Casa de Gustos

There have been a lot of mixed reviews of this restaurant, so we weren’t sure what to expect. The second we walked in, we were a bit suspicious that it was nearing dinner time on Friday, and with the exception of staff, the place was completely empty. We also noticed that the décor was pretty much exactly the same as it was when it was Fiamma.
Our server greeted us and seated us immediately. She was great from the beginning and provided fantastic service throughout our meal, polite and attentive, even when it sounded like the assumed owner was scolding her for something not far from where we were sitting. Super awkward for us customers and very inappropriate, particularly because there was no one else there but us, so it was far more obvious than it probably would have been with a full house. We also heard him order a sandwich from the other server, pointing while walking away, not even looking at her. We just found it to be pretty rude and how it was said, together with the body language, gave off a bad impression and overall negative vibe.
The menu was a bit confusing since they promote «authentic Mediterranean cuisine», but do have Middle Eastern food, some Western food and Canadian favorites, and fusion dishes on the menu. Our server brought over some fresh and still warm, single-​portioned flatbread from the stone oven, with olive oil and zaatar for dipping — very addictive. After hearing good things about it, we also ordered the phyllo cheese rolls appetizer, which was crispy and filled with feta, ricotta, and I think some halloumi. They were also pretty delicious and I’m sure I could’ve eaten many more.
For my main meal, I ordered the Lebanese chapita, per our server’s recommendation. It was a flatbread with roasted eggplant, chopped tomatoes, red onions, halloumi cheese mix, and olive oil, cooked/​baked in the stone oven. I actually didn’t realize it was vegetarian, so I was a bit disappointed when it came, but that was my fault for not double-​checking. It sounded good, but it was super acidic with the tomatoes and eggplant. I also didn’t find there to be a distinct halloumi flavor, which I would have liked, probably because it was a cheese mix. I do like onions, but there were a lot of slices, many of which weren’t as cooked as I’d prefer on a pizza type of dish, that they just completely overpowered everything else. The bread itself tasted fine, but other than the outside crust, it was far too thin, and possibly undercooked, that it the veggies and olive oil soaked through the bread and made it super soggy. I finished less than half before I got tired of the taste, but I did pack up the leftovers to maybe munch on it later, mostly because I didn’t want the food or money to go to waste.
We finished up our glasses of red wine before getting a couple of cannolis to-​go. We didn’t realize they were filled with chocolate cream, but they were really good and I only wish I could’ve said the same for my meal.
My husband got the daily special of stuffed pork loin with mashed potatoes, which were good, so overall, the food was generally okay but underwhelming, some obviously better than others, and the service was wonderful, but major points docked for the unprofessionalism of management.

Casa de Gustos is a new restaurant that opened up in Barrhaven a couple of months ago that serves Mediterranean food.
We were a party of five that had a reservation so we didn’t have to wait for a table. For a Friday night, the place was pretty packed so if you don’t have a reservation, you may expect a wait.
This was our first visit to Casa de Gustos and the experience was a bit mixed.
SERVICE — SLOW
To begin with, service for us was very slow with it taking a long time to take orders, a long time for the orders to arrive, and our server failing to ask all the guests what we wanted when taking orders.
On three occasions we were brought items that were not for our table so it seems to be clear they are working out bugs which I guess is normal for a new restaurant.
The manager came by our table twice to ask how things were so hopefully they keep on top of things and makes things better.
FOOD — SOME GOOD, SOME BAD
We shared their ‘Mezze’ appetizer to start which is a mix of labneh, hummus, baba ghannouj, bastourma (?), halloumi, olives, vegetables, phyllo cheese rolls, and pita bread. The dips were pretty good though there was mixed opinion on the labneh (I liked it but others didn’t). The phyllo cheese rolls were good as well. I actually don’t remember seeing much of any ‘vegetables’ on the plate. The worst part of the dish was the pita bread. The dish had about eight slices of normal style pita bread which was in no way enough for the amount of food so the server brought additional bread. Unfortunately, this additional pita bread was thick and dry and not good at all.
For our mains, we tried the paella, fish and chips, spaghetti, and the ravioli.
The paella was, for me, disappointing. To start, I found the rice part very bland. The toppings were exactly two shrimp, two mussels, two clams, three pieces of sausage and two chicken wings. Yes, chicken wings!?! I’m not sure why they had chicken wings in a paella but another cause for my disappointment with the dish was they were not freshly cooked which was. At the end of the evening when taking to the manager the second time she said when they first opened that people found the dish to hot so they changed their recipe.
The guest who had the spaghetti said it was unremarkable. The fish and chips (which are actually two full fried fish) didn’t have much of a good comment either way. The ravioli dish was liked by the guest who ate it.
So, all in all the appetizers were generally well liked though the mains we had generally disappointing.
As the first experience for us wasn’t overly positive, I don’t think I’d go back but maybe others will have better luck.
I’d rate them 2.5 stars if I could but I’ll give them 3 due to it being a new place.