seating inside and the outdoors aren't too shabby either. Location is in the Byward market so it is convenient and close to most other restaurants.

Live music, decently priced drinks and dive bar awesome atmosphere. Great place to chill or get up and dance on a Monday night!

Ottawa's oldest bar is just great! Just what you'd expect from a bar steeped in history. We were fortunate to enjoy some great talent playing old timey hits (banjo and classic electric guitar!) If you get tired of walking the hit summer pavement, stop in and enjoy a cold one!

Château Lafayette aka The Laff is Ottawa's oldest bar and one of its oldest institutions. It's been family-owned and operated for years, and it shows! The Laff is super casual, really friendly, and a place you can just hang out and have a pint without having to worry about getting dolled up. I love the low-key vibe and am always really comfortable going, whether it's for a drink after work or a night out. They always have something going on throughout the week, like an open mic night, DJs, live bands, and the Lucky Ron Show, which are all free cover. There are also always drinks specials and they're often involved in community events. Munchies are great and very affordable, too. Waiting patiently to see if they start making toques as part of their merch - I'll definitely need one of those!

Lots of fun. worth a try. The food and beer is Ok. Could try cocktail if stay longer. My fiends and I enjoyed it so much.

Pros: Good amount of seating, excellent staff, and great music. Con: live music got so loud that it was impossible to have a conversation. Overall, I recommend this place for a more laid-back evening out drinking and especially if you specifically want to go for live music.

Very cool bar in Byward Market. Just had some beers with colleagues. Had a good time for the time I was there. Good service and good beers. Kind of Dive Bar-ish which I like. Will definitely go back next time I am in town.

There is a special place in my heart for the Laf, and it all began in my university days: I was doing a first year project and the assignment was "study something do to with being in first year" - my partner and I chose...Drinking! We went to all sorts of pubs and bars around Ottawa, tried the food and drink, filmed our experiences, and reported back to the class on the best deals and safest ways to get tipsy - keep in mind, this was long before Yelp was around. As the Laf is one of the oldest bars in Ottawa, it was first on the list. This bar is old school, down to earth, casual, low lighting, seemingly impersonal... so you'll need to use your imagination to picture a peppy, dolled-up first year bouncing (loudly) through the door with a video camera who then immediately thought "this might not go well" - I was SO wrong as it was AMAZING! The staff as well as the patrons we so welcoming, helpful, full of laughter, and even offered me free pop and snacks all night long since I was the DD (and professional videographer) of the night. Our intent was to spend about 15-20 minutes in each bar for a quick drink and experience: we stayed for most of the night and had a blast! All this to say, the environment in this place is awesome! I recently returned to grab some take-out and it was great. Simple food, cooked well, and packaged in a compostable take-out box. We ordered the burger and fries, and demolished it promptly. Service was so pleasant and brought back such happy memories.

Great to have one of those establishments that have been around forever. Packed with friendly locals and they serve the big beer bottles.

Came here for a vodka cocktail but alas no vodka. This has to be the lamest drink ever. Don't waste your money if you want an alcoholic beverage.

Had a great time visiting for Canada Day. Everyone was friendly and made us feel at home. We were even fortunate enough to see Lucky Ron play. Can't wait to make another trip up to Canada.

The Laff is one of the most incredible drinking spots in Ottawa. Went there in my late teens and early 20's.All the regulars use to meet and shoot the shit. They don't make places like this anymore. I no longer live in Ottawa other wise I would still frequent this friendly place. !!!

Great spot in the market to meet friends for a drink and some comfort food. Love the ambiance and friendliness of the staff.

I have to say this place was a blummin' relief after the horrors of the overcrowded fake-Celtic tourist bars elsewhere on the Byward market. The place had a great selection of local beers and as a confirmed lager drinker I highly recommend the 'Tuque de Broue' on a hot afternoon or evening. Or a cool ones for that matter. Sure, I think it embraces it's 'dive bar' status but it doesn't try too hard to be anything other than an easy going friendly place that you have to take as you find. When I mentioned the Chateau Lafayette to people from over the border in Quebec they reckoned it used to be a haunt of soiled doves back in the day but I've not seen any other reference to that... nor any sign of the doves themselves. I cannot imagine choosing any other bar when I'm next in that neck of the woods.

