If I had the pleasure of taking out-of-town visitors out to eat, and I didn't know what foods they enjoyed, I would take them to one of the four Casa Italian restaurants. A long-standing Fort Wayne family owns and runs these restaurants, and their businesses are classic traditions in this city.
The food is wonderful, and consistent. You always know what you are getting when you go to a Casa's. The restaurants (at least the two I've been in recently) are warmly good-looking - Italian title and colorful, locally produced artwork. Large watercolor and oil murals and paintings of Italian coastal scenes are well done.
And the food is tremendous. This last time around I ordered the Linguine Tutto Mare - a pasta dish with shrimp, crab meat, mussels and clams, mushrooms and a butter sauce. To me, it's also a pretty dish - mussel shells, the orange of the shrimp - different elements to look at, colors and shapes. Pleasing to the eye.
My friend ordered the breaded fillet of sole, and I tried it - fantastic. Perfectly cooked fish, crunchy on the outside, and light breading. This comes with pasta on the side and a cream or marinara sauce. My friends like their lasagna, and I think you absolutely can't beat the spaghetti and meatball - it's one large meatball. Better that what mom used to make. And most moms' homemade spaghetti is pretty darn good.
Prices are very reasonable here. Most daily lunch specials are around $7 and come with the famous Casa salad. The salad is so good it's a famous local staple in Fort Wayne - They had to start bottling and selling their own Italian salad dressing because it was so much in demand. You can also place orders for whole pans of their dishes - lasagna, ravioli, antipasto, you name it. These large carry-out pans serve 20 guests. Totally forget Olive Garden or chains like that; I'm sorry, it just won't do once you've been to Casa's. They totally have the secret, whatever the secret is. Trust me on that.
Bread at the table, and desserts - another specialty. Today I try their Torta Di Mandola, made with amaretto lady fingers, layers of mascarpone cream, crushed amarettini cookies and toasted almonds. The texture is almost too soft and creamy to be cake. It's melt-in-the-mouth wonderful.
What's also nice is this local family has given so much back to the community in local fund-raising events over the years - they get their hands (and food) in all kinds of local charities. I see they have a site at http://www.casarestaurants.net/ if you want to check out their menu. Ciao, baby!
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