Capital History Ottawa (#colourized): Bowles Lunch

My latest for Apartment613 is on legendary Ottawa diner, Bowles Lunch! 

"The atmosphere was masculine, loud, and often bawdy. Asking a woman to enter Bowles was an insult. Acceptance would cause serious damage to her reputation." (Ottawa Citizen – Dec. 26, 1981)

Read all about it here: Capital History: Bowles Lunch, 1917 to 1957

Rideau St. looking east across Sussex Dr., 1937. Bowles Lunch Rideau St. outlet on the right. [Orig. image via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall]

*New: Updates (2025-26)...

Here's a colourization not included in my original 2021 story, but which should have been.

Bowles Lunch, 50 Rideau St. (a couple doors east of Union Station), 1921. [Original image via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall]

And here's the same location around 1957, after it had become a Scott's Restaurant. (Bowles' other Ottawa location – on Sparks St. – ultimately became a Scott's Chicken Villa (i.e. KFC). Scott's Restaurant on Rideau closed and the building was occupied by other businesses prior to being demolished around 1967.)

Scott's Restaurant, 50 Rideau St., ca. 1957. [Image via Ottawa Archives]

Finally, here's a few more newly discovered exterior images of Bowles' two Ottawa locations, plus a few new and improved colourizations of the interiors...

View of Rideau St. from Chateau Laurier, viewing east, 1938. Giant Bowles Lunch neon sign visible centre-left.

Bowles Lunch, Rideau St., Ottawa, 1921. [Orig. image via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall]

Bowles Lunch, Rideau St., Ottawa, 1921. [Orig. image via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall]

Bowles was known for their one-armed chairs. (Some tables were added later.)

Bowles Lunch, Rideau St., Ottawa, 1921. [Orig. image via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall]

Rideau St., viewing east, 1954. Bowles Lunch sign visible centre-right. [Postcard via Ilia Ekchhout]

Rideau St. viewing east from Chateau Laurier, 1957. Bowles Lunch building (behind the streetlight cluster) has "Scott's Coffee Shop" sign on it. [Image via Toronto Archives]

Ottawa Citizen building on Sparks St., decorated for Royal Visit, 1939. Bowles Lunch next door, on left.

Bowles Lunch, Sparks St., Ottawa, 1917. [Orig. image via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall]

Scott's Restaurant and Scott's Chicken Villa (i.e. KFC) in previous Bowles location on Sparks St., Ottawa, 1961.

"Western Day" on Sparks St. Mall, 1967. The former Bowles Lunch location was now a Scott's Chicken Villa, which was also evidently a tavern?! Yeehaw! [Via Library & Archives - colourized]

Once more, full story on Bowles Lunch in Ottawa here: Capital History: Bowles Lunch, 1917 to 1957

For more historical colourizations, you can follow my "Capital History Ottawa" on Twitter / X @CapHistOttawa. (*Now also on Facebook, Instagram, & Bluesky.)