La Casa Nostra Ristorante — Restaurant in Thunder Bay

Very disappointed. We've heard many great reviews of this restaurant and were excited to try some authentic Italian cuisine. We ordered the chicken parmesan special. The service was not very good. We ordered the specials and waited. Then the waitress came back with 2 house salads. She places them in front of us and told us that the house salads came with the specials. Oh....okay....would of liked it if she had mentioned that when we ordered. Mind you, she didn't even tell us the specials....it was just by luck that we picked out what was on special. This waitress came to our table several times to place dishes on our table so she could set up another table. Why put them on our table? Why not place them on one of the 3 empty tables? She then came back with 4 full place settings and placed them on our table. You need to have those dishes on the table so you can shave 40 seconds off your table cleaning? Do you not realize that those clean dishes could get sauce, spit etc just sitting there? Gross! The salad was ok but not authentic. Italian salad is olive oil and red wine or balsamic vinegar. The red wine vinegar was correct in the salad but there was no olive oil. When our entree arrived we couldn't wait to try it. But, was I disappointed. The chicken was extremely over done...so much so that the coating on it was so dark...almost black. And the pasta? The sauce on the pasta was not sauce. It seemed to be just warmed chopped canned tomatoes on top of the pasta. No seasonings whatsoever. No salt, pepper, oregano or basil. Just warm tomatoes. Maybe we just hit the restaurant on a bad night. But, by the experience had here, I will not be returning. BTW, I am 100% Italian, a daughter of Italian immigrants....I so know...

I gave my Mom a gift certificate to LA Casa Nostra Ristorante as a Christmas gift but it closed before she could use it. The new owners honoured the gift certificate and hosted a wonderful evening for her and Joe. The following is the text she sent me when they got home:

Thank you for a wonderful evening, Jay and Cheryl! 🤗

The food was homemade and tasty with generous portions. Our server/manager was outstanding. She was helpful thoughtful efficient and funny. They kindly accepted your gift card with no hesitation and went out of their way to make it a happy experience. The atmosphere was charming and cosy with an old fashioned Italian vibe. Authentic upbeat Italian music played quietly in the background. The place had a mix of ages from a young couple in their 20’s, all the way to us in our 80’s and everything in between.

It was a very pleasant evening, we will be...

Great authentic Italian restaurant with quality service and quality food. Owner stopped by for a visit and you could tell he was proud of his restaurant and his food! There was live piano music played during dinner which was very cool. All the dishes at our table were beautifully presented. There was bread and garlic butter served with the meal. As well, most meals came with a small oil n vinegar salad. The kids loved the pizza. My only negatives are that the tables are fit tightly together so that the backs chairs from different tables touch and because if this, it's a pretty loud atmosphere. As well, as amazing as the food is, the prices on certain items were a little out of line ...ie a small soup for $14. Overall though, great experience and will...