La Casa was an instant hit when it opened downtown around 1980. The
enterprising owner had a "gimmick": white Mexican. They had red sauce, too,
but the luscious sour cream goo was more suited to the sophisticated tastes of the
University community. Immediately, lines formed outside the nondescript former retail
location that could just as easily have been a Picway as a Mexican restaurant. Weekends,
we had to allow extra time or be late for the movies, so long was the wait.
Decor inside suggested "beatnik Mexican," a cross between the country south of the
border and a Jack Kerouac hangout, but sparse decorations couldn’t cover walls that still
screamed "low-end retail"! No matter! Lighting was minimal and food was
great.
Students, professors, waiters, and Sunday-school teachers all came for chicken enchiladas
smothered in silky white sauce, great banana desserts, and heavenly margueritas. We
couldn’t dine at other Mexican restaurants without feeling experience letdown. A
new influx of people from Mexico moved into the region and opened restaurants of their
own--their food wasn’t La Casa’s. (We couldn’t complain to people who didn’t
speak English! They didn’t understand, "We want real Mexican--white sauce!")
Back to our favorite, we tried to analyze the feeling of well-being, the complete
satisfaction we felt after every meal. We even tried meals without the margueritas--still
mystifyingly happy! La Casa was a sensation! The sophisticated Mexican stole
the show.
With the development of the warehouse district, the restaurant moved to the river, upscale
warehouse location in a listed landmark building. The large room with wooden floor and
brick walls has a rich wooden bar, long, with several seats, and tables inside and on
the deck seat a few hundred. The right amount of tasteful Mexican decoration
complements the Old West atmosphere of the second-floor honky-tonk. (There is a an
upright piano.) Three sets of double doors and the patio face the Caperton Trail, the lone
stretch that brings riders past other watering holes to this saloon: La Casa
Mexican Grill.
The menu hasn’t changed much--still large and varied. After a few years away, I still
have a memory of the guacamole. "That’s it!" I exclaim. At the moment of contact, I can
almost describe the difference that makes it better than any other. My chicken enchilada
swimming in sour cream sauce is better than the ones I’ve learned to make--and they in
turn second only to La Casa’s! Their sauce is richer, their tortillas more
wholesome, and their taste with a spice I can’t identify as cumin or nutmeg--some magic
ingredient. We left happy with that sense of perfect well-being that mystifies me still.
I sense another decade of La Casa commitment ahead. I’m hooked again.
Service is excellent, as this restaurant keeps personnel happy, too. One can drive to Clay Street or walk on the trail from Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park. There’s an outdoor wheelchair lift.