La Casina DC — Restaurant in Washington

Three years after my initial review, I returned to La Casina for lunch with my wife and seven-year-old daughter. Speaking to the owner (a husband-wife team from Rome), I more fully understand their story and concept. I left impressed.

First of all, La Casina is one of two pinsa-certified restaurants in the U.S.A. (The other is in San Francisco.) They make their pizza using the traditional Roman style where the dough is crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside al baked inside a wood-fired oven.

They also source all of their ingredients directly from Italy, including their produce. The result is tasty, authentic food from Rome.

To start, we had the artichoke, which was perfectly fried. The margarita pizza was a favorite of our daughter's, who said the cheese was her "new favorite." For the main course, we had their salami pizza with hot honey, cheese, red onions, and a few other ingredients. We also had their prosciutto white pizza. Everything was full of flavor and the dough is truly amazing. So tasty, light, but crispy. We're fans!

To end the lunch, we had a small espresso, which came with brown sugar cubes that made the espresso pop.

We'll be back!

(They invited us to return and comped our meal, but did not ask us to update this review. I did that on my own.) La Casina is a new pizzeria inside the old 7th Hill Pizza building along Eastern Market's main street. With their nutella calzones and delicious pizza, I miss 7th Hill. After my five-year-old daughter and I visited La Casina for a Tuesday summer lunch, here's our experience:

1. Pizza: They have many pizza options all baked in a wood fired oven inside. My daughter ordered the kids cheese pizza, which comes with a drink. She loved her box chocolate milk, but didn't like the pizza. She commented, "I don't love the sauce." I tried it and also wasn't a fan.

I asked the server for a pizza recommendation and he steered me toward the "La Porchetta." It comes with pork belly, lots of rosemary sprigs, black pepper and a few other items. There's no sauce on it and I didn't love the combo of flavors. However, the crust was delicious- the texture was chewy and good!

2. Price: Pizzas range between $13-$16, which isn't horrible, BUT they are really small. My pizza had four slices and my daughter's had six small pieces. If she liked her pizza, it would have filled her up, but my pizza left me wanting more.

3. Service: This is where they shine. Our server was attentive and even brought ice water for our puppy on the patio. When we had to change our order to takeout, he was kind as were the workers inside making our pizza.

4. Location: The space is small, but it works and it's along Eastern Market's main street close to street parking and many other shops.

If you love pizza, D.C. does better. I recommend June, Martha Dear, Menomale or...

I really wanted to like this place, but unfortunately, our experience was disappointing from start to finish mostly due to inattentive service, long waits, and a general sense that our presence was more of a burden than anything.

When we arrived, we were told that several menu items required substitutions due to missing key components. That’s understandable, popular spots can run low on certain ingredients, but it felt like nearly half of what our party of three asked about had been altered in some way. For example, one pinsa had a different cheese entirely, which seemed like a pretty big deal for a place that focuses on making one thing. We adjusted and each ordered an appetizer and a pinsa.

About 45 minutes later, the first person’s appetizer arrived: fried rice balls that were flavorful but a bit dry. The server seemed frustrated when we didn’t immediately recognize the dish, making a snide comment about how she knew she had the right table. Moments later, she brought an entrée that wasn’t ours, and when we didn’t claim it, she again implied we just didn’t know what we’d ordered. The dish turned out to belong to the table next to us who also got the same treatment.

Another 15–20 minutes passed before the second person’s appetizer showed up, fried artichokes, which were fine but nothing memorable. At this point, the third person in our party still hadn’t received any part of their order, and we hadn’t gotten any updates from the staff.

By the 1 hour and 20-minute mark, we were still waiting on that third appetizer, and no one had come by to check in. When we finally managed to flag someone down, we were told the last appetizer was almost ready but the pinsas hadn’t even started cooking yet. The response was delivered with such indifference, it felt like we were being told off for expecting otherwise. We ended up asking for the check and leaving hungry.

I completely understand that restaurants get busy. But when there's an extended delay, a quick check-in or a little communication makes a big difference. Over the course of our visit, no one stopped by our table even once unless it was to drop off (sometimes incorrect) food. Maybe we were out of sight sitting on the patio, but it genuinely felt like we were forgotten, and worse, unwelcome.

There are plenty of other places on the same street with better food (from the small amount we actually got to try) and much warmer service. Sadly, this one won’t be getting a second...

We were longing for a taste of Roman pizza, having returned a month ago from Italy. We found the perfect spot at La Casina, on Capitol Hill. Owned and operator by a husband and wife team, the 1 hour drive for us was worth every second. We parked right in front at 7:00 PM on a Saturday, which was a pleasure. We loved the atmosphere at this casual, neighborhood restaurant. The space is cozy but not loud, which was a pleasant surprise. The big screen TV behind the bars showed beauty shots of Rome, which we loved as we reminisced about being at most of the highlighted spots. Our server was a delightful young woman, who was attentive but not bothersome. We were hungry and wanted to taste many items on the menu. We loved the fried artichoke, the homemade potato chips with parmesan cheese and pepper, the homemade burrata cheese with a very large portion of delicious, thinly sliced prosciutto surrounding the cheese and two crunchy, toasted thick slices of bread for sandwich making. We told the server we needed a break before tasting the pizza, which she respected. While we waited and digested all of the above we enjoyed a most delicious wine, called Aime 2022, Abruzzo Doc Percorino Superiore. I highly recommend if you like a light white with peach flavor but not sweet. Finally it was time to taste the pizza we were craving. It did not disappoint. The crust is so light and airy. We were told there is a high water content used in the dough versus a lot of yeast. This is why after tasting 3 pizza's were did not feel bloated. We had a spicy pizza with red sauce and pepperoni, we had another red sauce pizza with eggplant and cheese and finally our favorite, which we learned was the chef's favorite pizza, a vegan pizza using the most delicious tomatoes with garlic, olive oil and onions. It was pure magic and I am craving it today as I write this review. Do not miss the tiramisu, it's offered in a few different flavors. It reminded us of the delicious tiramisu in Italy, creamy and deconstructed unlike most made in the U.S. We also tasted the fried dough with Nutella and powdered sugar. We were thrilled to have another bite of dough, this time sweetened, ending our wonderful dining experience. We will be back! Thank you for a...