La Casa di Norma

Well... pretty place. Nice ambiance. Real nice menu. Lots of choices. Prices typical for a restaurant of this quality.
Here's the downside: One waitress, only one, for the entire restaurant. No way. It was sooooo slow, ordering took a long time,
I understand maybe they have hiring issues. So I won't hold it against them. Sitting at my table now, waiting for our food to be delivered. Hope they have enough cooks that it doesn't take so long!;)
I ordered chicken Parmesan, hubby got crab ravioli. All good!

Last night we decided to try La Casa di Norma for dinner. I was pleasantly surprised to find white tablecloths and a more upscale vibe than everything else in the area. We were quickly seated even tho they were almost full. I think our server was the owner and she was very nice, giving us menus, etc. The selections on the menu were interesting, however they were out of the dishes I was most interested in, (no veal or black pasta). I ended up with pasta with scallops and mushrooms and would probably order it again. They seemed a little understaffed so the service was slow. Overall I would recommend it, but I will update this review after another visit.

The best Italian food that I have ever had. I ordered fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp. It was delicious super creamy extra yummy. They did not have chicken piccata on the menu. We however asked if they would make it and of course they accommodated my wife. My friend ordered the lasagna. Hands-down the best that we both have ever tasted. Super light and fluffy with lots of ricotta. Absolutely delicious. If you're in Crystal River, you have to try this place.

Hubby and I wanted to try a restaurant we've never been to for our date night so we chose La Casa di Norma. Located in a strip store plaza on Hwy 19 in Crystal River, it's been in business for years. We moved here in 2005 and Norma's was there. There are a couple of outside tables but we opted for inside dining because it was a little chilly for me.

Inside is a small but elegant dining room. The decor is what I would describe as Old World Italian. Their nine tables had cloth linens, crystal glassware and nice quality plates. A small Crystal candelabra in the middle of the table lent a romantic feel to our dining experience. The walls were tastefully decorated with wine bottle racks and artwork. Several crystal chandeliers hung from their drop down ceiling however, there were several white ceiling tiles with large dark water stains that were incongruent with the upscale look of the decor. One nice decorating touch was colored lighting around the floorboards, however on one side half of the lights didn't work! A little upkeep with fixing a few things would go a long way in making this tiny restaurant classier.

We were greeted quickly by our waitress - the only waitress we seen but then again we were the first customers for dinner. Their menu has plenty of options to choose from however, on their page of daily options two items were not available. Their soup de jour and their osso bucco were not available to us but were on the menu. I was disappointed with no soup option since they do not give you a salad or cup of soup with your entree. Everything is a la carte. You can order a salad and they have several delicious sounding options to chose from. They range anywhere from $8.95 to $16.95.

We opted for unsweetened ice teas even though Norma's offers upscale wines and coffees. Our ice tea came out without the lemon slices we asked for and it was very, very strong and "old" tasting - like it was sitting out for quite awhile. Very disappointing but we diluted it with our water at the table and added Stevia liquid which I carry with me everywhere and it made our tea slightly more palatable.

Our waitress did bring out a bread basket with four small ciabotta bread rolls freshly made and a dipping sauce that I've never seen before. Hubby said "What's this?" And I replied it looks like an Italian salsa but my word was it delicious with the warm homemade rolls!! From what I could taste and see it was a small bowl of good quality extra virgin olive oil with minced garlic, oregano flakes, red pepper flakes, chiffonade of fresh basil leaves and small cubes of fresh red Roma tomatoes. Well worth dipping into!!

I chose for my main dish their Chicken Scarpariello. Boneless, skinless chicken breast with Italian sausage, hot pepper rings and kalamata olives in a brown sauce. It comes with your choice of vegetable of the day - which was broccoli or a side of pasta. I chose linguine with aglio olio sauce (garlic oil sauce). I have to say that it was extremely tasty except that my thinly sliced chicken breast was tough from overcooking. The Italian sausage was tender and very good but also sliced so very thinly. They were generous with the kalamata olives but this made my dish a tad briny so if you love salt like I do then this is the dish for you. My linguine was cooked perfectly and the sauce was delicious. My only complaint was for the price of $18.95 I felt their portions were skimpy. But I know that's the way of these upscale restaurants.

It was a nice dining experience but truthfully I don't need all the fancy ambience. I rather have a causal setting with hearty portions of great food at reasonable prices and entrees that come with a small side salad or cup of soup included in the price. Moschello's in Homosassa still remains my favorite Italian restaurant in our county.

Absolutely recommend anyone to try! There is a dish for all tastes! And the food is so fantastic!!! I will be there again and again. Recommend to make reservations. And do not leave this restaurant without having a homemade dessert! Oh my lord- the cannoli!!!!

Food was amazing!
Service was superb
We will definitely be back.

Recommend reservations!

Very well decorated with cloth table covers, great wine stock, very well prepared dishes. Will not change anything or add anything to the dishes. Like make a small portion of Alfredo sauce for the side dish of pasta. My meal was the veal cutlet
It was on point, BUT the side of pasta you can get any sauce you want as per the menu, except Alfredo.
Does not make sense till I found out that Norma sold the restaurant in 2021.

Been wanting to try this restaurant and were in the area for lunch. Lunch menu consists of 5 or 6 combo meals that includes homemade rolls, a side salad and an entree ranging from $11-15. The food was excellent and can't wait to try dinner. As others have said this is a small family run restaurant with one waitress ( who did a great job). Be patient. Some of the menu items are limited and may not be always available

We went to this place and there were literally two tables seated I had my Granddaughter with me.. there were 5 open tables inside and 2 open outside, but they kept looking at my Granddaughter, had a whispered conversation & came over & told us there were no open tables available... my Granddaughter is a beautiful little blond headed sweetheart, and I'm not sure why they felt prejudiced against her... & we went ahead and left, but I promise you we would never go back... it's pretty obvious they don't want children in their establishment!!! NO THANKS FROM ME & MY FAMILY!!!

Good food limited availability of menu items
Food was good. People came in looked at menu and left.