Various and Sundry

Yes we are! We have an entrance/exit with a ramp in the Cantina, as well as a ramp into the restaurant. We are working to make our main entrance even more accessible in 2016. If you need help entering the building, please give us a call and we will assist you.

Eden Marketing, based right here in Athens, Ohio.

Well, the majority of us were born after the year 1969, so we don’t chronologically fit that stereotype! However, we do have lots of different types of individuals working at our restaurant and bar. And everyone’s unique character is welcomed with an open-mind. You can find hippies in our establishment, yes, but you’ll also find hipsters, punks, goths, emos, straight-edgers, and regular, average, everyday people.

Rex says, “Well, as far as Casa goes, yeah, it was formerly sometimes used as an all-purpose noun, like “thingamajig” or the like. Even then, however, it usually referred to some kind of container or vessel.

“‘THE hamils’ used to refer to the bus tubs when I started working here in 1990; wait staff would yell “HAMILS!” at the dishwasher when they were full. But at the same time, a bain might be called a “metal bean hamil,” and sour cream hamils were called sour cream hamils…

“In terms of spelling, Casatrons have spelled it both ‘hamel’ and ‘hamil.’ I’ve heard one or two old timers say they’d heard it used similarly as a term for a vessel when working in NYC.

“Back before internet info availability I looked it up in one of those big unabridged dictionaries. My memory of this is:

spelling: hamal

origin: Arabic

definition: a water bearer (person who hauls water), or the vessel used for hauling water.

“I can’t remember when/where it was theorized to have entered English language usage.”

Probably. We do a lot of hiring here because our business is always growing. And a lot of our staff are students who leave us after only a few years. If you are interested in a job at Casa, come in and grab an application.

Yes, that plate is probably very hot. About 425°F hot! We don’t have microwaves, so if you ordered a hot entrée, chances are it was baked in our 425°F oven. So when your server warns you that your plate is hot, they mean it. Don’t touch that plate!

First of all, our restaurant is very popular! Everyone loves to come to this quintessentially Athens eatery. Unfortunately, our restaurant is also very small. If there are empty tables in the restaurant, it’s probably because our hosts are getting ready to seat a large table.

Another reason you may have to wait for a table for so long is because all of our food is made from scratch. We don’t have microwaves to heat your food quickly (we use convection ovens), and we don’t pre-prep any of your food since we believe that it tastes best made fresh and from scratch. And we offer lots of options and substitutions.

We are proud members of the Slow Food USA Movement.

From Rex:

“‘Waitron’ is a term I’ve encountered in the restaurant industry at large, sort of a robotic-sounding, non-gender-specific version of ‘waiter/waitress’. ‘Server’ is probably more popular in the industry because it is gender-neutral and has a more human feel.

“As far as ‘casatron’ goes, I’m pretty sure I coined this term, and I find my self-restraint in not constantly telling people so quite admirable. But maybe I didn’t… I was inspired by the word ‘waitron’, and it’s easier to say than ‘worker-owner’ or ‘casanian’ (yes, I’ve seen this used) as a demonym. Is that the right word?

“Hey, when I ran a spell check to see if demonym was a/the word I wanted, the spellchecker suggested ‘Castro’ in place of ‘casatron’!”

“Waitron” can be thought of as a counterpart to “Patron.” The customer is the “Patron” and the server is the “Waitron.” There’s a great discussion about “trons” on Chowhound if you’d like to check that out.