Casa Russo

Friday night in Glasgow, Scotland before flying home on Saturday called for a special dinner at the end of a successful business trip. My colleague and I found a gem of a place named Casa Russo located directly above a classic vinyl record store on the busy Byres Road in Glasgow’s toney West End.
Specializing in Italian cuisine from the Naples part of the boot, brothers Nunzio and Mariano Russo opened this second floor walk-​up in 2013. At that time, they were already running three other successful Italian restaurants in Scotland’s second largest metropolis.
Casa Russo is classic red-​tablecloth casual with an extensive wine list and a host of delectable dishes.
We started with a hand-​tossed Spek E Provola pizza with smoked baby mozzarella and strips of peppered Spek ham. Also had to blow for the Gabaroni Alla Calabrese… prawns cooked in extra virgin o. o., white wine, crushed garlic, cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs which was over the moon.
For entrees, we jumped for the Spaghetti Seafood Marinara loaded with a nice selection of fresh prawns, mussels and scallops sautéed I white wine. Fantastico!
The Russo brothers place on Byres Rd. is a winner…5 Stars.

Casa Russo is at the top end of Byres Road above Fopp. It can be quite easy to miss (it’s up a staircase just to the side of Fopp).
The restaurant itself is quite open and bright, there’s a lot of table space, so booking isn’t essential. There’s usually a lot of deals on, including the lunch deal which is 2 courses for £6.95, with quite a lot of options on the menu. This choice is usually one I go for when I visit.
The food is always very good and consistent. Starters are fairly traditional Italian. I reccomend the bruscetta, which comes with fresh tomatoes and tasty balsamic dressing. For mains, my 2 favourites are the pizza, which comes with a very nice base, though the toppings aren’t exactly the best, and the pork milanese, which is a tasty crumbed pork fillet served with a tomato pasta. The desserts are good too, though the tiramisu isn’t the greatest I’ve had.
For the value and quality of food on offer, it’s hard to find too many faults with Casa Russo. It’s maybe not the best Italian in the area, though it is easily one of the best for value.

Casa Russo sits above Fopp on Byres Road (where La Vallé Blanche, which we really liked, used to be) and is run by the same guys behind La Fiorentina (Paisley Road), Mediterraneo (Ingram Street) and Volare (Newton Mearns). Its slogan is «come join the Family»; we were perambulating up and down Byres Road looking for somewhere to luncheon on a whim. We decided to join the family for lunch.
We were greeted at the entrance at the top of the stairs by a friendly waiter, who may have been Mariano Russo (we’re not sure), and promptly shown to a clean and bright table adjacent to a window looking out over Byres Rd. Not much had changed from the La Vallé Blanche days in terms of fit out, but it was brighter than I remembered it; perhaps a sunnier day, who knows?
Upon being given menus, we noticed that the lunch deal included Saturdays. This proffered a two course lunch for £5.95 (I’m sure it was, albeit website now says £6.95 so I may be wrong. This is the problem with waiting too long to blog about visit coupled with incomplete notes on the day!) which seemed a great price point for a restaurant on Byres Road!
The menu wasn’t limited to 2 or 3 meals, there was a decent choice. We ordered some drinks and perused the menu. I started with the Bruschetta Romana (as I type this I’m reminded of my mother in law who will explain that the pronunciation of the word is «broo-​sketta» at any given opportunity. Perhaps an Italian reader can confirm or deny this?) which consisted of toasted bread festooned with melted mozzarella, tomatoes, rocket, red onions and balsamic vinegar. It was delicious; as good as any bruschetta I’ve had in Glasgow. I ate the whole plate (not literally) within a few minutes.
Mrs G elected for the Pâté Dello Chef, a creamy chicken and duck liver paté blended with sherry. It came with a toasted Italian bread, crispy salad and a wee pot of sweet red onions. This, too, was a delight (I was allowed a taste!). Very tasty starter indeed which was well received.
Onto the mains and Mrs G had gone for the Lasagne al Forno (she loves a lasagne) and it came, piping hot, in an individual oven dish. Simple, but good, presentation. She really enjoyed it and finished every last crumb.
I had decided on the Pasta Principessa which comprised chicken, Parma ham, tomatoes and petit pois in a cream and white wine sauce. This was also tasty; I didn’t seem to have a huge amount of Parma ham but figured this was permissible given there was no additional cost to have this as part of the lunch deal. I happily ate all of it and was satiated and ready for a lie down!
We (well she!!!) decided this would not be a great use of a Saturday afternoon and thought coffee would be a good idea. I would advise any Italians reading this to stop now before you think of us as silly British people; for we ordered a latté and a cappuccino. I know this would be frowned upon in Italy at this time in the day but we were in Glasgow and fancied them! And they were lovely.
All in all this was an enjoyable lunch, perhaps not the finest Italian cuisine in Glasgow, but, at the price it was fantastic! We’d definitely go back for a bargain lunch!

Went with the girls from work for some pre-​drinking food. We booked the meal through 5 pm as we were getting two courses for under £15.
We were sat at a very large table and it seemed the place was fit to burst.
Service was ok, we had to wait for ages for anything from water for the table to our food.
When it eventually arrived portion sizes were very small and food was very bland. Everything just lacked a little something and I think if I was looking for an Italian on Byres Road, I would still go back time and time again to Spuntini.

