Casa Mia of Hoquiam — Restaurant in Hoquiam

Terrible experience. I try really hard to give restaurants and their staff the benefit of the doubt, to express fair and impartial reviews, but I just really couldn't here.

Summary; the staff had NO clue about their food, about the voicemail instructions the public are left with, and are generally just not that awesome, or dont know, how to be a host/hostess for a restaurant. The food was NOT better; definately an underwhelming and dissappointing experience all around.

Story; It started with a phone call. I called to place an order, but was sent straight to a message telling me their open hours (I called thursday, 5ish PM, so it was during a time they were open), that I HAD to place an order with a host; leaving a voicemail would not result in an order, and that I had to pay over phone.

Ok. Not a problem.

It went straight to voicemail though. Ok, so, I call again. Same thing. Again, same thing. Again, literally same thing. And I'm sitting here confused and frustrated because, i understand if they are busy, i get that, but why not put me on hold like any other normal place in the world? Call again. Told the rules. Voicemail: useless since I can't leave a voicemail to place an order. Call again. Am told the rules again. Voicemail again.

Finally, the i called again and someone answered! Yes, success (or so i thought). They put me on hold, (that's fine, I figured they were busy), after that, I begin ordering. I ordered the ravioli. They asked if I wanted red or white sauce, I said marinara. They asked again, is that the red sauce or the white sauce? (This is an Italian specific restaurant....how does the Italian restaurant employee not know if marinara sauce is red or white?) I tell them it's the red sauce. They ask if I wanted soup or salad. I said soup. They said what kind of soup? I told them, since they never said what soups they have, what kinds of soup are available? So we wrap up that order and he begins telling me a time to pick it up.

I told him i wasnt even done ordering!

Move onto the next order; steak della casa. Things go pretty normal at this point until we get to the end. Its supposed to come with pasta (thats what the menu says) and he wasn't sure it did. He had to double check, and when he asked with sauce I said white sauce (I dare not say fettuccine or alfredo at this point) AND HE ASKS IF THAT'S FETTUCCINE OR SPAGHETTI! (Seriously annoyed af right now). He asks for the name and car; Jesse in a big green dodge ram truck. He asks if we want to pay in cash on site. I told him that their voicemail instructions said we MUST pay over the phone (I heard it like 5 times!). (Note to the owner; if that isnt the case anymore, change the voicemail!)

The name Jesse somehow got misinterpreted as Hosay. So the lady was going to several cars asking if our order was theirs. It wasn't.

We get the food. I can honestly say the only thing on that plate that was not something I could have done myself at home BETTER, was the bread. The pasta was fine; pretty generic Alfredo sauce that you can definately get from a Prego jar. The soup was fine. The steak had NO sear or char marks on it; it looked like a sad, pasty piece of meat that had so little flavor that I was dipping the steak into my soup (minestrone soup) to add both moisture and flavor.

Boo. I'll never go there again and I will definately not advocate anyone else to...

The place looked inviting from the outside, a typical mom & pop Italian restaurant appearance like you would see back East where, unlike the Pacific Northwest, great Italian eateries are abundant. The inside looked more like a cheap diner with little Italian influence other than the few pictures and paintings adorning the walls.

The place was packed at lunchtime, but we managed to find a booth in the back. The service was efficient and friendly and house wine relatively cheap ($3.25/glass), but the glass was small and the wine obviously low-budget. Nevertheless, not a bad deal for a little wine with lunch.

They did not have veal parmigiana (I asked) and now I know why. The only veal option was the Veal Marsala a la Scallopine ($17) which was not prepared in the typical manner, but prepared in advance and sliced in small strips with mushrooms in a sweet Marsala and looking more like stew than "scallopine". The sauce was decent, but a touch too sweet, even for a sweet Marsala, so they had obviously added sugar or another sweetener. For $17, the serving was rather small as was the accompanying side of fettuccine Alfredo, both looking a bit pitiful on the large, oval plate. It did come with a salad and garlic bread, so compared to Italian restaurants in the Portland area where we live, it was a relative bargain.

My wife had the Spinach Cheese Ravioli (small - $10.50), spinach and artichoke pasta stuffed with cheese and topped with alfredo sauce and pesto. Again, not a big serving by any stretch, but a good value considering it came with garlic bread and a salad. The salads, by the way, were big with too much dressing and topped with a heap of shredded mozzarella and sliced black olives. I had to go see my cardiologist forthwith.

The food was decent, not great, and the prices fair, making Casa Mia a relative bargain in a region where overpriced, mediocre Italian food is the norm. But compared to my favorite Italian restaurants in LA, San Francisco, and NYC, this place was very "middle of the road", hence my rating ...

CombatCritic Gives Casa Mia 6 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Six Bombs Equates To: G2G

Translation for Civilians:...

I am giving 3 stars for a reason. So when we went at this location for the first time it was a nice place. However, our server was shall I say interesting. I am not sure why this was confusing to her or if she was really paying attention or not. I asked about GF options for pasta. I was told they only had 1 kind of pasta that was Gluten-Free. So when I ordered my dish I was given something I did not order. I was so confused. It was given a premade dish. Then I was given what I ordered in which the noodles were not Gluten-Free. Cause she had said they only had 1 pasta that was Gluten-Free. I am so happy I asked that question before eating, cause I would have gotten really sick otherwise. So she went and got the manager and she kindly explained to me what it was. So if you're going to go to this location be in mind if you want Gluten-Free pasta they will only give you the premade stuff they have. It's a cold pasta dish. I personally am not a fan of cold pasta dishes. So we came up with a solution. They made a fresh new batch of the makings to my original order and put it on top of the cold pasta. It tasted good, so it was a win in the end. Thank you to the manager that made this happen. But I will say this wouldn't have happened in the first place if your server was honest with me to begin with when I had asked about your Gluten-Free options for pasta. Cause she only said you had Gluten-Free pasta but not once did she mention that you only get to have the premade Gluten-Free dish. So I think you should have some words with your server about being honest with your customers. Cause if I didn't question it, I could have gotten really sick. I don't want this to happen to others, so please have some words with your server. I don't personally choose to be Gluten-Free, I medically have to be...