Casa Ramirez Mexican and German Food - Catalina, Arizona

NICOLASA VANMASON

My family and I celebrated my birthday here recently. We all loved our dishes, drinks and rum cake! Definitely going back to try more European pastries, the grilled chicken salad and #3 on German menu! Jose & waiter Paige were amazing!! ?

Jessica Egli

We had a wonderful German dinner at Casa (Haus) Ramirez, including salad and dessert. My husband had the Schnitzel with Spätzle and I had the Roulade. The Spätzle were home made, so was the Roulade and the Rotkraut. With every bite I was reminded of my sweet, sweet Grandma's cooking back home in Germany. All was delicious and authentic. The owner was absolutely lovely, very welcoming and caring. The food, cakes and pastries are home made by his wife. We will definitely be back regularly!

Shelly F

Dropped in for lunch on a Thursday. First impression is an inviting dining room, different tables and chairs and fun decor.. We were greet by Mr. Ramirez, he and his wife the cook do just about everything at the restaurant.. They have a daily lunch special menu with one option per day or the regular menu available.. Thursday is tostadas which is what my husband ordered, I order the ala carte taco and a side of beans.. while we waited we had chips and salsa.. I’m pretty picky about my taco shells so I asked him a few questions about what kind of shell it was going to be. He proceeded to let us know that they make all of their shells, tostada shells, taco salad, shells, and chips in house and I do have to say they were very yummy. The taco did not fall apart and had great crisp to it. The chips and salsa were yummy and they were not greasy and the salsa was full of flavor. Ask for the spicy and add a little and you’ll have the perfect salsa.. in our conversation Mr. Ramirez remarked that they make 90% of the food fresh in-house and we could definitely sense that..they lived in Germany for 10 years so they also offer German cuisine .. give this local family restaurant a try!

Mick Dunn

This review is a tough one to write because I want to be honest, respectful, and fair. New restaurants can be expected to go through some growing pains, usually for the first two or three months. After about 10 months Casa Ramirez is still struggling to find rhythm. This past Veteran’s Day weekend I came here for dinner with two local friends. Our overall experience, and first impression, was not all that good.

First, here’s what went right. For being a Mexican restaurant we found it quite interesting that German schnitzel is on the menu. Two of us ordered it and we all agreed that it was some of the best schnitzel we’ve ever had. Really, that good. The chips were good. The drinks were good also. The salsa was very good.

Beyond that, well… The third dish we ordered was a Mexican steak. It was dry, gristly, and tasteless. I had a hard time getting it down and was grateful that my friends shared their schnitzel.

I don’t know why but the owners were using two hired hostesses as servers (there were no actual servers). One of them is 16 years old and this is her first job. Bless their hearts but they were getting no support from the kitchen or management, and despite their efforts they both struggled and took the brunt of vitriol from other customers, many of whom just got up and left. My table decided to stay and see how this played out. It took us a full hour before we got water and menus brought to the table. In an effort to speed things up, some customers went to the counter to retrieve their drinks and bring them to the table themselves. At some point thereafter the owners, who were very nice and apologetic, finally started to help out on the floor but it was too little, too late as many customers had already departed. All in all we were at Casa Ramirez for two hours and 40 minutes.

My recommendation would be to come here earlier in the evening when it is not so busy or wait until the restaurant builds up steam and rhythm at some point in the future. I really do hope that they can pull through this because the potential for being a great and unique restaurant is most certainly there.

Gonzalo Keymolent

We went for dinner on Cinco de Mayo, the restaurant was about 80% full to capacity, they have regular tables then some nice fancy tables. Overall I would round this place up to 5 stars based on our experience

Staff:
Friendly, attentive, very busy. The restaurant was very busy and service was a little slower, but I would expect that when a place is filled to almost its capacity.

Chips and Salsa:
They have two types of salsa: Mild and Spicy, the Mild salsa needed a little bit of salt, the spicy salsa tasted very good. Chips were crispy and not greasy.

Combo #7
Rice and beans were mildly warm but had good taste, picadillo and the chile relleno was very good. We loved that the picadillo was not greasy, and the chile relleno had a thin egg crust and chile filled with cheese. you get two tortillas.

Combo #8
Rice and beans were mildly warm but had good taste, the steak was cooked medium well and was well seasoned with some cooked vegetables and you get two tortillas. we loved the seasoned steak and vegetables as they had good taste.

Overall, for 2 beers, Combo #7, and Combo #8 for less than $60 before tip is a good meal for two. Considering the competition in the area, we will definitely comeback and in our opinion the best tasting Mexican food in the Catalina area.

Jesse Jesse

I would not have tried this restaurant if I hadn’t found out they serve German food. There are already so many good Mexican food options in the area.
I’m really happy I decided to try it out.
I was totally impressed by how authentic the German food is! Amazing German food!!! Lots of German beer and incredible dessert options too. I haven’t tried the Mexican food but everyone I’ve talked to in the area says it’s ok.
I’m not sure why this place doesn’t just re open as a German restaurant. There are so many people in saddlebrook from the Midwest with German ancestry this place would be packed. Everyone seems skeptical when I recommend a Mexican restaurant for good German food. I keep telling them It’s totally worth it!!!
I really hope this place sticks around. I’m happy to have a place nearby to get good German food.

Ryan Graham

Very unique combination of Mexican and German food offerings.

The Mexican food was nothing to write home about and we would not go back for it. The jagerschitnzel was delicious, especially the cream sauce. The spatzel was very plain, in our opinion. The cost was rather high for both meals but especially for the German food.

Service wise they were understaffed and the food took a good while despite it not being busy when we arrived. They never refilled our waters, but the staff and owner were very nice and welcoming.

E Van D

I went by for lunch today and to finally try Casa Ramirez. I was very happy with my experience.

The owner and staff were cheerful and professional. The waitress took my drink order right away, then brought it salsa and fresh-made, warm tortilla chips. You have a choice of mild or hot salsa.The mild salsa had a little bit of warmth (spicy) but not too much.

Based on recommendations from the waitress and the owner, I ordered the taco salad. I chose the ground beef over the chicken since I prefer ground beef.

The taco salad came in a house-made shell/bowl that was nicely crisp and not greasy. Inside they layered refried beans, rice, lettuce, sauteed bell peppers (red, orange and yellow), their ground beef taco meat, cheese, tomatoes, sliced black olives, sour cream, guacamole and decorated with some thinly sliced jalapenos (see photo).

The taco meat was nicely seasoned, not greasy and I especially loved the addition of the bell peppers to the salad. I'm not a dainty eater and my stomach was definitely empty when I started eating (no breakfast this morning) but I couldn't finish the whole thing, so I feel like the portion size was generous.

This is now my favorite taco salad and I look forward to eating here again!

Thank you again for a lovely meal!