Casa Bianca

Ten years in South Pasadena, and 10 years of hearing about Casa Bianca in Eagle Rock. Mind you, I've been a little intimidated by the throngs of people waiting out front to try it, but enough was enough.

Finally, I coordinated with some friends to be there when it opened (4:00 p.m.!) for an early-bird dinner. They were regulars, so they knew the drill. We wasted no time with ordering: antipasto salad and split pepperoni and sausage pizza with onions.

Where do I start? The salad had huge chunks of artichoke hearts, mozzarella cheese, salami and all the other good stuff. The pizza served as a refresher to my grade-school quadrilateral studies, as slices weren't the typical wedges or squares, but random rectangles, trapezoids and parallelograms. Fun! The crust was wafer-thin, and the sausage was especially delish!

One other flash-back detail: the lady's room had a dispenser with the powder stuff to wash your hands. No fancy-schmancy soft soap here! I haven't seen that in years, but it fit right in with the old-school theme of Casa Bianca. Now I know what all the fuss is about!

Click here to go to Casa Bianca's Web site.