FONO brings hi-fi listening culture to Bronson Avenue
New lounge honors Ottawa's legendary music venues with cocktails, vinyl, and a history of the city's club scene.
Walk into FONO, the new hi-fi listening lounge on Bronson Avenue, and you're stepping into a love letter to Ottawa's lost music venues — Zaphod Beeblebrox, the Rotters Club, One Step Beyond, Cinqhole. The cocktail menu reads like a tribute band: The Rotters Club. Zaphod. One Step Beyond. Paradise Room.
For anyone who spent the 1990s watching Canadian rock bands break through at tiny York Street venues, that's not nostalgia — that's history. The bar sits in a 100-year-old building; its design is sleek and modern, all polished surfaces and low seating. But the soul belongs to the city's underground music past.
The vibe is what FONO does best. The key draw isn't loud music — it's the opposite. The hi-fi system is engineered so you can actually hold a conversation while vinyl plays. That's the whole point. This is a listening lounge, not a club. You come for the sound quality, the cocktails, and the feeling of being in a room of people who actually care about music.
The tap beer is Sunsplit, a 6.5% IPA from Dominion City Brewing — a local brewery with a devoted following. But the cocktail list is where the venue shines. Drinks are made with care, and the menu's naming strategy alone tells a story: each name anchors a moment in Ottawa's live-music history. For anyone who remembers live shows as the city's social centre, FONO feels like a place built for you.
Access is via a red-lit entrance on the side of the building. The lounge has low-slung chairs in corners and a spacious bar — good for solo drinkers or small groups. Matias Munoz, one of the partners, previously ran Cinqhole, the DIY venue that closed during the first year of the pandemic. This is his next chapter: a room where listening is the main event.