Closed on Monday

There was a time when a restaurant being closed on a Monday felt like a footnote. Now, it feels like a given.

In Ottawa, the seven-day dining week is quietly disappearing. Places that once ran full tilt from Tuesday through Sunday are scaling back. Five nights. Four nights. It’s not a flashy change, but it’s a fundamental one—reshaping how, when, and even why people go out to eat.

The usual culprit is staffing. Or burnout. Or economics. But the truth is simpler: some nights just aren’t worth it. Monday and Tuesday have become the industry’s soft spots—the nights where no-shows sting more, walk-ins are rare, and even the regulars stay home. And if you're already short-staffed or trying to hang onto the ones you've got, do you really need to run service on the slowest days of the week?

You see it everywhere:

Supply & Demand — Closed Sundays (and most holiday Mondays).

North & Navy — Closed Sundays.

Gitanes — Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Atelier — Closed Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays.

Le Poisson Bleu — Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Le St. Laurent — Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

El Camino (Elgin location) — Closed Mondays.

Town / Citizen — Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Stofa — Closed Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays.

Even the most ambitious kitchens are drawing firmer boundaries. Fewer service days often mean tighter execution, better-rested staff, and less burnout masked as hospitality. And while diners have mostly adapted, there's still a moment of friction when you realize that Tuesday night reservation you're picturing doesn't exist.

Sure, there are still exceptions. Fauna and Buvette Daphnée stay open seven days a week. A few others make Mondays work. But they’re the outliers now—not the standard.

This isn’t a complaint. It’s just reality. The rhythm of eating out has shifted. Thursday is the new Friday. Sunday is a gamble. And Monday is dead quiet—for a reason.

Ottawa didn’t make a big announcement about it. It just slowly decided that a shorter week was long enough.