Casbah

Casbah is a gem for Mediterranean cuisine and one of the best spots to impress your date or enjoy a cozy evening out. The ambiance is intimate, with dim lighting that creates a warm, romantic vibe. The excellent service only adds to the experience--attentive and genuinely welcoming without being overbearing.Pro tip: Make a reservation. This place fills up fast, and for a good reason.What I Loved:Calamari: Incredibly crispy and perfectly seasoned, making it an ideal appetizer for sharing.Ricotta Cavatelli: Warm, comforting, and flavorful--definitely a standout pasta dish.Chiffon Cake: The perfect end to the meal. Moist, light, and not overly sweet. A must-try for dessert lovers!Overall, Casbah is a go-to for a delightful Mediterranean dining experience. I'll be back for another slice of that chiffon cake and to explore more of their menu!

I made a reservation originally for eight people for my birthday and Casbah was gracious about changing the number to nine when I called the day of. We sat in their year round patio and they put two round tables together for our group which was a little awkward.Our server was really nice and patient with our group and they were able to do separate checks. All the food we got was pretty good. The only thing I didn't love was my Spanish sangria - I went to Spain a couple of months ago and it didn't taste on the mark to me.

I would give this restaurant a 4.5, but stuck with a 4 star, instead of rounding up to 5.So this is in a part of the city where parking is scarce, in my opinion. They do have a complimentary valet service. Which I really liked. Staff was very nice and excellent. Wait staff was helpful with any question and recommendation. Every single one. The restaurant was clean and laid out well. Now onto the food. I had the arugula salad and everything blended well. The pancetta was cooked well. Not tough or too salty. I was worried that the pancetta vinaigrette would make it salty, but it wasn't at all. Not over bearing. Just enough to coat everything well. Potatoes on top were crisp and the creamy goat cheese when well with every ingredient. The filet was cooked to absolute perfection. The flavor was *chefs kiss*. The red wine jus was excellent and the earthy blue cheese was a nice touch with the full body flavor of the red wine. The cheese also added a nice saltiness to the steak. You also got maybe 2 carrots and 2 fingerling potatoes with the dish. Now for the price, it's pretty on par with the same caliber of restaurants I've been to. You're mainly paying for the steak with some garnishes. For desserts, it was a sampler flight. Now, Panna cotta has never impressed me anywhere I've gone and this remain the case here too. To me, Panna cotta is more of a glorified pudding and that's what this is. Like a flan, but with chocolate and strawberries. The cheesecake was my least favorite. I'm not a huge fan of cheese cake anyway so, my opinion isn't a fair one. It sat on top of a snickerdoodle with a salted caramel sauce. The cookie was very dry, but I guess with the cheese cake, that's expected. That sponge cake though? Lord have mercy. Perfect blend of lemon, white chocolate and a hint of lavender. I'd eat a huge slice of that. Not too rich. Just enough freshness from the lemon, earth lavender brought it all together with the sweet white chocolate icing. Like I said, if you want heavy meals for forking out $80 to $100 a meal, do not come here. But if you want a nice dinner to impress a date, come here.

Idk why I haven't reviewed before now. We have been coming to Casbah for years and years; it's one of the few "old favorites" of ours that still exists. There are classics on the menu that have been on there for 15 years or more (pork chop, orecchiete) and new additions. We have been to special menu dinners as well. On our most recent visit for our anniversary, we had the artichoke starter (not as good as BB's Alta Via, but still delicious), olives, beet/ricotta salad, swordfish (light and fresh), short rib ravioli (rich, savory and like a heavy bear hug), and flourless chocolate cake. All were satisfying and delicious. As long as Casbah's around, we will keep going back.

I really enjoyed the ambience of this place and great food. We were seated in the basement which turned out to be nice and cool with great decor and lighting. It felt like we were in a speakeasy bar. The waiter was incredible. He did not only check in on us frequently, but he was very thorough in his recommendations. We ordered the spread which consisted of three different dishes and chickpea bread. My favorite was hummus followed by the pepper thing. I don't remember exactly the names. I didn't get to try the main dish as I was completely full after the spread, but they had a variety of pescatarian dishes and a few vegetarian. If you are a vegan, it would be a bit difficult to find something unless you want to go for some salads. Overall, I enjoyed dinner. I'd recommend to come with empty stomachs to enjoy several dishes.

Casbah for dinner.We each ordered a spread to cover all 3.- Hummus: Good hummus and consistency what I would expect- Baba Ghanoush: It was ok, a little bland and a tad bit chunky - Red Pepper Muhummara: By far the best of the three. Good flavor, spice and consistency The spreads were served with a chickpea pita. The pita was such a treat. Also went with the summer salad prior to the entree. It was soo good, the acid from the vinaigrette paired with the sweet cherries, granola in such a great way.Our server recommended the roasted half chicken. I don't usually order chicken at a restaurant but I rolled with it. I am glad I did. The chicken was cooked perfectly with a nice crisp skin while being moist on the interior. The flavors from the thyme jus mixed in with the potatoes, carrots and squash made this a great choice.We skipped dessert because of the great courses that we had.

What a lovely dining experience. The service was not well paced and not intrusive. Food was excellent. My pictures didn't turn out well as it was a little dark. On to the food!! Starters included the cheese sampler, olives and calamari. All delicious-I'm not a calamari fan in general but friends felt it was not crispy. Mains included lobster pappardelle, mussels, ricotta pasta - all yummy. It was hard to decide what we were going to order. The whole menu sounded delicious. We did order the flourless chocolate cake for dessert which we didn't feel hit the mark. It was a little dry. All in all a great experience. Would definitely return!

Our first time at Casbah and it did not disappoint. Our server (Kate) was excellent (very knowledgeable) and was very attentive to our time constraints (making sure all of our orders came out in time).The restaurant itself has a very nice atmosphere.We had all appetizers for our meal, the scallops were excellent as was the calamari + rock shrimp and the grilled octopus was very good. I also had the wild mushroom bisque which was very tasty and my wife had the mussels (large portion and very good).For dessert we tried the (seasonal) chiffon cake which was amazing, the dark chocolate-raspberry bread pudding (served warm with crème anglaise) which was very good and the flourless chocolate cake.

Casbah is my favorite restaurant in Pittsburgh. The food is well prepared and well served by professional chefs and servers. The ambiance is calm and pleasant, with adequate but subdued lighting. The servers manage to be there promptly but are not intrusive. Seating in the main restaurant is quite comfortable, even on the banquettes, as plenty of room is left between tables. Sometimes the patio chairs are a bit wonky-- my only slight negative about Casbah. I like it that there are quite a few appetizers/salads in addition to pastas or more traditional entrees, giving the customer a lot of choice in how to structure a meal. ( We often do all apps or apps and pasta.) Lots of seafood, but choices are available for the carnivores or vegetarians in your crowd (Vegans not so much. ) I love that a cheese course is always available. They give you a nice pour on the wine, with no fussiness about four ounces? six ounces? eight? --and don't pester you about ordering more. Casbah is just a bit pricey by 'Burgh standards, but well worth it for the delicious and relaxing experience.

I've been coming here for years and always loved it, but lately, the quality has gone way down. I ordered my usual--the chickpea hummus with the chickpea flatbread--but the bread was hard and stale. Then I got the pork chop, and when I cut into it, it was RAW. The risotto was cold, and the kale tasted sour. I asked them to remake the pork chop, and when they brought it back, it looked like they had just microwaved it. Honestly, I'm really upset. I LOVED this place, but it's turning into a huge disappointment.