Rideau Centre

Where a tourist attraction is also a local hangout…
I don’t always get to visit downtown when I visit Ottawa nowadays, but I so miss this place I grew up with. Was there just yesterday, it has expanded (modernized?) so much. I’m from Toronto, and was reminded more of the Eaton Centre than my memories of Rideau Centre. Lots of stores that you’d find here in Toronto, same set-​up as well.
Parking on the streets seem to be for 2 hours only. We ended up parking in a lot where it was $ 4. a half hour, and $ 21 was the daily max. (no ramps for strollers, either. Brutal.) Take the OC Transpo bus if you can!
Nice food court. Variety, and both fast and slower foods were offered. Healthy and regular popular fare.
I’d still like to go back. In the summertime, sometime. I could then re-​visit Byward Market.
But, the feeling now is that Rideau Centre has changed quite a bit. I wouldn’t be going back for nostalgic reasons, I guess. Sort of like when you read a book, and have a mental idea of how the characters and settings are, but then see a movie based on the book and it ruins your original version of it…
Love also the French Canadian influence around the city, in particular downtown Ottawa — right across from Hull, Quebec after all. (There’s a French bookstore that I wanted to visit, but didn’t have time for. Librairie du Soleil).

I haven’t been to Rideau Centre for 15 years! It has changed a lot.
As with most Cadillac Fairview malls, this one has been updated to have more upscale stores, such as Tiffany’s, Nordstrom, and Lacoste.
Although one of the Starbucks locations is currently under renovations, you can easily find one in the mall. I like the selection of stores, including Old Navy, Roots, Banana Republic, and Body Shop.
You can test out nail polish at The Face Shop and Sephora. The latter supplies nail polish remover if you dislike the nail polish that you’ve tried out.
I find the layout to be a bit confusing, at times. I think it’s because I am so used to uniform floors more than anything.
The food court is clean and huge. The mall has free wifi, if you need to take a breather and surf.
It’s a decent mall in the heart of downtown. It was nice to see how much this mall has improved since I last visited.

The location of course is prime for Ottawa in the heart of downtown and has some decent stores. Love the new stores!
I have been coming here since I was a teen and some things have stayed the same and there have also been a lot of changes.
The food court — WOW! What a step up from what is was and where it was. They use real plates and cutlery! People were on dates here! The food choices were higher class and had some diversity! I was impressed.
The addition of Nordstrom gives the Centre a classy look too.
As always, some of the escalators were down for repair.
A must-​stop when in Ottawa just down the street from Parliament. Try to park on the street — the garage is way more expensive and can be hard to find a spot.

This is my least favorite mall. I only have a couple of stores i like here, and the size is JUST SAD. For downtown ottawa, i give this a d-​. Anywhere else its a b. The only thing I really like is the food court. It looks very fancy and has nice plates and cups lol.
I don’t recommend this.

good name… but limited supply on anything men oriented… plus, the café sells donuts (…a bit for a fancy place like Nordstrom’s)

Really liked how they turned the mall around. The dining hall is actually a better place to eat, unlike the food court which was always dirty, over-​crowded and long lineups especially at Subway. I visited the Rideau Centre on Easter weekend and saw how much it has changed.

Boy has this place changed. Well done Rideau, you have really brought yourself up a few levels! The whole look of the mall has DRAMATICALLY changed over the last couple of years. With the arrival of
Nordstrom’s the mall seems to have enticed several other higher end retailers to join the Ottawa scene: such at Tiffany’s! The entire space now boasts beautiful black and while stone, clean design lines, and presents a more upscale atmosphere. It is situated in the heart of downtown, still connected to the conference centre, the Westin Hotel, and right across form our nations forces offices, so it’s as busy as ever, yet somehow it does not feel as crowded as it once did.
Many stores have changed locations, and a few have disappeared but my only disappointment with all the changes is that the Marché Lino/​Richtree Market has gone. It was unique: open concept restaurant decorated like an outdoor market with trees and hand written signs, where you could go to different stalls within the restaurant, pick what you wanted to eat and it was made for you on the spot — a sort of different style buffet. It had been there for years and perhaps with the new (and beautiful) food court with so many food options, it would not have survived. If I’m honest, I may have eaten there twice, but I liked the atmosphere it created in the mall. That said, go check out the new food court: with dinnerware, cutlery, and really drinking glasses you are bound to feel dignified even with an A&W burger.
I’m happy to report the Second Cup is still going strong and in almost the same location as before — it was THE meeting place during high school, and has remained such to this day. Maybe I’ll see you there: D

