Casa is the only restaurant not from Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland or Toledo on the list.
All but one restaurant featured in entertainment website Impulcity's "12 Best Restaurants in Ohio" can be found in the state's four largest cities.
The only exception? Athens' worker-owned, Mexican-inspired Casa Nueva, which Impulcity listed alongside Cleveland's Great Lakes Brewing Company and Cincinnati's Arnold as the best Ohio has to offer.
"What, you think that just because Athens is so small that they can't have an incredible restaurant?" Impulcity writer Matt Teaford wrote. "Well, you're going to missing out on delicious foods with that kind of mentality."
Teaford cited Casa's commitment to sourcing food from local farms and its "long list" of menu items as reasons for its acclaim.
The restaurant opened in 1985 as a worker owned co-op. Currently it employs about 70 workers, more than a third of which chose to be co-owners.
One of those 26 worker-owners, 29-year-old Tommy Stumpp, said Thursday afternoon he saw the ranking online earlier that morning.
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Between serving up drinks for customers at Casa's bar, Stumpp made sure to deflect part of the recognition to Athens as a whole.
"It's really nice that Athens was recognized because Athens is this little town that's a huge, influential part of the local food movement," he said. "So it's nice for Casa to be recognized for that and to bring some attention to this part of the state.
"It's neat to be one of those small-town places that gets some press."
@SamuelHHoward
sh335311@ohio.edu
