casa tua

middle of the miami beach, behind the walls with beautiful garden. it is like a hidden gem. 😊 you can not see there is a restaurant on james avenue.
my experience was fabulousbackin 2018. food was delicious, authentic italian, fusion; atmosphere was great. i was stunned by their garden. you can't find that type restaurant in miami beach. they had some lack of service. it is pricey $$$. i recommend this place 👍🏻

mistake. my boyfriend paid $140 for two drinks and a beer that we ordered; two drinks that we did not order; a dish that we never received and %18 gratuity for some really “one-of-a-kind” service. after that experience i would not recommend casa tua to anyone. in fact, i would strongly suggest that you avoid casa tua. i have eaten at some really amazing restaurants with james beard awarded chefs in 4 and 5 diamond settings and have never been treated in such a way. i have never experienced such poor service paired with even worse attitudes. i cannot critique the food—we never did receive any during that two hour fiasco. the décor is classic and beautiful; the setting is gorgeous and candle-lit...but i do suppose that anyone can put lipstick on a pig.
upon arrival at 8:50 pm, i gave my name to the hostess (mind you i had called and confirmed these reservations earlier in the day for two at 9:00 pm at an outside table in their garden area--which of course was “no problem”), she found my name on the list but did not mention the fact that i had requested outdoor seating (specifically requested--two weeks in advance). i politely reminded her that i had asked for a table outside and she said that we could wait in the bar for just a few minutes until our table was available. we went to the “cute” but too small bar and ordered two drinks. eventually more people arrived and were also directed to the bar area—which is adequately equipped to only sit about 8 people, tops. at this point a gentleman and his wife offer to buy me and my boyfriend a drink—we need to refresh our drinks any way (which reminds me of how long we have been sitting in this bar), so we courteously accept. when i go to see about our table i am told that they are still waiting for people to finish and am shooedbackto the bar (though we’ve seen other people seated outside). at this point it has been an hour and fifteen minutes and i’m mildly annoyed but still want to experience this meal that i had spent so much time planning and had been so excited about. the other people in the bar have now been seated even though they had been waiting 15 minutes and we have been waiting an hour and a half.
finally, we are reluctantly called to be seated at 10:30 pm. my boyfriend is then told that the tab at the bar cannot be transferred and is charged for the drinks the gentleman had bought for us, in addition to our previous round—he makes no fuss and pays. by this time my boyfriend, who is being a great sport, is not hungry (who could blame him—it’s been an hour and a half and the staff and service have been lackluster) and orders a beer while i order two dishes-the gnocchi and branzino. alas, it starts to rain and we move to another table outside (which was open) with an awning and umbrella—to which the latter is just funneling water down my boyfriend’s back. the waiter fails to see this as a problem. at this point, i am no longer willing to make the best of the “casa tua ambience” and we decide that we’d like to just cancel the order (which has not been prepared), pay for the one beer and leave.
then, the waiter tells my boyfriend that we can move inside, but cannot leave because i have ordered (an order that we have not seen, nor that has been prepared). my boyfriend wants to pay for the drink and asks for the bill. the waiter goes inside and another gentleman arrives with a bill for $100 and demands that we must pay for food that we never received and that we could not leave until we did so. my boyfriend says he will pay for the beer he had but not the two dishes that we never received. now the gentleman says that he will knock off the branzino dish but that we must pay for the gnocchi (that we never got) and the %18 gratuity (for the wonderful service we received, i guess?). at this point i am so upset and desperate to leave that i’d pay anything just to get the hell out of there. the man then snatches my drink from my hand, tells me i’m intoxicated and that my boyfriend has threatened him (we’ve had two drinks and my boyfriend has barely spoken more than three sentences to this man). i am fighting the tearsbackas best i can and take out a credit card...which is also then snatched from my hand.
we left directly after we got the card back.

never, ever again. i have been eating at casa tua for years and always thoroughly enjoyed my visits, however, this new management has driven this landmark into the ground. people come to visit casa tua for the experience, as the food has always been mediocre, but this last experience was one i would like to forget. the service was awful, with almost 45 minutes between visits from waiters, the wine list was incomplete and the sommelier was blatantly disregarding our inquiries, visiting the table once to up sell us on bottles and then to just disappear for the evening. rain, which happens often in miami, became an issue with the umbrella leaking, leaving most of the diners to soak. when we asked for some assistance, we were told that there were other people to attend to first and that we'd have to wait. again, no one ever camebackto check in or even offer an apology and upon completion of the soaking wet, lackluster, wine-less meal, management simply disregarded our complaints and left us in the lobby, soaking wet, half hungry, and completely disgusted by the treatment and experience overall. very disappointing and the end of a legacy.

amazing service & food. i went at casa tua last august for my anniversary dinner . my husband and i were watching giada's weekend getaways on the food network and when she was in south beach this was one of the places she visited. first the restaurant is laid out like a house and it is so beautifully decorated - you get a warm and cozy welcoming feeling from the minute you enter. the service was amazing - really great attention was paid to each and every detail. the food was also amazing - beautiful presentation and amazing combination of flavors. i highly suggest this restaurant - and i can't wait to gobackthe next time i go to south beach!