I don’t know about the rest of the reviewers here, but I remember Rideau Centre as it was 10 (omg TEN!) years ago, when I was but a young buck haunting the halls of this place with my gang of schoolyard pals.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I did graduate from high school in Ottawa, and I did used to go to the Rideau Centre back then. And let me tell you: the Rideau Centre as it is now is NOTHING like the one I remember — in the best possible way.
First of all, let’s talk about the food court: it is AMAZING. Every type of food you could imagine, and all shiny and new. You want Japanese? Salads? Crepes? Mexican? Burgers? KFC? A straight up chocolate fountain? It’s all there! And with plenty of seating and some pretty sweet restrooms to boot.
Then, there’s the store selection. Rideau used to house primarily middle-​end Canadian stores (Le Château, The Bay, La Vie En Rose, etc), but now it’s a house of global brands that should be able to satisfy anyone’s high-​end retail therapy needs! Sephora, MAC, J. Crew, Banana Republic, BCBG Max Azria, Lacoste… even a freaking Tiffany & Co!
Unghghh, it’s soooo nice. They’re still doing a little bit of construction on the bottom floor, but it doesn’t seem to impact things during the day. Good show, Rideau! You’ve really grown up, and I liiiiike it!

Tons of construction and crowds. There is a wide variety of shops in the centre, but the amount of construction and lack of parking make it difficult to enjoy the area. I would stay away until the construction is completed. On a positive note, the location to the market makes it convenient for a day of shopping and drinking!!!

I can’t believe that I haven’t written a review of the Rideau Centre before. I’ve been to this mall over a hundred times. In fact, it was the first mall in Ottawa I ever went to back when I wasn’t even living here. It has undergone a lot of renovations in the last 10 years. It was once a dingy mall and I was so shocked that it was the major downtown mall of our Nation’s Capital, but now it is trying to be much swankier. It’s a Cadillac-​Fairview Mall now, so it has that branding and feel. Renovations are not yet done at the time of the writing of this review, so they are still expanding.
It is a much higher-​end mall now than it used to be. It has stores like Nordstrom, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, and Coach. There aren’t any luxury stores like Louis Vuitton, Hermes or Chanel, but they do have a Cartier, strangely enough. The food court is more «upscale» and has real cutlery and china. The food court is similar to Toronto’s Yorkdale food court. I am less embarrassed now to bring visitors to this mall and proclaim that it is Ottawa’s downtown mall and it is designated as a «tourist attraction.»
It’s not my favourite mall because rarely will you get any good deals here, but it’s a nice mall to walk around in and just to browse.
There are 3 levels and it’s fairly easy to navigate.
Parking here is terrible. You have to pay for parking. The spots are narrow and the parking lot is always crowded. I usually just take the bus here.

Un plein coeur de la ville, c’est l’un des lieux incontournables pour le magasinage. On y trouve de tout. Mais attention détails importants pour les français. Non, les centres commerciaux américains né sont pas tous construits autour d’un supermarché. C’est le cas ici, pas de supermarché pour faire vos courses alimentaires.
Ici c’est surtout des vêtements, du loisirs, des chaussures, de la téléphonie, l’agence de transports, des parfumeries, …
Il y a aussi un cinéma au dernier étage, et un food court (lieu regroupant plein d’enseignes de restaurations rapide) à l’étage inférieur. Bref, vous pouvez y passer la journée tellement qu’il y a de boutiques.

Wow this is one shopping center that is having a major overhaul. Love how it’s turning out to be. It surely doesn’t looks so run down anymore, the food court is amazing as well. Can’t wait to go back.

The mall has some decent stores but it is not busy at all. I went there Jan 2, 2015 and I was surprised to see so few people. The mall is undergoing renovations but that shouldn’t have affected things. Maybe less people shop in the new year but it was surprising to see. Other than that there are not that many unique stores that you cannot find anywhere else. From the parking garage to the mall interior is a very long cold walk in the winter and it feels like you are walking down a back alley. Probably one of the best looking malls in Ottawa but that doesn’t seem to be enough to get foot traffic.

WOW, have I not been here in ages. And, WOW, has a lot changed in the past couple of years. The newly remodled mall, with its new slick and somewhat slippery, white floor, is still going through its last bit of construction, but as to date, its looking very promising.
As a personal preference, I prefer quieter malls like Place Orleans and Bayshore, but I was impressed with my last visit there.
I love the selection of the stores at this mall, from everthing to Sephora, to the 2 level Forever 21 as well as Victorias Secret, this mall has something for everyone.
Their food court, while it can get pretty packed, has a lot of options from burgers, to sandwiches, to Indian cuisine.
I love how this mall connects to the OC Transitway as well to the ByWard Market.
Rideau Centre is a must see when travelling to Ottawa-​you wont be dissapointed.

