Chinatown welcomes Yangtze Restaurant reopening and BiOM Health Club opening
The Yangtze, closed since March 2024, will reopen this fall under new management with modern Chinese cuisine. Across the street, BiOM Health Club opens with North America's largest sauna.
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Ottawa's Chinatown is getting a major boost as two large vacant storefronts fill up. The Yangtze Restaurant and Dining Lounge, a neighbourhood fixture since the early 1980s, will reopen at 700 Somerset St. W. this fall under new management.
The restaurant closed in March 2024 when former owners listed the property for sale at $3.28 million. Yukang Li, executive director of the Chinatown BIA, said the reopening is "big news for the community." The menu will largely mirror what regulars knew, but with modern takes and new northern Chinese and Sichuan flavours added. The space is under renovation and should be ready by September or October.
Across the street, BiOM Health Club is opening in the former Oriental Chu Shing location (691 Somerset St. W.), another popular dim sum spot that closed in 2022. The facility will feature what the club says is North America's largest sauna, ice baths, a lounge and a preventative clinic.
Li emphasized that while the two reopenings are encouraging, Chinatown still faces challenges. "I would describe it as an encouraging sign rather than evidence that all of our challenges have been solved," he said, citing ongoing concerns about street safety, crime, theft, drug use and vandalism. The return of foot traffic from the Yangtze should have spillover effects on neighbouring businesses.
