Peter Tobin
Three business-related developments affecting restaurants in Old Ottawa East (OOE) have surfaced since the February issue of The Mainstreeter was published. Taken together, the changing fortunes of the three retail enterprises remind me of the three colours of traffic lights. The red for stop (or Cancelled!) refers unfortunately to the closure of Greens and Beans restaurant on Main Street; the yellow (Wait please) for J:Fuse Aburi & Bar in the Shops at Millieu, and the green
(We’re Back!) for the sudden return of Greek on Wheels on Hawthorne Avenue.
The landlord closed down Greens and Beans in mid-February due to failure to pay the rental requirements of the lease agreement. Customers and neighbours feel especially sorry for husband and wife team, Ali and Christa Nahle, who worked so hard to make their dream come true. Fate dealt them an early devastating blow as their opening in 2020 coincided within a few weeks with the declaration of the COVID-19 world-wide pandemic. Sadly, the community had no chance for a proper goodbye, but best wishes for them and their family go out to them from their friends in OOE.
In a brief mid-March meeting with this reporter, owner James Park of J:Fuse Aburi & Bar stated that a technical problem that had bedevilled his work team for weeks had finally been resolved. Still to be completed as we went to press were a fire inspection and a building inspection. The timing of those procedures is difficult to predict, but Park is optimistic those requirements will not take long.
Signs of the times:
Take-out diners in Old Ottawa East (OOE) were saddened in 2021 when Greek on Wheels, the beloved ‘hole in the wall’ eatery at 3 Hawthorne Avenue announced to the community that it was leaving OOE, the result of a provincial government expropriation notice to clear staging space for the Rideau Canal Bridge replacement. But as the new sign below ays, “We’re back” and OOE esidents couldn’t be happier. Photos by Lorne Abugov
After a forced departure from its Hawthorne location in 2021, Greek on Wheels made a surprise and happy return a few weeks ago. In 1996, Joe Besharah opened the family-run take-out and delivery operation at 3 Hawthorne, and the enterprise soon became a success. Local residents, students from Immaculata High School and Saint Paul University, and eventually customers from around the city were drawn there by the excellence of the food and the prompt delivery times.
In 2020, however, the Besharahs were blind-sided by an announcement from Ontario’s Ministry of Transport (MTO) of its intent to expropriate their building as well as two other buildings next door. Family patriarch Joe Besharah was not only shocked, he was also heart-broken that his beloved “hole in the wall,” the starting point of the family’s eventual success, would be lost forever. The MTO’s plan was to have staging and construction space ready for the eventual Rideau Canal bridge replacement process.
For months, Greek on Wheels (GOW), already under pressure due to the pandemic restrictions and consequent reduction in sales and income, searched for a new location to lease but came up empty. As Joe’s daughter Samantha Besharah explained in a phone interview with The Mainstreeter, “Nothing was available so we decided as a family that it was time to buy our own building.”
While maintaining its lease on Hawthorne, they purchased a building on Somerset Avenue. That location housed not only GOW’s take-out and delivery but also Trofi, their full service sit down restaurant. In a follow-up email, Ms. Besharah noted how the family had kept employees on throughout the pandemic and the search. “Cutting their hours and leaving them to resort to government funding alone was not an option for us. We went into our personal funds to finance that gap and retain our staff.”
The Somerset location turned out to be less than ideal, however. The proliferation of ‘no parking, no stopping’ signs in that area severely challenged the drivers. Operating the Trofi restaurant on the same site posed an additional complication. When it became apparent in 2023 that the MTO had moved beyond demolition mode, GOW started the wheels in motion for a return.
“We’re Back” the big sign on Hawthorne Avenue says, and we’re glad they are.