Recently the Rideau Centre, a shopping mall in Ottawa, Canada began renovations in order to make the very old wing of the mall match a new wing that is being built attached to it. I am here to give the mall a FAIL in considering the needs of it’s shoppers.
The FAIL is in NOT recognizing that people who are not fully able bodied (the elderly, persons with physically limiting illnesses, people in wheel chairs, and others) will not be able to safely access the mall thanks to their new floor tiles.
The new tiles are severely slippery. Not the grey ones near the entrances, those are fantastic and I wish they had put those tiles throughout the mall. I’m talking about the cream coloured ones that are highly glossy and slippery. I put on a new pair of deck shoes (created for rich sailors boys to walk on their expensive and highly polished boat decks safely) and slip-​slidded my way across the mall. A feat I will not so again attempt. I am a disabled person and life is too valuable to play «Skate-​the-​mall» while trying to shop.
Since I previously spent a lot of time in the Rideau Centre, as it was one of my main meeting places, I am very disappointed to no longer be able to shop or eat there because of the danger I feel I am in when trying to walk in the mall.
What’s equally sad it that the St. Laurent Shopping Centre is copying this stupid example and putting the same slippery flooring down.
Where the hell am I going to shop?
Are they going to pull the same crap idea at the Bayshore Shopping Centre or will I be forced to shop at Tanger Outlets?

It’s too crowded and just awful.
It has all these classy stores like it’s appealing to rich people, but the outside is full of drug deals and fights.
Since the removal of the Cinnabon, I have no need to go in that mall.

It’s actually pretty amazing, the Rideau centre is going through a type of gentrification I’ve witnessed since 2004. Gone is Sears, gone is movenpick– marche, the goth store across from movenpick and gone is the old food court and movie theatre? New to the block is Nespresso, Kiehls, J. Crew, Eddie Bauer a new food court and soon Nordstrom?
Yuppers, this mall has come a long way in the last ten years! It was a sleepy mall (with half decent shopping) in the downtown area linking the Westin, convention centre and various transit corridors.
Now once the other renos are done it will serve the downtown area with some decent options.
We ate in the food court and it’s nice to see the diverse selection in a clean and slightly adequately lit space.
Also good to see there is still a Shoppers Drug Mart and LCBO. You have many of your mall staples plus some extras! You can knock off many needs off the list on a visit here!

Le magasinage est super et beaucoup de choix dans les magasins ! Surtout, le centre est en rénovation et si tout ce qui est promis est réalisé, ce sera de loin le meilleur centre commercial de la région !

The mall was a bit confusing and the stores weren’t easy to find. Since the mall was under major renovation, it was very friendly when we tried locating some of the stores.
The mall had nothing special to make it stick out

Soooo much construction this year! A lot of new stores too! The new food court is fantastic!

Le Centre Rideau est présentement en rénovations donc il manqué certains magasins interessants.
Sinon, rien à voir avec les centres d’achat de Montréal, c’est bien mais rien d’extraordinaire. Des chaînes de magasins bien connues. Un + pour le magasin Lacoste !

Ottawa’s downtown mall, loosely the equivalent of Toronto or Montréal’s Eaton Centres. The mall had appeared very dated but is undergoing a major renovation. The overall look and feel will be updated and new shops, higher-​end for the most part, are opening through this major renovation. There will also be a link to the new underground system being built, so the newly reinvigorated Rideau Centre will fit well within an increasingly expanding and modernized Ottawa.

Standard mall with the usual stores. When ever I come to canada, I really like to visit senza — such a refreshing change from VS! Don’t get me wrong, I am a die hard fan of VS (primarily because of the amazing Candice swanopeol) but it’s good to have a change sometimes!
Some of the stores closed early given the snow and the horrible weather, but the ones that were open were cool.
Pretty ok if you are in downtown and need an emergency something — clothes boots etc!

Enorme centre commercial dans le centre ville d’Ottawa ! C’est haut et en plus c’est large ! J’avoue que je me suis souvent perdue dans ce centre commercial et que je tournais souvent en rond pour arriver au même point… En plus il y a souvent du monde car c’est vraiment le point de rendez-​vous au centre ville et c’est aussi le noeud central du réseau de bus à Ottawa.
A part ça, le centre commercial a presque tout ce dont on peut avoir besoin ! Beaucoup de boutiques: vêtement, accessoires, objets en tout genre, cosmétiques… vraiment tout ! Bön il manqué quelques marques comme Hollister mais les principales marques Canadiennes et Américaines sont là ! Et bien sur il y a un food court… une des choses qu’il me manqué en France… un endroit où tout les fast food ont un comptoir et endroit où il y a plein de table pour que les gens puissent manger sans aller dans une salle de restaurant…
Sinon les prix au Rideau centre sont un peu cher je trouve. C’est un centre beaucoup plus classe que les autres centre commerciaux d’Ottawa donc ça peut expliquer les prix.
En tout cas j’adorais me promener dans ce centre commercial (surtout la boutique de souvenir canadiens avec un grand orignal à l’entrée) :-)

Großes Einkaufszentrum gleich im Zentrum der Stadt, ideal für die kalten Tage von denen es in Ottawa ja genug gibt. Das EInkaufszentrum ist gleich neben dem großen Busterminal und so ungewöhnlicherweise auch öffentlich gut erreichbar.