Casa Universitarilor - București

The building is a beautiful architectural example, but the restaurant is old... the same plates in decades...

Here came with a group of around 20 people, all at a conference at the University of Bucharest. We sat outdoors (although under a roof) on an evening in mid-May, and it was magical. They brought us a kind of brandy to begin, then delicious pieces of grilled meat with potatoes and a finely crushed type of Romanian Cole Slav salad (but much more beautiful than Cole Slav), and finally very light, refreshing berry cakes for dessert. The service was good in the sense that the food arrived exactly when you wanted it and you did not notice it, come or go. It was a magical thing to do on a late spring/early summer evening in Bucharest.

I had dinner here a month ago. The overall experience was positive, the food was good and the restaurant staff was friendly and helpful. But the cakes could have been fresher and the wine could have been better.

Casa Universitarilor is a historical place in Bucharest whose story you can read if you just google it. I will write here a few details about its restaurant, instead of lecturing you on the past. It will be easy to arrive from Piata Romana on foot to this place since it is located just 5 minutes of a walking distance away. The kitchen is modest, the terrace is huge and the staff definitely deserves more. They close at 10 p.m. and often are kind enough to bear with the last clients sipping their final beers for the night. What actually makes this place special is the lack of bling-blings, fancy menu and people that look too similar one to another while trying to be very different. Casa Universitarilor is a simple restaurant, that you might not always find open and that you might never forget if your mind is set in a certain way... Their food is typical Romanian (sarmale, mici, ciorba, etc.), cooked as it used to be during the communist era, but in a good way and very affordable price-wise. If you want to escape the consumer trap, just as I often feel to, do not hesitate to go there. And if it sticks with you, encourage others to go! So it won't close down as the "Scriitorilor" (Writers') Terrace did (at the Literature Museum on Dacia Boulevard). P.S. Also, there are special events organized like: classical music concerts, environmental awareness events and traditional fairs.

Came here with a group of about 20 people, all attending a conference at the University of Bucharest. We sat outdoors (though under a roof) on an evening in mid-May, and it was magical. They brought us some sort of brandy to start with, then delicious pieces of grilled meat with potatoes and a finely shredded kind of Romanian cole-slaw salad (but much nicer than cole slaw), and finally very light, refreshing berry tarts for dessert. The service was good in the sense that the food arrived exactly when you wanted it and you didn't notice it coming or going. It was a magical thing to do on a late spring/early summer evening in Bucharest.