Casa Lu Al

This is a staple in Lima, Ohio. I came here for homecoming in high school and with my hubby on our first date. So many great memories and great food. We came here on a Saturday night around Christmas and it was a little busy. We had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. Our waitress, Amanda, was awesome. Very friendly and she made sure everything was perfect. While the food is usually amazing tonight it seemed a little off. My mother in law ordered a steak and it was burnt. When she mentioned it to the waitress, Amanda, made sure to tell the cook and brought her another. I was very impressed. The rest of our food was really good.
They are known for their Italian food if you are coming here for the first time. They are also well known for their prime rib.
Be sure to stop by this place if you are in Lima an want something that is not a chain restaurant. It won’t disappoint.

Amazing! Our dinners were delicious, our waitress fantastic, and the place very nice! The Bruschetta Chicken is absolutely delicious! There was quite a crowd and a wait for a table however it was worth it! My husband enjoyed his blackened sirloin also.

Hands down our favorite place to eat in Lima. We travel from Van Wert all of the time to eat here. I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed by a menu item and the service is always excellent. Try the veal or chicken Parmesan… I promise you won’t go home hungry.
We love this place so much we had them cater our wedding in May and they did an amazing job! Everyone loved the food and the meal was served quickly. They made it a seamless process and even with all of the nerves the food was so good I couldn’t help but clean my plate!
George is amazing! He made excellent recommendations and was very helpful through the whole process.

Always go to Casa Lu Al when I’m in town. Everything is good and the price is excellent!

I travel for business and eat in some of the best restaurants.
I have been to fancier places, but I have not been to friendlier.
Niki was my server and she is awesome, friendly and helpful.
The food was great, the breadsticks are delicious.
I had the breaded chicken breast meal, which included salad and those awesome breadsticks. Parmesan Peppercorn dressing with my salad was delicious. The chicken is a new item to the menu as indicated by the add in half page to the menu. The chicken is served with your choice of sauce on the chicken or at the side. I chose the sweet chili. When my meal arrived the chicken looked so good I tried it without the sauce. Tender, juicy, delicious and just the right amount of seasoning. I hesitated to try the sauce, the chicken was just perfect without it. The sauce was also amazing. The food was outstanding, the service was second to none. Niki is a treasure.

I can remember going here as a kid and it being a great place to eat. Either my taste buds have changed or most of the food is GFS/​prepackaged. They do still have some good food though. The best meal available is the ribeye. I have never been disappointed; that is why this is a 3 star and not a 2. Please bring back the homemade sauces I loved them.

My all time favorite restaurant in Lima. Great service, excellent food. Been there enough and order the same almost ever time that the team know exactly what I like. Even the chef knows! :)
If you go, be there by 6 on Friday or Saturday or plan to spend time at the bar while waiting for your table, but with over 50 they turn quickly. Many servers have been there for over 15 years so they must be treated well. Thanks John, Tony, and George!

This Italian place on Lima’s northeast side is popular; the wait on Friday night was 20-​minutes. Waiting is fine but Casa put little thought in their waiting area, leaving a crowded and awkward experience right from the start.
There is much I dislike about this place despite it mass appeal, although overall I found it mediocre – take my rating to be 2.5 to 3 range in a world where Unilocal has fractions.
There is no lobby to wait other than the space by the door. There is a bar, but the waiting customers spill onto it, and as a family joint that means children sitting at the bar. The bar itself is weak, nothing interesting on-​tap. Forgoing the standard check process that has your server collect the payment, Casa has patrons walk to a register that is behind the bar. This creates a mess of people bumping into you, lots of being in the way, noise, and 7-​year olds looking at you as you drink beer. They need to work on that.
I ordered chicken alfredo with a salad. The salad was fresh but not exactly tossed completely even. There was too much lettuce and not enough other ingredients. The dressing, ranch, was standard middle-​of-​the-​road restaurant quality: just a bit better than you can get at the supermarket.
The chicken alfredo was not good, not even in the top 50-​percent I’ve had. It was mostly sauce, and the sauce tasted like it came from a can. The Broccoli did not taste fresh at all. The chicken was unnoticeable under the thick soup of the alfredo. If the dish had the olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and garlic that it must have my tongue did not notice.
My dinner mates though ordered fried pork. I had a bite, it was excellent. I ordered the wrong thing.
Service here was great. The décor was so-​so: earth tones, some still-​lifes on the wall, some fake vines. This is a family restaurant not a hifalutin romantic stop, so the wine list is not extensive.
One last thing that turned me off. The check paying process, the lack of a workable waiting space, the seemingly lack of quality in my dish, all seemed to to hand-​and-​hand with what was on the tables, beneath a protective glass – advertisements. On every table and every bar space were ads for local business and services. I get that the point of business is to make money, but from a customers point of view, his patronage is not to make the business money, it is to have the experience. But when a business is so blatantly about it as to put advertising on tables makes this reviewer flinch. Don’t come off that greedy Casa. It ruins the experience and makes this reviewer not want to return.

If you ask the locals (in the county to the north), this is the place to go for a nice dinner out. I recently accompanied family here for dinner to celebrate birthdays.
It was, what I expected in this neck of the woods. We waited about 20 minutes upon arrival for a table. Each in our party ordered an entrée which came with breadsticks, a (iceberg) lettuce salad, and choice of side. All in all, it was less than $ 20 a person for supper. Our server was friendly, but did seem busy, and didn’t offer us dessert (the tray did look tempting). The dining room is one large room which was perfect for the small town attitude of wanting to see everyone in the place and who’s eating what.
There isn’t anything in particular I would change about this place for what it is; it’s just one of those places that illuminates my ‘city’ lifestyle and pallet.
If you’re in town and looking for a sit-​down restaurant that’s not a chain, this is a solid choice (they have $ 4 glasses of wine on their drink list, a literal brick of fried onions as an app, steak, pasta, and seafood-​something for everyone). But, if you’re looking for something that is «uniquely Lima,» go to Kewpee.