Are you getting a little tired of ordering the same old thing at your favourite restaurant or fast food joint?
Then you need to find out if they have a secret menu. Many establishments will serve items above and beyond what’s listed on the current menu.
For example, when is the last time you had a S’more Galore Parfait? It’s been several years since Dairy Queen listed the campfire-inspired frozen treat. But that’s no problem at the Dairy Queen on Walkley Road in Ottawa. Jennifer Buffington has been working there for twenty years. If she remembers it, she can make it. “Cacao fudge, graham crackers and marshmallows,” she explains. She can also whip up rare off-menu delights like the Pecan Mudslide, German Chocolate Blizzard, and the once-popular Frozen Hot Chocolate.
The Lone Star on George Street is another place where old favourites are gone but not forgotten. Long-time customers still know to ask for off-menu items like individually-dressed Border Nachos or the hearty Poorboy sandwich.
Even coffee shops have their non-menu items. Angela Belanger at Second Cup says if you need an extra shot of caffeine, just ask for The Red Eye. It’s a coffee with two shots of espresso. There’s also a Mocha Red Eye.
Some places, like Ottawa's iconic Beavertails in the Byward Market, have secret combos. Employee Grady Louch will make you his Grady Special - a combination of two favourites, maple butter and the cinnamon-covered Killaloe Sunrise. Or you can just ask for The Works - a beavertail sampler featuring a little bit of everything.
Smoke's Poutinerie on Dalhousie St. has a secret menu item called the Slaughterhouse Poutine. It's topped with every meat topping they offer.
The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro has turned the idea around. Their secret is that you can request pretty much anything you can think of on your burger. If they have it, they'll make it.
Some secret menu items happen by a happy mistake. At Johnny Farina on Elgin Street in downtown Ottawa, the kitchen cut up an order of rack of lamb. They decided the pieces looked like lollipops, and lamb lollipops were born. They might make their way onto the summer patio menu, but for now lamb lollipops are only available to those in the know.
Believe it or not, even liver is a secret menu item. And at The Cheshire Cat Pub in Carp, there is even a secret way of ordering it. Ask for the liver, and the server might say it's not on the menu. But if you say "Dustin says it's OK" they'll whip you up a plate.
And one Ottawa restaurant doesn't just have a secret menu, they have an entire secret bar they serve it in. Union Local 613 on Somerset Street West has a secret, unnamed "speakeasy" in the basement. The hidden room seats twenty, and features an entirely different drink menu. It's so secret it doesn'e even have a door. Entry is via a hidden access behind a bookcase.
