Little Italy–Chinatown

Central

The Chinatown Royal Arch gateway over Somerset Street West in Ottawa. — Photo: Daeva Trạc, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Fast Facts

Distance from Parliament Hill: About 1.5 km southwest (straight-line distance)
Who's building: Claridge Homes (Claridge Icon)

Overview

Little Italy–Chinatown combines two of Ottawa's most distinct ethnic commercial districts along a single corridor southwest of downtown. Preston Street, known locally as Corso Italia, is the heart of Little Italy, lined with Italian restaurants, cafés and an arch at Carling Avenue lit in the colours of the Italian flag. A few blocks north, Somerset Street West is home to Chinatown, marked by the Royal Arch gateway at Cambridge Street and lined with Vietnamese, Chinese and other Asian restaurants and grocers.

Map

No official boundary exists for this area, so no boundary map is shown here.

History

Little Italy grew up around Preston Street starting around 1900, as Italian immigrants settled in the area working on the nearby railway and in construction. St. Anthony of Padua Church, founded in 1908 by Father Fortunatus Mizzi, a Maltese priest, became the social centre of Ottawa's Italian-Canadian community; its first small chapel burned down in 1913, and the present church, designed by artist Guido Nincheri, was completed in 1925 after being rebuilt from that fire.

Preston Street has been closed to traffic each June since 1974 for Italian Week, beginning with the Feast of St. Anthony and drawing several thousand visitors, and the street carries the commemorative name Corso Italia. An arch spanning Preston Street at Carling Avenue, lit in the colours of the Italian flag, was built in 2002 to mark the neighbourhood's entrance.

Ottawa's first Chinatown formed in the 1930s between Albert and Kent streets, closer to downtown. The Chinatown known today began to take shape along Somerset Street West in the 1960s as the Chinese-Canadian community grew after the Second World War, and it expanded further in the late 1970s as thousands of Vietnamese refugees settled in the area, giving the strip its present mix of Chinese, Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian businesses.

The Chinatown Royal Arch, a traditional Chinese paifang gateway spanning Somerset Street at Cambridge Street North, was completed in October 2010 to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and China. It was built as a partnership between the Chinatown BIA, all three levels of government, and the Chinese embassy and City of Beijing; its footings run 28 feet into bedrock to support the 100-tonne structure.

Claim to Fame

The neighbourhood's defining feature is the pairing of two distinct ethnic commercial strips within a few blocks of each other: Preston Street's Corso Italia, anchored by St. Anthony of Padua Church, and Somerset Street West's Chinatown, anchored by the Chinatown Royal Arch — one of the few full-size traditional Chinese gateways in Canada.

Surrounding Neighbourhoods

Centretown and the Golden Triangle lie east across Bronson Avenue, Hintonburg and Mechanicsville are west along the Ottawa River, Dow's Lake and the Central Experimental Farm are south, and the Civic Hospital area is southwest.

New Developments

Claridge Icon — Claridge Homes — A 45-storey, 320-unit condominium tower at 805 Carling Avenue / 505 Preston Street, designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects. It topped out in 2019 as the tallest building in Ottawa since 1971 and completed in 2022.

Architecture

Preston Street is lined with low-rise early-20th-century commercial storefronts built as Little Italy's original businesses opened, punctuated by the 2002 Italian-flag arch at Carling Avenue. Somerset Street West's Chinatown mixes similar-era storefronts with Asian architectural motifs, most visibly the 2010 Royal Arch gateway. The area's skyline has changed sharply at its southern edge with the completion of the Claridge Icon in 2022, Ottawa's tallest residential tower.

Restaurants

Indian Express Food & Sweets — Indian
Family-owned Indian restaurant and sweets shop at 1000 Somerset Street West, known for butter chicken and gluten-free Indian sweets.
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La Roma — Italian
Italian restaurant at 430 Preston Street, open for over 30 years, focused on contemporary Italian cuisine rooted in tradition.
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Giovanni's Ristorante — Italian
Italian restaurant at 362 Preston Street, founded in 1983 by Lisa and Giuseppe Pollastrini, serving dishes rooted in Pescara and Tuscany.
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Vietnam Palace — Vietnamese
Vietnamese restaurant at 819 Somerset Street West, serving the neighbourhood since 1989.
Photo: Ross Dunn, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Visit website
Pho Thu Do — Vietnamese
Vietnamese restaurant at 781 Somerset Street West, known for its slow-simmered pho broth.
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Bars

Pubwells — English-style pub
Traditional English-style pub at 96 Preston Street, established in 1991, known for homemade pizzas and burgers.
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Grocery Stores

Farm Boy — Grocery store
Ottawa-founded specialty grocery chain location at 215 Preston Street, offering fresh produce, prepared foods and a full grocery selection.
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Kowloon Market — Asian grocery store
Asian grocery store at 712 Somerset Street West, offering a wide range of Asian ingredients, produce and prepared foods in the heart of Chinatown.
Photo: Ross Dunn, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Visit website
Shiraz Food Market — International grocery store
International grocery store at 725 Somerset Street West, specializing in Persian and Middle Eastern products alongside a wider selection of imported foods.
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Pedestrian and Cycling

Both Preston Street and Somerset Street West are walkable commercial strips with wide sidewalks, and Preston is closed to vehicle traffic each June for Italian Week. Dow's Lake and the Rideau Canal pathway lie just south of the neighbourhood for cycling.

Schools

Cambridge Street Community Public School — Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
Elementary school (JK–6) at 250 Cambridge Street North, in the heart of Chinatown, serving a multicultural student population from Junior Kindergarten through Grade 6.
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Amenities

Chinatown Royal Arch — Landmark gateway
Traditional Chinese paifang gateway spanning Somerset Street West at Cambridge Street North, completed in 2010 to mark 40 years of Canada–China diplomatic relations.
Photo: Michel Rathwell, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Visit website
Monument to the Asian Boat People — Memorial
Memorial in Ottawa's Chinatown commemorating the Vietnamese boat people who fled their country after the Vietnam War.
Photo: Ross Dunn, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
St. Anthony of Padua Church — Church
Roman Catholic church at 427 Booth Street, founded in 1908 and rebuilt in 1925 after a fire; the long-time social centre of Ottawa's Italian-Canadian community and host of the annual Italian Week.
Photo: SimonP, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Transit Options

OC Transpo bus routes run along Preston Street, Somerset Street West and Carling Avenue, connecting to Dow's Lake Station. Check octranspo.com for current route numbers, since the network is periodically redesigned.