The Mandarin Ogilvie restaurant is set to close its doors this spring, after 36 years of serving customers in Ottawa’s east end.
A message on the front door of the restaurant on Ogilvie Road says the establishment will close on June 3.
“It’s like a second home,” Nathalie Shienh of the Mandarin Ogilvie tells CTV News Ottawa. “Even as a child, I would come here and help clean tables and talk with the customers.”
The landmark restaurant was opened by Shienh’s father, who passed away in 2018. The eatery grew over the years to take over the entire building on Ogilvie Road, even opening an Asian grocery store.
The property has been sold to TCU Development Corporation, which plans to build a 20-storey residential complex with 300 units.
The restaurant, offering up Chinese and Thai cuisine, dim sum and handmade dumplings, has served many dignitaries, including former prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, former governor general Adrienne Clarkson and the late Jack Layton. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called to offer best wishes to the family when he heard the restaurant was closing.
“For the future, it’s retirement for my mum,” Shienh said. “That’s the whole goal for the sale, for her to enjoy her grandchildren and enjoy life.”
The Mandarin Ogilvie restaurant on Ogilvie Road has been sold to TCU Development Corporation, which plans to build a 20-storey residential complex. (Shaun Vardon/CTV News Ottawa)
Shienh says it’s been a privilege helping guests celebrate important milestones, with many customers first visiting as children and now bringing their families for dinner.
“We are truly grateful and honoured to have been part of all of your lives,” Shienh said. “You guys will always have a special place in our hearts and we will always remember you. Thank you.”
The Mandarin Ogilvie is the latest restaurant to close in Ottawa. Last month, the Yangtze Restaurant in Ottawa’s Chinatown was put up for sale.
“As it is time for our family to close this chapter, it presents a wonderful opportunity for someone to purchase this cornerstone business and building,” the restaurant said in a statement to CTV News.
Yangtze has been serving up dim sum, Cantonese and Szechuan cuisine since it opened at the same location in 1982.
With files from CTV News Ottawa’s William Eltherington and Shaun Vardon