Casa Ristorante — Restaurant in Indiana

We are trying a few places during Savor Fort Wayne and went in for an early lunch at Casa! Judging by the wait as we left and how quickly it filled they are doing most things very right.

We were both happy with the bruschetta. Some assembly required worked very well even if I did miss the mozerrela. The red onion and garlic gave it the bite instead of balsamic and it worked well. This is a presentation we will mimic at home. Table side bread was neither good nor bad.

The Italian Old Fashioned was good, but no better than any other well made Old Fashioned. My wife's wine was fine and to her taste.

Main course was the spaghetti with meatball and the fettuccini with mushroom and one other veggie. We went with the spinach and were very pleased with that choice. The sauce was near mac and cheese thickness which was so very good. The spagghetti with meatball costs CASA! a full star because there was nothing special about it at all and we both agreed it was not as good as her own quick sauce she makes at home. The meatballs lacked enough flavor to lift the rest of the dish. Portions were incredibly generous. Sharing a single entree would still be more than enough especialy with the bruschetta and dessert.

Tiramisu felt manufactured and also lacked the bright espresso flavor so needed for a well made dessert. Far too custarded-y with too little texture and sweetness. Another half-star drops for that, but rounds up on the whole.

Also, despite the savor Fort Wayne deal it was too expensive for the quality presented. I would have been very displeased had I paid full price for the same meal. Cutting entree portions in half or more and the price by 30-40% would be more than acceptable. We paid 50 before tip with just two drinks and the Savor FW deal. It would likely be 70 at least before tip without the deal. Everything felt 25% or so too expensive...

Walked in, no wait! Then... big guy leaning against the seating "desk" no verbilization what-so-ever, it took about 2 min for the host to show up, a young fellow, he has little idea what he is doing and can't decide where to sit us, literally takes 4 minutes to decide where to sit us. The young guy fianlly, after much discussion and talk about what tables are still dirty and which waitress to sit us with, neither is confident in the choice they make but the big guy keeps telling the young guy "table is still dirty, table is still dirty" all while standing and leaning against the "desk". Finally we're seated, finally. NOW, the waitress walks by our table 3 times before acknowledging us. Keep in mind, this is all happening with no wait, half the tables are empty in the restaurant. I'm really surprised at this service as it use to be a much busier place with exceptional service. I'm just hoping our food makes up for it. Stay tuned... Well the waitress was new, which is fine but, extreamly slow service from her and she only had one other table. We got our salad 8 min. Then 2 min later, our entree arrived so, this causes our entree to get cold as we finish our salad. Food was as good as it ever was, no issues there, just a bit colder than preferable. She stopped back once, which is about perfect but after asking if we wanted drinks, we asked for the check and it took at least 10 min for her to bring it. Not planning to go back to this Casa. I don't completely blame the server because it seems that no-one working had any sense of urgency so she probably learned from them to not hurry, lean your lazy butt against a desk and don't talk to patrons. Pretty disappointing...

I hate leaving bad reviews. I really do. And avoid it at all cost, but I felt I had to write SOMETHING about my meal at Casa tonight. I'm here for work and was stoked to find an "Italian" restaurant near my hotel. The menu also looked excellent and extensive, but when I arrived, I decided I wanted something classic and easy. I ordered fettuccine alfredo and added shrimp (6 of them) for an additional $5.99, along with a house side salad. The bread I received before my meal was stale. Then I got my salad and it was drenched, and I mean saturated, in dressing. Worse than how Olive Garden prepares their salad. Then I got my entree. It was by far the worst alfredo I have ever eaten. It tasted like a TV dinner. No flavor and thick like paste for a sauce. The only seasoning was some big chunks of black pepper that I would bite into on occasion and that tasted horrible. The shrimp was a JOKE. For an additional $6, I expected some decent shrimp. They were tiny (almost popcorn size), way over cooked (so tough and rubbery), and ZERO (and I mean zero) flavor/seasoning. They tasted like they had been frozen and were freezer burnt. I didn't even finish my 6 shrimps and ate may 1/5 of my pasta. The only thing I can compliment on was my service. I had a great, attentive, and sweet server. It's not her fault she works at a poor excuse for an Italian restaurant. I can only imagine that the reason why this place is rated highly is because people in Indiana don't know what good Italian is. I spent $37 for one of the worst meals...