by Thomas S.

Shortly after moving to Denver, a family friend gave us, "The Gyros Journey: Affordable Ethnic Eateries Along the Front Range," by Joey Procelli and Clay Fong.  This book was a good primer on restaurants in the area, but is certainly not a collection of the best and most affordable restaurants in the region.  While being listed in the book of affordable restaurants, the Casablanca Moroccan Restaurant is anything but affordable.  In fact, the restaurant is rather pricey and the menu is quite confusing.  Compound that with a pushy yet friendly owner, and you could find yourself spending $240 on dinner for 4.  Not bad for fine dinning, but I would categorize this restaurant as experiential dining...kind of similar to say...Medieval Times.  While there are some elements of the atmosphere that I absolutely adore, there are others that I find tacky and/or cheesy.  And then there is the belly dancing.  Normally, my wife and I would role with the punches and awkwardly accommodate the dancer's insistance on interupting our meal.  But on this night, we came with my in-laws, who are both religious and somewhat conservative - though the experience does conjure up a few laughs in hindsight.The food is a serious saving grace.  Incredibly rich and savory.  The portions are bigger than needed per person and one should be able to share a meal with a partner should the owner allow for that.  My entree was an incredible leg of lamb dish where the juicy tender meat fell right off the bone.  The highlight of the meal was the Pastillo (i think that is what it is called).  It is a savory pie with chicken, phyllo dough and nuts, topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar.  Yum!  Be ready to get your hands dirty when you come to this place b/c they don't have silverware...which is odd for cuisines that are kind of messy.

by Lori M.

With its billowy clouds of fabric hanging from the low ceilings, massive, plump pillows to lounge on, and staff garbed in traditional Moroccan clothing, you might wonder if you've landed into a hokey Disneyworld theme restaurant.  Instead, you've stepped inside a culturally rich shrine celebrating lamb and lentils, honey and raisons, filo and saffron, couscous and olives. The dining room is visually stunning, and the food, equally so. The kitchen turns out lavishly presented, authentic Mediterranean and Moroccan foodstuffs that dance with bold, assertive flavors. Go for the gusto and order the seven-course dinner. The restaurant also offers private cooking classes.

by Rusty M.

Before eating here my fiancée and I never hugged a restaurant proprietor.   At Casablanca we enjoyed a superb dinner, replete with splendid service and belly dancing. Plan to spend at least two hours to fully enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and seemingly endless courses.  I was so impressed by our meal that the thought of slurping out the bone marrow from my lamb dish (at the suggestion of the proprietor) seemed like a good idea.  And it was.

by Jay H.

I heard about this restaurant from a friend of mine who knows about these things, and as someone now in the know let me pass it on to you, under strict confidence.Casablanca is the sort of place you talk about for months afterward.  It's tucked away in south Denver, and the owner is one hell of a character.  I came here on a Tuesday night to find that only one other table was being served.  He explained quite a lot of the menu while we lounged on a couch that took up an entire wall of the restaurant.The food was tender, spicy, and several standard deviations outside of the Americanized norms of north African restaurants.  My date had spent several years in various parts of the Middle East and North Africa and talked about how she hadn't eaten something like that in the years since she left.  It is tremendously tasty and hard to replicate.The owner also made the meal an experience, as one reviewer mentioned, although I wouldn't compare it to something as contrived as Medieval Times.  (In fairness, this also wasn't on a belly dancer night, which I still haven't seen.)  Dishes are explained in detail and eaten with ones (right) hands.  Casablanca seeks authenticity away from S. University from the hanging tapestries to the hookahs.

by Alden C.

I have been here several times and the meals have always been good! I got the dinner one time with several courses and you get to rinse your hands in rose water in between courses. Some of the food mixtures might sound a bit funky but it all tastes good in the end. If you are lucky on the weekends there are belly dancers which enhance the atmosphere even more.

by Ruofan X.

this is the best moroccan restaurant i have ever had in town. the food is sooooooo beautifully cooked, and the lamb is always my first choice of entree. besides, the chicken is so tender and deeply simmered with the special spicys from morocco. before the entree is the amazingly baked bstella - there are chicken, almond and eggs inside and with cinammon sugar on top. it's like an art work, i cannot resist to take a picture with it!! and the decoration on the wall fit really well with the whole tent-looking restaurant. and the after dinner rose water keeps me smell good after eating with fingers.the chef comes out each time on my visit to talk to me and my friends, introducing some of their moroccan culture and life. they always have belly dancers on weekends, and in the end she will invite you to dance with her~ that is another fasinating experience to me. BTW, the waitresses are very kind and explained each course in detail. (they always offer a four-course-meal on weekends - including soup, salad plate, and the bstella as the appetizer, and moroccan bread and mint tea for free refill ;)

by Amanda G.

I first went here on the recommendation of Sam Arnold, the former owner of the Fort. My family was visiting him in Denver and he mentioned Moroccan food not even a mile's walk from his house. So of course, we went. I was a preteen and angry as hell that I was being forced into eating something I didn't want. Then, as we walked down Colorado, we watched several fire trucks pull in front of the restaurant. I started smiling from ear to ear. "Well!" I said. "Guess we're not eating there. It's burning down!" Then I watched as the firemen promptly got back in their trucks and drove off. False alarm! Little did I know that the restaurant I was hoping would burn down was about to give me one of the best dinners of my life.Since then, I have gone back when I can afford to. It is always a wonderful time. The owner, Said, is personable and funny, if maybe a little forward and pushy. The atmosphere is wonderful - rich colors, plush carpets, a tent-like, fabric-draped ceiling, and comfy seating. So go for the experience! You get to eat with your hands and get splashed with orange water and have the most delicious food. Dinner is usually a fixed-price menu including a soup, appetizer (the pastilla, which is divine - meat and spices encased in pastry and coated in powdered sugar), and an entree. I always pick a lamb entree, and my favorite is the lamb with honey and almonds. It's delicious. The atmosphere is incredible. It is pricey, for sure, but it's worth it for the experience you get.Note: Mataam Fez, the other big Moroccan restaurant in town, was started and used to be run by Said's brother, Rafi. Interesting, huh?