Formerly a solicitor’s office, then a French restaurant La Vallee Blanche, now this strange space above Fopp has been transformed once again into Casa Russo.
I never felt that the discreet entrance stairway was terribly welcoming as a French restaurant, but now it is brightly lit, with pavement sign board outside, and plastic hanging vines on the ceiling enticing you up the stairs. The Italian-​theme décor continues inside in standard fashion, with a fake lemon tree in the centre, statues, hanging garden lanterns and the obligatory faux tiled roof.
Brothers Nunzio and Mariano Russo (who also own La Fiorentina at Paisley Road Toll, Mediterraneo Grill in Ingram Street and Volare at the Mearns), promise an authentic taste of Naples, so I have been keen to try it out since they opened.
A visit from a friend up from London provided the opportunity for us to try it out, and although it was a Saturday, I managed to get an early evening booking with no trouble — although after we arrived it quickly filled up.
We ordered some olives and focaccia bread to sustain us whilst ordering, and the olives were scrumptious. Our order was quickly taken, and it seemed that we had barely managed to finish half a glass of wine before the starters arrived.
We both went for the scallops, which were served on a shell in a delicious wine and garlic butter sauce with some garlic bread on the side; and I can say that without doubt they were the most tasty scallops that I’ve ever had. They simply melted in the mouth — heaven!
Our guest opted for the Haggis Toscano (I suppose it had to be tried!), which was a patty of haggis on toast with a poached egg on top and a ball of bacon strips and pasta on the side. It certainly looked interesting, and got a thumbs up.
For mains, we both chose the Risotto all Pescatora, which again was just perfectly done. The calamari was just right and not chewy, the mussels and prawns a good size, and the rice was just the right consistency.
Our friend chose the Cotoletta alla Milanese (veal), which was certainly a good size and disappeared pretty quickly, so I’m presuming it was tasty.
Feeling a bit stuffed but determined to try the dessert menu, Herself and our friend decided to share a Torta Milliefoglie between them. I declined as it all looked like too much dairy for me, so instead moved straight to a Caffe Corretto (espresso with a splash of strega). Here I have to give the only black mark, as the coffee arrived before the dessert, and they had to be reminded about that. I don’t think it warrants losing a star though, as the service and quality of the food overall was superb.
Price-​wise, it worked out just under £40 a head, but then we did have two bottles of vino so that’s not excessive. Worth mentioning that they have an afternoon 2-​course deal during the week for £6.50 that runs from 12 noon — 6.15pm; Fri-​Sun it’s £8.95 and runs 12−5pm.
Thumbs up from all of us!

Came here with my boyfriend for a belated Valentine’s meal (who wants to go out actually out ON Valentine’s Day?! That’s just craaaazy!) and I like my Italian food so I do and ⁹⁄₁₀ you can’t really go *that* wrong with it, so its usually a safe bet.
We booked a table for a Saturday evening and when we arrived this place was heaving. It’s quite a wee place situated above Fopp on Byres Road. It was busy and it was VERY noisy!
Firstly I didn’t really like how when you ascend the stairs to the restaurant, once you reach the top you’re basically in the restaurant itself & you are expected to just stand & wait there even though it is the main, nay, ONLY route from the kitchen & toilets to the table area, so it was rather akin to a busy motorway on this Saturday evening. Eek. They also appear to have one ‘waiting’ table where diners sit & wait until a table is free, which is fine… unless, like us, you get sat right next to/​on it! I got the impression they had forgotten our reservation hence why they separated this Waiting Table & sat us both down on one of them. Hmph. Not a great start. Also it was a very cold, windy & rainy evening so every time someone came in or out we got a lovely refreshing blast of Glasgow’s finest icy, wet wind. I was freezing. I’m not usually one that minds the cold (our flat doesn’t have central or any proper heating so I’m more than used to the cold!) so the fact I was sat here in this cosy, busy restuarant freezing my arancinis off was just wrong.
Onto the food. I thought ‘Once I have some food I’ll not care about being cold!’ We both love Calamari but unfortunately we chose one that was actual wee squid (body & tentacles) in a garlic & tomato sauce…*gulp* I did try some but it actually had a smell reminiscent of a certain cat food & that put me right off… the texture and general appearance I didn’t dig either. Reminded me of the film Alien…*argh!* However my boyfriend thought it was okay so it’s obviously a personal thang.
For main I ordered the Fettucine Al Filetto ~ pasta with beef fillet, garlic, basil cherry tomatoes & mushrooms. It was pretty good: the beef was tender and the amount of meat I got was better than I expected, but then again at £13.50 it’s not a cheap pasta dish. My boyfriend had the Calzone Naepoletano ~ a calzone pizza with ricotta, salami, mozzarella, ham & tomato. He said it was alright; not as nice as others he has had from elsewhere. I tried some & it was quite heavy on the ricotta & not on the salami. We also had chips to share and they came in a wee bucket, so you don’t get that many. What there was were very nice though.
As soon as we finished we actually couldn’t wait to leave. We didn’t even bother looking at the dessert menu… The restaurant and the queue beside the door/​our table was getting busier & longer and we just couldn’t relax the whole time we were there. The staff weren’t very attentive (it took us several attempts and about 10 minutes to get someone’s attention just for a drink refill) or particularly friendly. I was pretty disappointed with the whole experience and I have to say I won’t be rushing back.