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Green Door Vegetarian Restaurant
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
18 reviews for Green Door Vegetarian Restaurant
Review Highlights
"I wish i'd had a whole tofu-cheesecake."
(in 3 reviews)
"All food is local, organic and some are gluten-free."
(in 3 reviews)
"Both well executed vegan baked goods, flavoured well..."
(in 4 reviews)
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18 reviews in English
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Review from Ken C.
Ottawa, ON
11/23/2011
Very good place. Some of the food may be a bit oily for some people but it's delicious and not everything is oily.
Definitely go there if you'd like to have something healthy..outside.
There won't be music or anything fancy but vegetarian food. -
Review from Tim C.
Ottawa, ON
11/9/2011
I'm by no means a vegetarian eats connoiseur but the food here is quite good. As others have mentioned its by weight of food so think a little about what you're getting in terms of complexity and work to prepare.
That said I spent 17$ - seemed expensive, but then I realized I was stuffed with no room for dessert! Also $3.50 of that was soup which was tasty, but probably low on the value for money scale. (Which is probably why they put it out there first!)
The counter service is friendly.
In short, for max $18 per person, all in, you are guaranteed to leave very full, satisfied, and healthy. Very few restaurants can claim this. It is basically a cafeteria so there's only so much time you can sit and chat after your meal before you start to feel bad for occupying a table.
The only unpleasantness was the clipboard toting canvassers that were hovering around outside soliciting donations for pet causes. -
Review from Luc R.
Gatineau, QC
2/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
A buffet style place which threw me off at first. Very unassuming from the outside, but the place is hopping on the inside. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the food smells fantastic!! To say this place is popular is an understatement, and the turn around is fast. Prices are based on weight, so you set the price. They even let you run a tab so if you have room for dessert you can pay at the end of your meal instead of standing on line to pay twice.
Bottom line... The food was great, I highly recommend checking this place out if you're in the mood for vegetarian. -
Review from Hannah V.
Vancouver, BC
7/11/2011
Classic first generation veg*n restaurant. Heavy on wholegrain and kale, somewhat multi-ethnic but nothing too out there that would scare away the ageing boomer hippies. Speaking of which, the Green Door is located in a strip of Main Street progressive small business holdouts that have endured how inaccessible this neighbourhood is from the rest of the city. Have some tofu cheesecake, go buy some kombucha and maybe an Arsenal Pulp book or some incense claiming to be imported from Tibet. It works if that's your thing.
Anyway, I see the need for a practical guide to this place for people who aren't familiar with this sort of restaurant. Don't worry, I'm here for you and carrying the baggage of many wasted plates of tabbouleh from my past.
First of all, take less than you think you'll eat. Believe me, as a cheapskate and a glutton, I know your pain. The thing is that your plate is going to fill up fast and you're paying extra for every spoonful of food you dollop on there. It'll be really frustrating if you don't eat that apple beet salad and know it contributed $0.74 to your meal. Second, don't waste your time with things you can buy or make cheaply elsewhere. Why would you add some plain romaine lettuce to your plate when you're paying by weight? Sure it's light, but go buy a head of it down the street like I told you to. Third, and this is a controversial recommendation that I don't necessarily follow, be aware of weight of each thing. The avocado salad is basically sliced avocado with lemon juice, meaning it's easy to recreate and also heavy. Is it worth however many dollar/gram the restaurant is charging? Finally, be careful with dessert. As a vegan I generally take the opportunity to try desserts whenever possible, because it rarely is. That said, if the dessert comes at a different price (per bowl, by the slice, whatever), I need to know, because I'm not paying $5 for any sugar-free, wholegrain tofu berry mousse when I could go get an Auntie Loo's anything for less and slink away with a decent sugar coma. -
Review from Aisha L.
2/25/2011
I am up in Canada visiting my Brother and Sister in law for the weekend, We went to Ottowa for the day and for dinner we went to "the green door".
It was set up deli/buffet style and you grab a plate and put what you would like on it. They had so many different options and everything I tried I liked very much!
They use all organic food and it is 100% vegetarian.
Its done in the pay by weight fashion and it is 19 CND per kilo, It was pretty expensive, but then again Organic food usually is. But not anymore pricey then it would be to go to a nicer restaurant and then have to tip. This is counter style so it isnt really a server kind of thing.
I would definitely go back when I am next in town. -
Review from Nicole H.
Toronto, ON
5/27/2010 3 photos
I visited the Green Door on a Sunday night and found it to be overwhelmingly packed! Despite having to listen to the woman in line behind me tell her companions she could be in and out of that line and have chosen her food in 3 minutes, I took my time to see what was on offer and what I wanted to put on my plate. After all, some of us can't eat 100% of what's on offer at the Green Door and some of us are first-time or out of town visitors!
That said, the food was terrific. A decent amount of vegan options in both the hot and cold sections - I had a tofu curry that seemed simple but was amazingly flavourful, a potato & fiddlehead curry which was great. I also tried some of the cold options - green bean salad, wild rice tabouli, pesto rotini, all of them delicious and fresh.
Price-wise this wasn't too bad - a plate of this size at Le Commensal here in Toronto would've been $5 - 6 more expensive. I did find the food there to be a bit tastier and more interesting than some of the fare on offer at Commensal, too.
Too full to eat dessert at the restaurant, and wanting to get out of the hectic atmosphere, I grabbed some dessert to go, a couple of things that would travel well - a brownie and a piece of choc-mint tofu-cheesecake. Both well executed vegan baked goods, flavoured well, excellent texture, and nicely decadent! I wish i'd had a whole tofu-cheesecake.
