The Prescott
Having progressed steadily through the years, and has become an established Preston Street icon ( Little Italy ). It has been home to family celebrations, weddings, baptisms, and confirmations. It has served the community well in its sponsorships of sports teams and community events. It boasts a hard-core clientele dedicated to its meatball sandwiches, sworn to its home-style pizza; it is a destination on most Friday nights for revellers young and old. It is indeed an institution, a relevant fixture not only in the Italian community, but on the city’s entertainment scene.
Today it is a purposefully retro greasy spoon; an iconic throwback to its days as a public house. The spirit of its memory lives on in the drinking habits of its fair patrons, in its classic sandwiches and pizzas, in the care reserved for its place on Preston Street. Its checkered history is a part of Village lore.
The Prescott is located in the heart of little Italy at the corner of 379 Preston st and Scott st. is one of the oldest active taverns in Ottawa dating back to 1934, where it was called the “last chance watering hole” out of Ottawa to the south. There is a long tradition of purveyors of beer and wine frequent this establishment while eating the Prescott’s meatball sandwiches. There have been many wedding receptions and patrons that have bent their elbows at the Preston.
There is even a story where the Italian owners of the formerly named Preston Hotel were put into internment camps as part of isolating people of Italian origin due to conflicts between allied forces with Germany, Japan and Italy during the second World War.
Pop in, have a jug of draft beer, a meatball sandwich or a square pizza and breathe in some history at this legendary tavern.
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