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| - On a recent trip to Montreal, the wife and I thought we'd hit up "Little Italy" aka "Petite Italie" to sample some French-Canadian-Italian cuisine. We checked out Yelp and some other sources in advance and settled on a couple of places that served pizza as our primary targets. It happened to be a particularly cold evening and before we left the hotel, the kind manager at the front desk suggested a third spot, "just in case." Never having been to the area before, we felt our way, through the strange streets and the increasing chill in the air, to Rue Dante, where our first dinner choice turned out to be a bit upscale for Pizza. While the place seemed pretty busy there also appeared to be plenty of room for at least two more. Wrong we were. As it turns out, all those empty tables and chairs were 'booked', we were told by a very snooty hostess and there was just no possible way we would be enjoying pizza in their very popular spot on this particular Friday night. No worries, because as it turned out, that back up eatery suggested to us on our way out of the hotel was just down the block. On the way, we passed another decent looking place and as we walked with purpose through the frigid cold Canadian evening we agreed we'd circle back if necessary. Sure enough, chic hot spot number two - only half full with customers - was also "fully booked" and we were SOL once again. The owner was kind enough to send us down the street to yet another place he told us he "eats at himself" and of course when we got there, it was completely out of business. Guess it had been a while since he enjoyed their cuisine. At this point we were cold, hungry and starting to feel like we were trapped in a surreal film with food everywhere yet nothing we could eat. So we doubled back to that place we passed between our first two rejections and sure enough, it too was completely booked. Strike three! How was this possible? It was 7:30 on a Friday night in Montreal and apparently impossible to eat in "Petite Italie." We had just about given up, as we walked passed the most popular pizza place in town and saw two hours worth of crowd waiting outside in the cold. And it was at that moment we spotted Tratotoria Casa Mia. On the doorstep was a guy wearing an apron and stealing a smoke. Inside 6, maybe 8 folks enjoying their meals and plenty of other unpopulated empty tables. The feel was casual and comfortable, but was there room for us? The nice Italian woman reading her paper at an empty table got up to greet us and before we knew it, our Montreal dinner nightmare was over. Within minutes, that same Italian woman would be in the kitchen cooking up our meal.
Our waiter, busy as he was taking care of all the tables, was welcoming, took our order quickly, made sure we got our bread and beverages while we waited and in good time, brought our lasagna and pasta, too. And much to our surprise, considering how empty this place looked and how no other restaurant in the area would even let us in, the pasta and lasagna were both really good. In short, this was a terrific little restaurant that apparently is not part of the "scene" in "Petite Itlalie" which is too bad because the food was terrific, the service was good, the prices were more than fair and the people who run the place were flat out warm and welcoming.
If you find yourselves in "Petite Itlaie" at some point without reservations, skip the crowds, skip the "scene" and skip the most popular joints in the hood and slide into Tratorria Casa Mia for lunch or dinner, instead. It's worth it not to wait.
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