Casa Calabria

Address:	1106 N 3rd St, Marquette, MI 49855, USA
Phone:	+1 906-228-5012
Site:	thecasa.us
Rating:	4.2
Working:	4–10PM 4–10PM 4–10PM 4–10PM 4–10PM 4–10PM 4–10PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 8

Justin Carlson

As a business owner myself and supporter of Marquettes local restaurants I dont like to talk badly about local businesses unless its really warranted. Ive lived in Marquette for many years, and although it was my first time at Casa Calabria it was the only truly "poor" restaurant experience Ive had in Marquette. Had proper recompense been made for the poor experience I probably wouldnt be writing this review. Summary of the experience: The positive: -Our waiter, although only his fourth day on the job, was professional, knowledgeable, and courteous. The negative: - We both ordered the advertised Marquette Restaurant Week special (a white sauce pasta dish), then were told 5 minutes later that they are out of one of the main ingredients for the special. Keep in mind this was the first day of Restaurant Week and the restaurant was near-empty. - We then ordered the signature lasagna and ahi tuna steak (ordered rare). The lasagna was, to be completely honest, inedible. There was more cheese than anything else, and frankly did not resemble lasagna. The tuna, although cooked medium-well, was edible (but well overcooked). - When I notified the restaurant that my food was inedible, I was given an apology and nothing more. When the waiter came back I asked if perhaps I could have a discount of some sort, since the food was so poorly prepared. I was given a $5 discount (on a $20 meal). - And a very disappointing wine selection. I was surprised with this experience since Ive heard generally good things about Casa Calabria. As a business I would hope they will take better care in the future to serve customers, especially when the business is on a bigger pedestal with an event like Marquette Restaurant Week.

Michael Pelto

Not truly Italian cuisine, although it is billed as such. The service is usually the best in town, but there are busy nights when the waitstaff are overwhelmed, and the service suffers for it. The price of the food has risen recently, and it was overpriced to begin with. The decor may be the best in town, but its still just American-Italian shtick. I love the music. Its usually Frank Sinatra, and other Rat Pack nostalgic songs. The food is usually done fairly well, and for this area, some of the best. Stick to steaks, lasagna, or three cheese shells. The house salad dressing is amazing. Some people may find that the lasagna with meat sauce is actually more of a joke than anything. There are only microscopic bits of meat and overly generous layers of cheese literally floating in the watery tomato sauce. The steaks are hit and miss, but mostly served correctly, and have a slight garlic buttery taste. The garlic bread is actually soaked in garlic butter, so is mostly an artery-clogging time bomb, but delicious nonetheless. I try to come here at least once a month with my loved one to have a romantic dinner. Its the only place in town worth doing so. But Id still like to see a better option in Marquette. I lived in an area where the Italian was authentic, and I miss it. The Casa doesnt even come close to that standard, but it beats the Villa hands down. This area is seriously lacking in upscale dining, culture, and service standards compared to the metropolitan areas in the country, but the Casa comes the closest to achieving a higher standard in an otherwise backwoods environment.

A Private User

My wife and I visited on a vacation through UP. Hotel showed us the menu and it looked like a good Italian place. We drove there before committing, and the place looked like a good Italian place, so we entered. I ordered the veal parmesan and my wife ordered some chicken. Yes, the garlic bread was greasy, but I think it was just full of butter. However, the $18 veal with a side a spaghetti was actually a plate of spaghetti with a small veal patty (2.5 inches square) on top. More like a plate of spaghetti with a large meatball. The veal was unbreaded, and did not appear to have any parmesan on it anywhere. Not too tasty. My wifes chicken was dried out, though the herbal crust was good. In all fairness, after I said something, the owner brought out another veal party for free and told us that they would likely start serving 2 parties in the future. The service was good, though the place was noisy due to a large group next to us.

Miles Tusa

Had dinner there for my first time with 3 other coworkers on 1/13/2015. I ordered the Signature Lasagna with meat sauce. It was the worst lasagna recipe I have ever had. It was tomato soup as the sauce with lasagna noodles topped with mozzarella cheese about 1/2" thick. It came in an 6x6x2 inch casserole dish. Wheres the MEAT? This Lasagna was tasteless, Mama Russos in the local frozen food grocery store is 100 times better. Im sorry, but they should not serve a recipe like this in an Italian restaurant. I will probably never go back there. The garlic bread was great and the side Italian sausage was ok, thank God I ordered the side sausage. Now if they would have sliced the sausage and layered it in the Lasagna noodles and added some Ricotta cheese in the layers, plus some Italian seasonings to the tomato soup base I might not have been half bad.

Alex H

Needed a low key Italian spot and Casa was it! The food was pretty good, above average. Pasta was perfectly cooked with just a little firmness. Their Alfredo sauce was creamy but not overly rich. The meat sauce had a nice, distinct flavor that reminds of my mothers own sauce. Garlic bread is solid - nothing crazy or unique, but still good. They really try and push the bread, but one piece is enough. Their sausage also had good flavor. The portions are very large. Id imagine youd be taking things home if you ordered the full meal (we ordered a la carte). People said its pricey, but its really not... for the full meal at roughly $23-25, you get 3 courses: soup, salad, bread and the meal (generous too).

Ty Hutchinson

Firstly, the atmosphere is pretty lame. Very tacky and faux-Italian to the point that its almost laughable. The prices are pretty high, but not ridiculous for a quality meal. Youd expect to spend the same at most other semi-fine dining restaurants in town. Heres the issue, though: the food was incredibly disappointing. The only part I enjoyed was the garlic bread, which lets be honest, is pretty hard to screw up. The rest of my food tasted either straight from the freezer, or dumped out of a bag pre done. Definitely lacked the authentic Italian flavor. I would expect to pay half the price for the quality. All in all, would never recommend this restaurant, there are MANY better places in town.

A Private User

Casa has good food, but is a complete grease bomb. I cant eat the garlic bread there, because you pick it up and it is dripping with grease. I used to get the Lasagna but the same thing happened. As the years went by, the grease level in my food increased. If my family or friends want to go there I usually get the Pasta Milano now, or the Italian steak tips. At least with those two items I know I wont be running for the restroom because of how much grease is in it. Not to mention all of the staff is hired because of looks, not talent. Its okay, but I would not call this great "Italian" food. Its more like fast food with a large price.

Monica Inglot

Pretty decent restaurant, first time there and their Gluten Free options were pretty limited. The waitress said said their salads were GF, they had a GF pizza crust and a GF lasagna. I dont see why you couldnt have Shrimp or the tenderloin. I had the Caprese salad which was pretty good! The GF pizza wasnt anything special but it can be rare to find an Italian restaurant with GF options, so at least they had a few.