See this oldest bar from internet, try it today. They say most of their food are made in-house. We order the sweet potato fries for $3.95, price is good. We also order the sleek skwik (deep fried St. Albert curd), the battered is too thick. Chicken wing is fresh made not over seasoned.

Ratings are by definition subjective. Is this a five-star, white glove, hoity-toity sort of place? Don't be ridiculous. But as a dive bar, the Laff is five stars plus. No pretensions, just a bar that sells beer in quart bottles and offers an affordable place to crash for a drink or several with friends when you're in the otherwise tourist hell of Ottawa's Byward Market.

Hangin at a dive bar...rockin to the music! Place is clean (relatively) & is central at the Byward Market. Didn't have any food but the place seemed decent.

Good old place for a pint But not a dive bar Much renovated in recent years Don't come on weekdays

BAD SERVICE!!!!! I get that it was 1:30am, but nobody asked us if we wanted a drink and the only reason my brother got a drink was because he asked for one and I am still waiting for a bartender to acknowledge me...I've been sitting here for at least 10 minutes!! I was sitting at the bar in front of the tap.

First off I was not overly impressed with their food but as a bar..... Amazing. Tons of great craft beers on tap, giant bottles domestic, imported what ever you want. Great dive bar atmosphere with friendly staff and customers alike. If you're looking for a place to have a few drinks and a chat with friends this is your joint. Not like the touristy bars all around the area.

I get the whole history around this place and the area. The gimmick isn't lost on me. John A. MacDonald among other famous/political people drank here. There is also the connection to the local music scene or so I've heard. Now dive bars aren't my thing to begin with, but I've been to more than my fair share. To me the Laff is a step down from an average dive bar. Firstly, there was a vomit smell that emanated from God knows where. This is never a good thing when enjoying a drink. The washroom had more flies in it than customers inside the joint. The AC seemed to be blasting ultra cold air in our corner. A good chunk of the patrons looked kind of well ... my first question would be "do they have homes?" And the bartender was yelling extremely aggressively to some unfortunate person who wandered in. Not my cup of tea, but if you like dives maybe this place is for you.

The atmosphere is good and it's good for friends talk! The menu is all about beer but they have more choices! I and my friend orders cocktail and it looks cute and taste good! The price is not expensive! It says that it's the oldest bar in Ottawa! That's awesome! Good experience in Ottawa!

All the words for LR are superlatives. I am finding iit hard to string them together into coherent paragraphs so here are a bunch of impressions. If they appeal to you, run to the Laff next Saturday. The legendary Lucky Ron hasn't missed a Saturday in 20 (?) years but I am kicking myself that yesterday was my first visit. - The Lucky Ron show is not just a guy, it's an experience. Cast members include The Lovely Kathleen (devoted wife and roadie), Dave the Sound Guy, and Handsome Johnny (mostly he dances). - Like Rocky Horror Picture Show or Sing-Along Sound of Music, there are tons of audience responses, actions, dance moves, etc. My faves were "Ring of Fire", the evangelical "I Saw the Light" (which somehow morphs into The Who's Tommy as the finale...)", and chucking unlit cigarettes during the Stompin' Tom Classic, "Tilsonberg." - Despite the goofing around, this guy really has some talent. (In a former life, I think I might have been married to LR's long-lost brother so I know a bit about the country genre). LR's voice reminded me of George Jones - especially the way he could go from growl to choir tenor in half a breath. The comparisons to Stompin' Tom are obvious but to me Ron is more evocative of Canadian legends Wilf Carter and Hank Snow (go google them). - The menu is simple: Quart bottles of beer. Order a '50' if you're a local. Order a Beau's if you're a local under 30). Hungry? - You can bring in sandwiches from the Quiznos next door or the chip truck outside. Nobody minds. - The average age is 19 to 75. Grandmas and grubbies and bikers and college kids, francophones and anglos. A special spot on stage right is designated for the wheelchair of a disabled young woman who, reportedly, does not miss a show. - Arrive by 3:30 if you want any hope of a seat for the 5:00 show. However, standing up and dancing is just as good. Also they open the front wall of the bar so the stage is open to the street and the homeless guys can dance too. - The Laff is a dive bar. One of Ottawa's oldest and most venerable. Dress code casual.

Good old dive bar. Cheap drinks, plenty of space, some good shows. Check it out. We went to a CD release party here and they rocked loud.

