Location: 5884 Ellsworth Ave., Shadyside. 412-441-3090.
Hours: Sun.-Fri. 4:30 p.m.-close; Sat. 11:30 a.m.-close
Prices: Tapas $4-12; entrees $18-21
Fare: Authentic tapas
Atmosphere: Cozy, contemporary European bistro
Liquor: Full bar
When she moved to Pittsburgh seven years ago, Angelique sampled the local dining scene and came away hungry for two favorite cuisines. She found curry; she found sushi; Lord knew she found sausage and spaghetti. She even found Vietnamese pho. But she craved an Ethiopian restaurant and a place to sate her appetite for tapas. Happily, among the many dining room doors that have opened in the last year are one to an Ethiopian eatery and several offering tapas. Finally, we were satisfied.
Almost. Not quite. Not, that is, until we went to La Casa.
You see, despite the burgeoning attention to tapas in these parts — including numerous mainstream restaurants offering “small plates” as a nod to the concept — we hadn’t quite found the tapas place: the one that combines sophistication and comfort, authenticity and simplicity, and all of this with affordability so that we can feel free to go there whenever the mood strikes (and that’s likely to be often). Well, now we think we’ve found it at last, right back where we started.
La Casa is the latest occupant of one of our favorite dining spaces in the city. Over the past five years, this small storefront at the quiet end of Shadyside’s Ellsworth Avenue has housed almost as many occupants. La Casa has remodeled the space in modern lines and warm colors to reflect the contemporary European sensibility of chef/owner Omar Mediouini, who has branched out to Shadyside from his Downtown Moroccan bistro, Casablanca.
Now granted, we don’t spend as much time dining late in Andalusia as we’d like, but we’re pretty sure that we’d have options as alluring as these if we did. We found all the tapas standards — cheese, olives, chorizo — augmented by a number of more intriguing, elaborate dishes. Chef Omar often employs an idea or flavor from Asia to add a contemporary touch to the otherwise traditional menu, as in his spring rolls in spicy teriyaki Harissa sauce. Simple Spanish bar food it isn’t.
But addictive it is. In true tapas style, each small serving — most quite reasonably priced — delivered strong flavors and left us hungry for more. The warm tapas list is much more extensive than the cold, but it suited us well for this time of year.
We started with ensalada de la casa, a warm spinach salad infused with the toasty flavor of pine nuts and studded with bright, sweet currants. Ceviche del mar was a triplet of minced, citrus-cured fish, from soy-soaked tuna to salmon to sweet and mild scallops. With parsley acting more as a dominant ingredient than as an herbal garnish, this was one of the few dishes that failed to impress. However, the sardines in olive oil were outstanding. The grilled whole fish were big and plump, and when Chef Omar stopped by to brag of their freshness, we heartily agreed. We only wished for some crusty bread or toasty crackers to provide a platform for the rich flavors of commingled olive and fish oils.
Fried calamari is a Pittsburgh menu staple, but La Casa spices it up with paprika, garlic and an aioli dipping sauce. Jason found the small rings to be too heavily breaded and the sauce overwhelming, but Angelique, a veteran of too many soggy, tasteless bowls of calamari, thought the crispy breading skillful and enjoyed the bold flavors. We brooked no such disagreement on the shrimp, grilled in their shells and flecked with garlic. Their succulent sweetness provided counterpoint to the oily richness of the sardines.
Taking a break from the sea, we tried tartaletas de la casa, which were like tiny quiches with diced tomatoes and caramelized onions in a firm, creamy cheese custard. We were unable to resist the Spanish delicacy of goat chops, which were tender and abundantly seasoned with thyme. While goat often requires stewing to subdue its gamey boldness, this fine meat shone with a lamb-like treatment.
Finally, we couldn’t resist the ultimate tapas, chorizo. In this case, the fairly mild sausage was lightly grilled and accompanied by well-sautéed greens.
Not every dish at La Casa was a revelation, but the joy of tapas is that it doesn’t have to be. With so much good food on the table, we could afford to have our favorites and still be supremely satisfied.
Jason:3 stars
Angelique: 3.5 stars
This article appears in Nov 24-30, 2005.
I had a completely different experience at La Casa.
I have recently moved to the area while researching the area I came across a site offering half price gift certificates to area restaurants. Thinking it’d be a great way to try out new (to me) places, I bought one to La Casa at the end of May. Well, when I recieved it, it expired the end of June and I was not moving to the area (from out of state) until July.
After I recently got settled, I had a friend in town who I know likes tapas, so I decided to give it a try – thinking they might still accept the certificate since I did pay $25 for it and got nothing.
I presented the coupon when the first server (we have no problem with this gentleman as he was very friendly)arrived at our table and he said he would have to ask the owner and that he may be able to give me $25 off instead of the whole $50, which since it was expired, I was willing to accept. Well, that was not the case. The owner came over and said it was expired so he couldn’t take anything off. Not friendly, didn’t intoduce himslef, no apology or offer of a free appetizer or anything for that matter, that was it.
Being with my out of town guest and both being hungry, we decided to stay anyway.
Well, we went ahead with our order and the food was pretty good for the prices, but it was just hard to enjoy because of the owner and atmosphere. Before we got our meals, a sweaty older gentalman came out from the back and was standing in the dining room with no shirt on – we’re hopeing this wasn’t the cook, but who knows. Then, at the table across from us was a man and a woman and the man was pretty much malesting the woman’s foot while they sat…I’m no prude, but this is slightly not pleasant to watch while trying to eat, but my seat was facing them, so I just tried to focus on conversation and looking elsewhere.
If we had been able to use the coupon (even 1/2 of it or even offered a free appetizer or something), we probably would have ordered a couple drinks each, apps and tried out a few different tapas…making us happier and have raised the bill and the tip a good bit. I have visitors in from out of town each weekend this month and was hoping to find a close place to entertain, but it looks like it won’t be La Casa. Thinking about the shirtless man appearing from the back still makes me sick and I don’t recommend it to anyone.
My experience was similar to the previous post. We went there last night for dinner and I was appalled by the owner. As we received our food, there were a swarm of fruit flies that would not leave our table making it very uncomfortable to eat. I mentioned the situation to the owner and her response, “Move if you want, what do you want me to do about it”. Our waiter was nice and said she treats all the customers like that. Needless to say, we will not be dining there again.
I have to agree with the negative experiences that others have had with this place. I went with a couple of other friends, had an ok time, but be careful.
Short story, this place will like you if you spend a whole lot of money. We had our waiter fill up our pitcher of sangria without asking ($35), and on top of that there were about $25 of charges for stuff we didn’t order or receive!
“Oops” these had to be taken off. What a scam – they count on you not keeping track because there are numerous small dishes, and many people are slightly tipsy toward the end.
Although the staff was nice to us I could totally see they would flip out if you started pulling out any discount coupons. They don’t really have a passion for this food or restaurant, in my experience they just want to make money.
My friend and I had a different experience. If I had read the prior comments before going I would not have eaten there. Our service was slow and confused a little, but the food tasted great. I had the Chicken Couscous and my friend had Salmon Tangine, now this is since they “remodeled”, this was on Saturday, November 20th. The food was excellent, but my friend did not receive his salmon and we had to wait a while to finally get it. I had given him half my chicken and couscous and we did have a mushroom appetizer and two baskets of bread to help with the hunger. We finished sharing a flan dessert which was only so-so, but thankfully nothing really bad happened.