By Charlie Senack
The smell of a fresh baked meatball sub and nachos wafts through the famous Prescott in Little Italy. A group of middle-aged men wearing plaid and hockey jerseys are sitting at the bar watching sports. Their glasses clang and chants are shouted every time a player scores. In the room next door is a more solemn moment; a memorial service for a longtime community member who recently passed.
It’s a traditionally busy November night at the Prescott which turned 90 this year.
The tavern began as the Preston Hotel in September 1934 by Giuseppe Costantini and Antonio Disipio. The two men from Italy wanted to open a drinking establishment, but obtaining a bar license required rentable rooms for eventual stay overs.
Its success was almost immediate as it was the “last chance” spot on the highway out of town — hence its now Prescott name. But tough times were soon to come for Costantini.
The 1930s witnessed the height of the wave of fascism in Europe, and a world war loomed on the horizon. Communities like the Italians were targeted as possible fascist sympathizers and called “enemy aliens.” That’s when internment camps were started with a total of 26 being located in Canada during World War II. Five Italian men from Ottawa were taken. Costantini was one of them.
The bar owner, who also worked as a baggage master with the CNR at Union Station in downtown Ottawa, was taken because he was part of various community groups which the government assumed meant he must be a follower of Benito Mussolini and his fascist regime.
“They probably praised Mussolini because Italy was in a good state before the war and they had family members back home,” said his granddaughter, Trina Costantini-Powell. “They were detained at camp Petawawa for close to a year in my grandfather’s case. Their family in the first few days didn’t know where to or why they were taken. They were faced with [wondering] who would support them because their livelihood was cut off. Business interests had to be filled and many of them had large families.”
Costantini was in the camp for eight months and when he returned, the Preston Hotel was taken away from him and renamed the Prescott. To safeguard his business while interned, Costantini surrendered his share of the business to his lawyer John Ebbs Senior. The Canadian lawyer was able to reacquire the hotel’s liquor license and remained as a silent partner until 1979 when his share was sold to Disipio’s grandson Tony.
Disipio was also seized in the round of arrests, but was released after an eight-hour interrogation. He was not allowed to return to work and ordered to cease operations. The Hotel was managed by a City Hall appointee and eventually closed by the RCMP until war’s end.
Life then went on at the drinking hole, but the rooms upstairs stopped getting rented out in 1978. Today they are used for storage and offices, with the original curtains still hanging from some of the windows and 90-year-old fire exit instructions posted on its doors. The small moments from decades ago are frozen in time.
The Prescott remained in the Disipio family for three generations until Tony Disipio decided it was time to move on. In April 2020, the Little Italy gem was handed over to The Properties Group, an Ottawa-based real estate investment and management firm, which wanted to retain its history for years to come.
Michael Cognoan, 82, has been visiting the Prescott for 65 years. The frequent customer grew up on Eccles street a few blocks away and said some of his earliest memories was visiting the bar with his dad.
The community was a different place back then.
“It wasn’t always Italian. Back then we’d call them displaced persons. There were more people from Romania, Serbia and Czechoslovakia. Then the Italians came in,” recalled Cognoan. “What brought the shift was a couple of restaurants opened down here like the Prescott. Before that, Gypsies used to stay at Plouffe Park, and on the weekends people would come and have Gypsy food. But Ottawa moved them out [of the park] and then the Italians opened up restaurants.”
The Prescott has been home to countless brawls and fights. In a different era, it wasn’t uncommon for police officers to sit tables away from the criminals they recently arrested. There was an unwritten truce for the two sides not to interact.
Cognoan also remembers when there was a men-only side. It was a controversial decision when the rules changed.
“When they finally allowed women in they had to open a bathroom at the back. It was called men and escorts,” said Cognoan. The physical signs are still there to this day. If only walls could talk.
Looking ahead to the next 90 years
Today the Prescott is a gathering space for all, and general manager Trever Proulx said they are looking to introduce the historic hangout spot to Ottawa’s next generation. Even so, its outdated look isn’t going anywhere.
”It was always known to be a public legion. The clientele has been coming here for 50 plus years. They know what they like. The menu has been the same for 70 years. The same meat sauce recipe and meatballs are made by hand. It’s an institution,” said Proulx.
“We are trying to attract a younger crowd who like the hipster vibes. We’ve got quarts of beer, live music, UFC matches and karaoke nights. We do pool tournaments and trivia nights. It’s opening eyes to a lot of people in Ottawa who haven’t heard of the Prescott or haven’t been here before,” the general manager added.
A Westboro native, Proulx – who’s served the famous and infamous, including the Kardashians — said they are looking to better utilize the three floors of space. Recently, the Prescott opened a new miniput in the basement called Par-Tee Putt. It has that “hipster vibe” Proulx talks about and fancy cocktails.
The “newest destination for a good time” has 18 themed holes including Beetlejuice, Family Guy, Jaws, and Pokémon.
In the summer, the Prescott’s rooftop patio is transformed into the Porch, an extension of the restaurant, which offers a better nightlife option that includes DJs and a scenic view of Preston Street. This was its first full year in operation and is expected to grow again next year.
“It’s like running three businesses in one,” said Proulx. “This was a good summer to open people’s eyes to the best patio in the city. The Tulip Festival was awesome and we did a margarita fest during Italian Week.”
During its peak, the Prescott sold between 12,000 and 15,000 quarts of beer every week. Today the numbers aren’t that high — partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic — but customers are slowly coming back. The restaurant can seat 675 people and can accommodate large groups even without reservations.
Looking ahead to the future, Proulx said the Prescott will always be known for its meatball sandwiches, square pizzas, and liver and onions, but hopes today’s young adults will also be able to create their own memories.
“The history of the Prescott varies from person to person. A lot of the old time regulars come out, got married here, and stayed in one of the hotel rooms upstairs. I just like to keep a little piece of Ottawa history. It would be really sad for the Prescott to be turned into something modern. It should be classified as heritage,” he said. “It brings tears to my eyes when I hear all the different stories. This building reaches all my heart strings.”