A Toronto-based company that operates Asian restaurants in several Canadian cities is making its first foray into the Ottawa market at the former McDonald’s location across from the Rideau Centre. Legend of Spice Group is opening a restaurant at 99 Rideau St. this fall that will specialize in traditional Sichuan cuisine under its Chai Men […]
Get Instant Access to This Article
Become an Ottawa Business Journal Insider and get immediate access to all of our Insider-only content and much more.
A Toronto-based company that operates Asian restaurants in several Canadian cities is making its first foray into the Ottawa market at the former McDonald’s location across from the Rideau Centre.
Legend of Spice Group is opening a restaurant at 99 Rideau St. this fall that will specialize in traditional Sichuan cuisine under its Chai Men brand, company executive George Li told OBJ on Tuesday.
Founded in 2017, the company currently owns 21 eating establishments representing eight brands in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Li said Legend of Spice plans to open four more restaurants in the National Capital Region under various banners once suitable locations are found.
“It’s a good market,” he said in an interview with OBJ on Tuesday.
Chai Men will aim to attract families with meals at “reasonable” prices, Li added. The restaurant is expected to be open for business by the end of September, but he said it will be a couple of weeks before specifics such as its exact capacity are finalized.
Kevin Houlahan, a sales representative at Colliers who helped negotiate the company’s lease, said Legend of Spice has signed a long-term deal at the property, which is managed by Colonnade BridgePort.
It’s the second time in less than a year that an Asian restaurant operator has signed on to occupy the 3,900-square-foot space, which was home to a McDonald’s for four decades before the fast-food outlet closed in 2023.
Last fall, a Chinese seafood restaurant opened at 99 Rideau after chef and owner Kevin Tan signed a 10-year lease in 2024. His business, 99 VIP Seafood Restaurant, offered a mix of traditional and modern Cantonese cuisine.
However, Tan shut the eatery’s doors just a few months later after Colonnade BridgePort terminated the restaurant’s lease. According to a bailiff’s notice posted on the door in late March, the business owed more than $83,000 in defaults and arrears.
Houlahan said Tuesday he believes a “lack of front-house experience” contributed to VIP Seafood’s failure. The veteran real estate executive described the owners of Chai Men as seasoned restaurant operators with a strong track record.
“They bring a lot of experience and depth in the (restaurant) market,” he said. “It looks promising.”
New businesses coming to Sussex Drive
The restaurant is just one of several new businesses expected to soon take over vacant storefronts on Rideau Street and around the corner on Sussex Drive.
The National Capital Commission said last week it is closing in on deals with four new tenants to lease nearly 10,000 square feet of space on Sussex Drive near the new History Ottawa live music venue.
The four properties between 521 and 541 Sussex Dr. range from 1,100 to more than 3,900 square feet. They were previously occupied by a variety of users, including Joy on Sussex restaurant.
Nathalie Roy-Patenaude, the NCC’s director of real estate management, told OBJ in an interview last week the agency is in “advanced negotiations” with new occupiers that will bring “diverse” retail and food offerings. The NCC hopes to finalize the leases in the coming weeks and expects most of the new tenants to move in by next spring.
“Certainly, what’s coming will complement what’s there,” Roy-Patenaude said. “We have some other businesses coming in that will bring really new concepts and really exciting offerings … some that we’ve never seen on Sussex in a really long time, if at all. We’re going to have some really fresh ideas coming in that will bring different people to the area.”
The influx of new tenants comes amid a wave of other developments that are poised to change the face of the area around Sussex Drive and Rideau Street.
Live Nation’s History Ottawa venue, which opened last week, is expected to bring thousands of visitors to the neighbourhood and generate economic spinoffs for nearby businesses.
“I think we’re at a major transition point down there,” said Jamie Boyce, a senior vice-president in CBRE’s Ottawa office.
“History opening, that’s going to bring a tremendous amount of foot traffic to the Market and to that area. Businesses in and around History are going to benefit greatly from the number of people that are going to be enjoying that particular venue.”
Meanwhile, other construction projects such as the new 224-room Moxy Ottawa Downtown hotel on York Street and a 288-unit residential complex being built next to the Rideau Centre are also expected to attract more residents and tourists to the core.
In addition, downtown boosters say Claridge’s acquisition of the former Hudson’s Bay store on Rideau Street is another sign that things are looking up for a neighbourhood that suffered its share of blows during the pandemic and is still trying to recover.
“They’re the right buyer,” said Boyce, whose firm helped broker the HBC sale to Claridge. “They’re huge champions for positive growth and positive momentum in the city of Ottawa. It’s further energy that everyone is ultimately going to benefit from. Whatever occurs there in the future is going to be impactful for the overall market just on the size and the magnitude of what it is.”
Houlahan agreed. He said that while the escalating trade war with the United States and ongoing geopolitical tensions are creating uncertainty, he believes new amenities like History Ottawa and the requirement that federal employees work in the office four days a week will accelerate the downtown retail revival.
“Things are sort of progressing forward — maybe not at the pace that you would normally expect, but it’s been a busy summer for showings,” said Houlahan, who specializes in brokering retail leases.
“There's an inflection point, and I think we’ve reached it. (The ByWard Market area) will have its good days and its bad days, but it seems the climate has turned around. As one party takes on a project and another party takes on a project, then all of a sudden … there’s interest. When there’s no action going on is when everybody will look but nobody is going to act.”
