Food In The Fort

The Casa family of restaurants has been a Fort Wayne fixture for over 30 years. The Casaburos opened their first restaurant on Coldwater Road in October of 1977, but just a few years later it was claimed by fire. Adversity couldn’t keep down the Casaburo family, who purchased a property on Fairfield Ave shortly after and now they operate five restaurants in the Fort Wayne area. We decided to stop in to Casa D’Angelo on Fairfield this past Saturday for some authentic (and not to mention tasty!) Italian cuisine.

Our strategy to beat the crowds by coming for lunch worked out beautifully with only a handful of other families there enjoying their meal when we arrived. Of course, we missed out on the opportunity to partake of the complimentary Magna Doodles provided for those guests with limited attention spans because the friendly wait-staff promptly took our order. We decided to go with the Toasted Ravioli for starters, followed up by splitting one of Casa’s famous salads. For our main course, Catherine sacrificed her favorite Melanzane Parmigiano for the good of the cause and ordered the Capellini Con Funghi Fresca. Meanwhile, Leo had the Rigatoni Carne Al Forno. Since we knew we were going to feast on Mexican candy and cheap wine later (you’ll learn about that soon enough) we decided to stick with water and pass on dessert, but the Quadruple Chocolate Mousse Pie was tempting.

We both enjoyed the Toasted Ravioli, a decidedly kid-friendly dish. It’s not too filling, with a mild flavor that doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the meal. Casa Salad is, needless to say, famous in the Fort and the dressing, which you can buy in the foyer, deserves all the accolades accorded to it. However, both of us thought the salad was a bit too dressing drenched for its own good. Not that we minded.

Catherine was delighted with her bold departure from Casa tradition. The capellini had great mushroom flavor (pleasing both Catherine and Leo who can’t get enough of either mushrooms or garlic) and there was just enough of the light, olive oil based sauce for the mushrooms and pasta to play happily together. Leo enjoyed his baked rigatoni, sausage and pepperoni but he did think it was a little too salty, although not overbearingly so. This seemed like the kind of dish your little, old Italian grandmother would make for you, should you be so lucky as to have one.

With the check coming to less than $25 this was, quite simply, a superior meal. While it would be easy to talk solely about the food, a big part of the Casa appeal is the atmosphere. The decor pulls off the remarkable feat of going right up to the line of kitsch without crossing it. The effect is a warm and charming setting which is out of the ordinary yet completely comfortable. We both left Casa’s with the sense that it was an hour well filled with good food and content in the knowledge that this dependably pleasant experience is only ever a few blocks away (no matter where you are in Fort Wayne). Five out of five garlic bulbs.

Casa D’Angelo
3402 Fairfield Avenue
Fort Wayne, IN 46807
260-745-7200
Monday - Thursday 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday
http://casa4pasta.com

This review was co-authored by Catherine and Leo

Updated: Some of you are coming here looking for a recipe for Casa salad. While we can’t provide you with the actual recipe we think this one is pretty close:  DIY Casa salad.

About the author:  I'm a Latin-teaching foodie who has lived (and eaten) in Fort Wayne for the past 10 years. I love all the ethnic grocery stores here and the great Mexican restaurants. Cooking is something that I really enjoy, although I tend to improvise a lot and experience my share of disasters. My parents are both wonderful cooks, as was my paternal grandmother (Oma), and I'm always trying to make things the way mom, dad or Oma did. Read more from this author