Come enjoy a delectable dish at Casa Verde Italian Restaurant. Discover a menu offering a variety of pizzas and pasta, priced at 11$ to 25$ and experience their casual and upscale surrounding. They are reachable by car.
Craving authentic Italian cuisine? Look no further than the hidden gem of Pickering Village in Ajax: Casa Verde. Taking over the business in 1991, head chef Roberto Scagliotti embraces the tastes and techniques of traditional Italian cuisine. “From our homemade pastas and sausages to lasagnas and sauces, everything is cooked in-house from fresh ingredients,” says Roberto. “Nothing is ever pre-cooked or frozen.”
Housed in a stone building built in the 1860s, Casa Verde's ambience is as authentic and inviting as its menu. “We’ve done our best to preserve the stone foundation, large windows, and even the floors, whenever possible,” explains Roberto. “It’s a very intimate and romantic restaurant.”
They can take a reservation, but apparently they cannot keep one! I booked a reservation for my wife and another couple a few weeks ago because we always wanted to try this place.
We got there and gave them our name, but they could not find our reservation. I told them when I made the reservation, but they could not find it. I don't think they believed us because we were questioned if we 'really' made a reservation! Wow. Not a good first impression.
They said they were full and asked us to wait for a table to open up or asked if we wanted to come back in an hour or so! Huh?
This place is not big and by us looking around, it looked like it would be a long wait, so we left, did not return...and you know what, we never will.
My wife and I were very excited about trying this restaurant as we heard that it was quite good. We started with the mussels that the waiter said was amazing. They were everything but amazing... They were so small and the liquid was nothing more than tasteless broth and a splash of wine. Then came the pasta. One would hope that an authentic Italian restaurant would make its own pasta... not this place....cheap store bought penne and spaghetti.
Then we order the "so called" home made Creme Brulee. It took all of two seconds for my wife and I to notice that it was the same taste and containers from the ones we bought a month ago from Costco. The waiter even said that they by there containers from Costco.... Ya right!!! It was the same stuff
The final shocker of the night came when we heard our waiter serving another table say to his patrons who ordered fruit that the strawberries in the fridge had mold on them and he did not feel comfortable serving them. I wonder why is there molded strawberries in the fridge and what else molded that made it way to my table? It would have been better for him to say that they had no strawberries.
Also, did not make sense that the owner/ chef was walking around the dining room in his dirty apron and baggy pants serving patrons. Please show some class!!!
Only good thing was the house wine...
In summary... beware and keep out!!!
A beautiful Saturday nite on the patio... but where is everyone? We made reservations, but no need, unlike about a year ago, when we were turned away. The patio is nice and shady.. and the drone of Hwy 2 fades quickly with good company. The low "Atmosphere" rating only reflects the lack of clients... or buzz...
Food was fresh, prepared simply and served quickly. The flavour of all the dishes was fine, nothing really to write home about, but good overall. The mushrooms were quite tasty, but the crab pasta was kinda short on crab and the fish special was really not at all that special. At this time of year I expect at least a litle local seasonal goodness on menus in quality restaurants, but nada here.
We enjoyed a nice wine and service was pleasant. The opportunity to be served by the chef was interesting....
We'll probably go back... as long as we're not the only ones!
We went with another couple on a Thursday night...
We went with another couple on a Thursday night.
The bread served was not warm and was brought to the table AFTER the bruschetta was already served. The bruschetta portions were pretty small. My carrot-apple soup was more like a thick puree and needed a bit more seasoning. Everyone enjoyed their main courses (my lobster was a bit overdone though), however we found that serving a main dish with ONE BABY potato was pretty stingy!
For dessert, we ate a creme brulee, which was very good. I had the tiramisu, which I'm sorry to say was pretty bad. I eat a lot of Tiramisu, and the marscapone cheese is NOT supposed to be a liquid sugary topping to the lady fingers. It was goupy and had granules of sugar in it. I didn't find a strong espresso taste at all. I was really surprised, considering they make their own.
There are better places to eat that don't cost this much. We didn't think it was worth the price (dinner for 4 came to $200.00 including tax and tip)
