We heard a lot about Casa Sofia and what a good Italian restaurant it is. We wanted to go by and check out what made this place so popular with locals.
The Casa Sofia Story
Casa Sofia is an Italian restaurant on the south end of town. It was started by an Italian couple that named it after their daughter, Sofia. This restaurant has blossomed into a popular place for Playenses to eat.
Atmosphere
This is a casual restaurant but can feel elegant under the crystal chandelier in the air conditioned inside section. There is outdoor seating for smoking and indoor seating.
Part of how a place feels is the service. You can tell this is not a tourist restaurant on 5th Avenue because the service is very attentive and good. It is a tendency in tourist areas to let down your guard because the customers will only be there for that night and then leave town. Here there are a lot of locals going to eat and so we think they make sure the service is good. We certainly noticed it.
The Menu at Casa Sofia
First of all the menu is like a book. It is very extensive and everyone at your table should be able to find something they like. There is a multitude of pastas, pizzas and even vegetarian options. There are also meat and seafood dishes and Italian specialties.
Below you can see the vegetarian pizza. There is one size and the size it comes in can feed two or enough to take home some.
This was the pesto lasagna. The photo by no means does it justice. It is hard to get good pesto in Mexico, but this was very good! The ingredients are expensive and this pesto lasagna for 95 pesos was a good portion size and great value!
The food here is authentic and tasty without being overly soaked in oil and butter just to make it taste good.
Prices at Casa Sofia
- Starters range from about 38 pesos for four pieces of bruschetta to 138 pesos for mixed plate of fried seafood and vegetables.
- Pastas are about 80Pesos to 100 pesos.
- Pizzas are about 85 peso to 135 pesos.
- Meat dishes are about 85 peso for grilled chicken to 219 pesos for grilled rib eye.
- Seafood dishes are around 160-175 pesos.
- Desserts are about 30 pesos to 65 pesos.
Cash and credit cards accepted here.
Our Recommendation
This is one of the best Italian restaurants in Playa Del Carmen. Especially when you factor in the value for the cost of a meal. Tourist are not really going to find this restaurant because it is out of the way but this will remain a locals favorite place to have a meal out. If you are a tourist and can navigate this pretty easy to find place, then you should. This restaurant can be for a romantic night out or a casual night with friends. This place can be whatever you make of it and you will be guaranteed a good meal at affordable prices.
Hours
Monday-Sunday 12:00 noon-11:30pm.
Where is Casa Sofia?
Casa Sofia is on the south end of Playa Del Carmen on Avenida Aviacion. This is the diagonal street on the south side of the airport. It is in one of the plazas in the front. There is parking under the plaza. There is limited street parking nearby.
Have you been to Casa Sofia? What did you think? We would love to hear your opinions below.
About The Author
My husband and I are returning once again to our second home Mexico. We will be arriving June 9th and staying until June 29th. Casa Sophia has been highly recommended from a friend who stays in Playa for months. We are looking forward to meeting you and your staff during our stay. We will be looking for accommodations in Playa during our stay for the months of Jan 15th to March 15th 2017
Casa Sophia is a popular place so we are not surprised to hear that you were recommended it from a friend. We hope you have a great 20 days down here and got to look around for a place to stay when you return. As you know you will be coming at the end of a busy season and rents go up due to demand.
This was one of the first restaurants we learned about when we were exploring moving to Mexico. After making the decision to move to Playa, we have made Casa Sophia one of our absolute favorites. We have never had a bad experience from the atmosphere to the food to the service.
We love Casa Sofias. Always yummy Italian food and good pesto. Highly recommend it.
Hi there. Our son Mitch lives and works in cancun. He took us to your restaurant when we there in dec 2016. Your food and service was amazing!!! We had the bottle of Shiraz wine there. We have been searching everywhere for it since we came back home to canada. My son goes to your restaurant quite often. Tina Cudby
Thank you Tina for your comments. We are glad you had a good time at Casa Sofia. You have left your comment on our article about it but we will make sure they see your comment. We hope you come back to Playa soon.
Is it necessary to make reservations?
Hello Patricia
No it is not necessary to make a reservation, just note that during some buys times you might have to wait about 10 minutes for a table.
Thanks again for a great recommendation to this place; we had also heard about it from some family members that ate here EVERY NIGHT during their stay last fall. We enjoyed it three times in one week (two nights for their delicious Italian food and steaks, and once for pizza). Exceptional value and good service. Thanks again. Really appreciated the thorough information on your website.
from the pictures, this place seems quite nice. Is it family friendly? We will be visiting PDC with our 5 year old daughter.
Yes you are correct. It is not overly fancy but just good food and always busy. There is even a little play area at the restaurant, so they like families.
We had a wonderful dinner there last night and as usual the food was outstanding. However our waiter did not bring us the corect change and when questioned said we were wrong. We chose not to make a scene and left. That put a shadow on an otherwise delightful evening.
enjoyed dinner there in previous years, but were disappointed this year, their pasta was quite rubbery & bland. and we waited far to long to get a cocktail, even after asking twice. they are always busy but were not at peak the nite we were there as it was early.