This is my favorite spot when I am in Ottawa. Bartenders are awesome. Great specials, juke box and great locals. It changed a bit since my last time and lost a bit it's dirty dive bar character a bit, but I don't think it's a bad thing. Beer and people are the same. Long live Laf. GS

The McSorley's of Ottawa, the oldest bar in the city. Its like a dive bar, but cleaner and somewhat less dank and crowded. They actually have a good selection of craft beers to augment the standard taps found in other bars.

Stopped on for a couple of pints with a friend one weekday afternoon. Small bar, very friendly service. Felt like a foreigner because all of the other patrons seemed to be regulars. ;) If I lived closer to the market I could see this place being a regular haunt for me. We enjoyed a couple of Rolling Rock beers.

I came to Ottawa to visit a couple friends from college for good times, beer and poutine. Although I went across the street for poutine (and ate it here) I had a lot of the other two. We arrived early on Saturday afternoon and got a table near the jukebox, but more comfortable to stand. Stayed for numerous pitchers, the bartender and staff were friendly and quick, even when The Lucky Ron Show started and the place was getting tighter. The crowd was fun and lively. Note, the place is fairly small dare I say intimate, with low ceilings (watch the step coming out of the men's room, I popped my head my second trip). Prices are reasonable. No food, but there is a food stand across the street and a Quiznos next door, with an entrance that was sometimes open from inside the bar. Sidewalk patio for enjoying the weather. When I return to Ottawa, I will be definitely make a return to The Laff.

First off you have to understand that this is a dive bar, if you are expecting a very clean and respectful establishment then you are not going to like it. We stopped here on a bar hoping night to check it out. Their drink selection isn't that great but they have all the main beer selections you would expect at a dive bar like bud, bud light and labatt 50. I would have gotten Ben this place a 4 star but the men's bathroom was so small and tight. I got stuck waiting for a guy to finish at the urinal before I could wash my hands.

We were looking for live music and went to this place on a Wednesday with promise of a guy who did a combination of blues, rock and roll, and something else. We arrived and he was on a break. He then played 3-4 songs and took another break. We were not impressed for the time we were there. If you're looking for live music on Wednesday's, maybe skip it.

This place is tremendous. Great music. The crowd was a combination of tourists from the nearby hotels, local drunks, college kids and a few trans folks. Great time with friendly people and cold 710 ml "50s." It will be home base whenever business takes me to Ottawa.

Nice bar with awsome live music! Perfect place to hangout with friends and enjoy a good local beer in a warm atmosphere!

Oh the Laff, it's quickly becoming my go to bar in the market. It's a friendly local watering hole with good beer prices and drinking board games. It's one of the only places I know of where I can drink a quart of 50 and play drinking Jenga. It isn't the cleanest bar in town, and the "kitchen" consists of going to the neighboring Quizno's, but once you are here, you really don't care, it's not a place to go to eat. It's a place to go and listen to good music, talk to friendly people and relax.

This is my favorite in Ottawa by far. It's the best hole you'll ever have an amazing time at.

Don't bother with the jukebox, the bartenders will change songs immediately just to get more people to put money in. Why do they even have a jukebox if they can't handle people using it? Cheap thing to do! Waste of money!

Justin the bartender is a great guy who knows his regulars and knows how to keep his customers happy. Very unassuming place to go for a drink and relax after work. Yuppie free atmosphere, and barely any scent of axe body spray on way in the door.

The best place for friends to meet each other! Nice menu of beer and more choices! My friend orders beer and tastes great!!! They offer very reasonable price and superb service! Some place you must go!!

The wonderful owners and patrons of this bar tolerated my large group of 15 people until closing time. We were sending a colleague off before her retirement and this joint suited us perfectly! There is something to be said for closing the oldest bar in Ottawa.

Simply superb. Great choice, fantastic atmosphere. Great staff

We had just gotten into town and needed a place to unwind and enjoy a couple drinks. This place was perfect for that. The atmosphere was relaxed and the bartender was friendly and attentive. They had plenty of board games to play which is a completely underrated bar amenity. The laff seemed like an appropriate place to be no matter your age or motivation for the night; the people watching is almost worth the trip itself. Also, props to them for using decent alcohol in their mixed drinks while keeping the prices affordable.

It is what you make of it. Came in with a few buds, crowd was friendly. Jenga, 1L bottles, everyone singing Bohemian Rhapsody and dancing to A-Ha. Solid pick for round 2 of barhopping.