Casa De Campo Restaurant — Restaurant in Bethlehem

Fantastic Dominican restaurant that serves excellent food in generous portions.

Food: excellent. Meat falling off the bone. Tasty seasoned rice. Sweet plantains. Delicious soups. Fantastic, home cooked comfort food. Anyone from any back ground would recognize it instantly and enjoy it.

Service: Excellent, except some language barriers. Very friendly!

Atmosphere: Relaxed, though a little empty.

Everything about this restaurant says it should be wildly popular, except it is held back by the ordering system. A customer needs to be able to walk up to the ordering station and know exactly how much stuff will cost when they order it. We're right next to a college, so we need to know that students are very cost conscious and trying to be careful with their spending.

There has to be a clear process. Think about how you order a burrito at Chipotle: First, it's rice: yellow or white? Then it's beans: pinto or black? Then proteins: beef, pork, etc? Ordering at Casa De Campo is confusing. You're standing in front of many choices, and (to an English only speaker) it's "what do you want"? I suggest you take the same process. (1) white or yellow rice? (2) beef or chicken? (3) do you want plantains? Then you need to have a sign that says that a plate with rice and one protein costs X dollars, a plate with rice and two proteins costs Y dollars, etc. This needs to be clear so that people don't overspend. You'll have way more customers.

Also you need to have...

Listen… I’ve eaten at more Dominican restaurants in the valley than I’d like to admit (my arteries keep whispering “slow down, bro” but my soul keeps saying “otra vez, otra vez”). Out of all of them, THIS spot? Top five, no question.

The ladies running the show here are basically Dominican food ninjas. They’re fast, friendly, and they hand you a plate like they’re sliding you a secret treasure map to flavor town. Portions? Not “normal human portions.” Nah. They’re giving “grandma heard you haven’t eaten in three days” portions.

Now let me talk about my go-to: the oven roasted chicken. I don’t know what sorcery they’re working with in that kitchen, but this bird comes out JUICY like it’s been baptized in flavor. Most oven roasted chicken is drier than the Sahara halfway through — not here. This chicken falls off the bone like it’s signing divorce papers. Every bite is seasoned like the chef whispered a prayer into the marinade the night before.

Haven’t tried the whole menu yet, but mark my words: I will. By the time I’m done, I’ll probably need a loyalty card or maybe just my own parking spot.

If you see me in there three times a week, mind...

I was very excited to try this place as it isn't too far from work and has great reviews. Recently having dental work I was looking for soft foods and sopa de pollo is always the way to go. Unfortunately, not here. I had to cut my soup as it had one piece of carrot and two potato pieces. I had a couple shreds of chicken, small bones in almost half the bites, and one large bone with fat on it. The fideos were so small you could only drink them. The flavor was bland and the potatoes and carrots tasted like they had been sitting at the bottom of the caldero all day. A couple stirs an hour would prevent this. The maduros were average, not bad and the white rice was good with the exception of a weevil in mine. The pastelillo was hard. Considering south side Bethlehem doesn't have many real good food places, I would go here again if I wanted a cheap meal and I was nearby. I wouldn't order the same thing again, but I like to try a place a couple times before I count them out. Hopefully my next visit will be better and I can...