The McDonald’s on Rideau Street — considered by some as an Ottawa institution — won’t be gracing the ByWard Market much longer.
The restaurant first opened in the downtown location in 1985, but District Realty, which owns the building, confirmed to CBC that the franchisee has chosen not to renew the lease, which expires this summer.
Over the years, the storied restaurant has been both a place for people to get a cheap meal or converse with friends. But it has also drawn increasing criticism from the community, police and city hall in recent years for the numerous reports of crime in and around the restaurant, garnering mixed reactions to its impending closure.
CBC spoke to some Ottawans who say it has become an eyesore, and even a danger, especially in recent years.
“The past three, four years of COVID, it’s just turned it into complete trash,” said Hayley Gleiser, while standing outside the restaurant.
Jake Graham took a similar view.
“I was here about a week and a half ago,” he said, recounting his first time visiting the location. “And I just felt I was slipping, so I looked [at my shoe], and there’s a needle.”
Raccoon video put location on the map
The restaurant used to be open 24 hours and was popular with crowds frequenting nearby bars, those who simply ducked in to use the bathroom or take a shortcut between Rideau and George streets.
The McDonald’s also became notorious — at least locally — after a viral video in the last decade showed someone producing a raccoon from their sweater in the midst of a fight inside the restaurant.
Following a letter from former Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau to the president and CEO of McDonald’s Canada in 2019 in which he outlined a significant jump in calls for help at the location, the restaurant starting closing at 10 p.m.
“The vibration there has always been really bad,” said passerby Tim Daniel. “There’s fights, all kinds of things like that going on.”
On Thursday, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe — who said he would often frequent Rideau Street McDonald’s on Friday nights as a teenager — wouldn’t comment on its closure, but voiced support for the opening of a new police station in the market.
“I’m optimistic about the future of the ByWard Market, but I accept that we’ve got a lot of challenges,” he said on Thursday.
Location has been maligned, property manager says
Not everyone is happy to see the restaurant leave the location.
“They’ve been a great tenant. People don’t appreciate how good of a community member McDonald’s has been,” said Peter Crosthwaite, the building’s property manager. “They’re going to be missed by the market, especially for people looking for an affordable bite to eat.”
While the lease isn’t up for renewal until July 1, Crosthwaite expects the restaurant to leave the location by April or May.
Mike Evraire has often relied on McDonald’s for an inexpensive meal in between the help he receives from some of the city’s emergency shelters.
“It’s devastating to some people,” he said.
John Sen echoed those comments, calling the restaurant’s forthcoming closure “a significant kind of deprivation,” for both those who may be homeless, as well as low income individuals.
“Homeless people are sometimes outside the McDonald’s and if they get a little bit of money, they’ll go inside and grab a meal,” he said.
He recalled many times when a friend would buy him a meal, or vice versa.
“It means more than just loss of food for individuals in Ottawa because, you know, people come here, they sit down, they relax, have a coffee. They read the newspaper, they talk about important things over a meal.”
