Relaxed, family-operated kitchen dishing up pasta, thin-crust pizza & hearty Italian entrees since 1996. Serving authentic pizza, pasta and other Italian delicacies. To make reservations please call 403.230.7754
Facebook | Instagram
A Place With Great Reputation - Rea's Italian Cucina
Rea's Italian Cucina not only has delicious Italian food, but the atmosphere felt super cozy and welcoming. As soon as you walk in, you just feel happy to be there and excited about the food (that could just be me in general, but you'll feel the pleasant vibe when you walk in, I promise).
It was our very first visit and since we live downtown, we really enjoyed finding such a great restaurant without the hassle of seeking parking and having to walk blocks from our vehicle. It's also only about 13-14 minutes from downtown, so it's not far, if you're still looking to dine "centrally." It doesn't look like much from the exterior, but inside it's decorated with an old-school Italian theme that makes the experience feel a little more "semi-formal" (which I love, because if you know me, I love dressing up). Anyways, enough about the building, on to the important part: the food.
I ordered the Linguine Tutto Mare with a white wine sauce as my entrée; it's listed as their "signature" pasta. This appealed to me because I really enjoy pasta with a seafood medley, especially in the summer time. The server recommended the white wine sauce and I'm glad she did, it was really light, ideal for a meal in heat-wave weather. The sauce was pretty mild in flavour, I'd say it was the seafood that made the dish. The amount of seafood was not lacking, so each bite had a piece on the fork until the whole dish was done. I really enjoyed the mussels and clams the most.
My boyfriend ordered the Linguine Pittore with added chicken - if you're a lover of bacon, get this ASAP! It has tons of pieces of chopped up prosciutto and shrimp mixed in and it's very good - kind of like eating plain pasta mixed with bacon and some butter, sounds greasy and salty, but no - it was SO tasty. Both of our meals we felt were highly satisfactory and both were recommended by our server - so listen to their recommendations if you go here! There's a LOT on the menu, which is impressive, but also makes it hard to choose when everything sounds so mouthwatering.
All-in-all, I recommend this place fully. Italian food is in my top three favourite cuisines, and Rea's did not come short when it came to choices, flavour, portion sizes, and service. If you don't want to have what's trending on "the 'gram," there are SO MANY hidden gems, like Rea's, that have been around for decades with super satisfying food. I don't believe we should always eat what has the most "likes" online, I believe we should eat at places with great reputations, and Rea's is one of those!