Harvard Square's most distinctive multi-ethnic eatery attracts a colorful crowd with tons of history and atmosphere.

The Scene
This subterranean restaurant and lounge has lived nine lives since opening in the mid-1950s, and it currently provides the neighborhood's intelligentsia with a suitably smart place to hang out. Whether eating in the relaxed, red-walled dining room or drinking in the upbeat, high-ceilinged lounge, a colorful crowd of academics make themselves at home, as do proficient, black-clad servers. The bar, with its vividly colorful murals, is a great spot for a specialty cocktail or a late-night snack.

The Food
Casablanca's Mediterranean- and Middle Eastern-tinged menu is as varied and eclectic as the films showed at the neighboring Brattle Theatre. A salad with cornmeal-fried calamari, baby arugula, cherry tomatoes, pickled red onions and orange aioli presents an adventurous contrast in flavors and textures, while a seared striped bass with lemon buerre blanc and black trumpet risotto takes the tongue on a wild ride. Ouzo-scented olive oil cake with toasted almonds, honey crème fraiche is but one of the comforting desserts worth indulging.