Wouldn't hesitate to go back to the Green Door if i'm back in Ottawa again, it's just a pity it's a bit tricky to get to if you're in town as a visitor! (Or at least it'd be nice if the #5 bus went more often.) -
Review from Lisa D.
Ottawa, ON
10/17/2010
Incredibly healthy, nourishing, scrumptiously delicious. Friendly service. Great laid back atmosphere.
Warning: don't overload your plate! It is a buffet... you can always go back for more!
And save room for dessert! -
Review from Min min T.
Scarborough, ON
5/7/2009 2 photos
Fans of Le Commensal should visit Green Door instead; everything is freshly made, unlike Montreal's popular vegetarian/vegan chain, which serves some of their food simply in the unfrozen form.
The soba noodles are fabulous, as were the mashed sweet potatoes (NOT yams). The mushroom quiche was probably the best I'd had in a while and went fairly quickly as fresh ones were being brought out. Mexican-style black beans were great and the guacamole is served with generous chunks of avocado, tinged with the perfect amount of lemon juice. Everything is salubrious!
A caveat: the restaurant feels more like a cramped cafeteria. It is rather small for the large number of clientele it serves and is often busy. Therefore, I felt that it was hard to enjoy your food slowly without feeling guilty for others who are hunting for a table. -
Review from Monique G.
11/9/2010
Located across from St. Paul's University, this vegetarian buffet is only a free shuttle away from the University of Ottawa.
Yes, I said buffet but it's more like a cafeteria. You pay for what you put on your plate as the dish is weighed at the cash. All forms of payment are accepted, except Amex (i think?)
All food is local, organic and some are gluten-free! Among the array of dishes, there are the hot dishes such as butternut squash soup, vegetarian quiche, the tofu and spinach lasagna (my favourite, mmm) and organic mashed potato with kale. Cold dishes such as pasta salad, bean salads and even desserts with dairy free cakes and savoury pies.
The laid back atmosphere of The Green Door definitely appeals to all, even to a carnivore myself. Just remember to clear your own table! -
Review from Jason K.
12/28/2010
- the only vegetarian spot i hit in ottawa. it's low key, non-pretentious, and a really mellow spot to grab a bite.
- being a place that charges by weight, just be warned that if have a huge appetite, you will be tagged with a large bill if you aren't careful.... but.... it's worth it. (p.s. get the tofu lasagne or the green bean salad.... mmm)
- from what i understand, all the food is local and organic... and it's all secretly made with love. haha.
- also they have take-put containers when you don't feel like dining in and grabbing your food to go - saved my life on a number of lazy sunday evenings back in the day. -
Review from Amanda D.
Ottawa, ON
11/24/2008
This is my favourite vegetarian/organic restaurant in Ottawa. The food tastes as delicious as it looks, which often leads to me piling more on my plate than I can eat. It has a cafeteria style of serving yourself, which is identical to Commensal in Montreal. Since there's so much to choose from, I'd recommend trying a little bit of many different dishes during your first couple visits. Avoid the stuff you can get anywhere (e.g., vegetable lasagna) and experiment to find the food that's most delicious to you. You'll rarely be disappointed by the trial and error since most of the food is so good. But be careful about how much you pile on; food can get very expensive here if you go overboard.
Their hours are Tuesday-Sunday 11am-9pm. They also cater. -
Review from Iman K.
3/28/2009
I've lived in California for a few years, have enjoyed some great vegan/veggie food here, but I always come back to the Green Door and pig the hell out because it's so damn good and fresh. I love the take-out option, the staff is usually really nice and the desserts are enough to make me go into a tofu cheesecake induced coma. The lines may be a little long at times but I've never had trouble finding a place to sit. So what if you have to cozy up to people you don't know?
P.S.: the art that is showcased is usually shitty. -
Review from John r.
Winnipeg, MB
11/15/2010
Went here when I was last in Ottawa, based on reviews in yelp. I was looking for some good healthy eating, and I found it here at a good price. I will definitely made this a stop on my next visit to town.
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Review from John K.
Ottawa, ON
8/17/2011
Food is very well prepared and wholesome. I find it expensive but for a treat it cant be beat
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Review from Chloe P.
Ottawa, ON
9/12/2010
this is my go to place for healthy, hearty food.
what i love about the green door is that you can eat as much or as little as you want and pay by the pound a la cafeteria style.
however the selection of food does not change (i've been going here for at least six years now), but i know for the same price you could have eaten much worse at a fast food place for the price of a combo.
i strongly reccommend the tofu stirfry, even if looks a bit empty wait a few minutes there should be a new batch coming out!
the organic chai tea is to die for. i usually have it 'to go' as my dessert. -
Review from Jason D.
Ottawa, ON
11/18/2008 1 photo
My friend Steve came into town and he is a die-hard vegetarian. So, I had to work hard to find places where he could get all the veggie delights he craves (and yet be the kind of place where I could eat too!). I happened to find The Green Door while cruising up Main Street one evening. At first, I was intrigued by a restaurant that would name itself after and infamous 70s porn flick. Then, I realized it was vegetarian and put it on my list for Steve's visit. The Green Door had lots of salads and currys and stews and quiche and sushi. But, it is all sold by weight, so be careful how much and what you put on your plate - load up on the light stuff! It is closed on Mondays, so be careful when you show up there.
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Review from vicente f.
3/29/2010
Good food, not great. I found some of the dishes to be a little salty. Also it was priced to hurt.
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Review from J M.
Ottawa, ON
9/24/2008
Love it! Even my husband who is not at all a vegetarian loved everything he tried (actually, he admitted that if all vegetarian food was this good he could give up meat!)
The ONLY downside is that the food is so good I end up loading my plate so full that it can be expensive if you're not careful (because it's a cafeteria-style service where you pay by weight) - but totally worth every penny!
