Johnny Carino’s

So, my wife and kids drove over to have lunch with me, my friend from work and his wife. Not a common occurrence, but generally fun, nonetheless. Johnny Carino’s was decided on and we went to eat. We walk in, and the place is almost dead, but we get seated right away during lunch. After we get seated, the waiter seemed a little off, and haggard, explaining that he has a ton of tables. Not our fault, but we’ll deal. Once we order, the waiter almost haggled with my friend over asking about the salad with his burger, which was an entrée. The meal goes downhill from there. Bread was in short supply, and begrudgingly given when asked for, the water filter was out, so all water available was just tap water, they brought our food out to us in four waves after informing us that they burned my son’s pizza, and then once we were served, the waiter came over to «pass on some bad news.» Wringing his hands, he informed us that «he hoped we weren’t fans of Carino’s, because this restaurant was closing Sunday, and they were just informed that morning.» Needless to say, it was disheartening and not a surprise to hear of the impending close based on the service we received. I actually enjoy the other Carino’s I’ve been to, I hope they don’t close as well, but this one didn’t win my support.

The garlic bread to start off the meal was heavenly. The meal was very good and the portions are big enough to make a whole meal of leftovers the next day. The food is reasonably priced and the wait staff was friendly and helpful. I would definitely recommend this place for a family dinner or lunch with the coworkers.

So, hubby and I came here to enjoy a romantic dinner. We arrived at 620pm, were seated and orders for drinks eventually taken. A little slow, no problem… but hey, we’re patient people. Drinks come, the appetizer of fire sticks were AWESOME… The wedge salad, outstanding… And then it grinds to a stop. We waited and waited, watched two tables get their entrée, eat, pay and leave with no word on our dinner. The waiter doesn’t check in, doesn’t clear the appetizer or salad dishes the entire time. It became a joke but we were staying fairly amused during it all (good company etc) but at the point the table next to us, seated during our salad course, got their food before us, it was done. It was now 745 and we still had not gotten our entrée. During our wait another table discovered a hair in their salad and sent it back. Nice. I found the manager and explained calmly that we were done waiting and our concerns, and his response (well your food just came out) really? Well upon hearing our complaint the hair in food table decide to cut and run. Wise move. Us? We were stuck paying 2100 for an appetizer and two salads. Oh and to top it off, 10 $ in gift cards were left. Dude? Ten dollars for what? They took what started off outstanding and turned it into a hot mess of poor customer service and kitchen disasters. Will not be back. Boo!

Yeah, I’m sure I’m not winning any hip points for liking an Italian chain, but I must say that I’m definitely a fan of this place.
My wife and I have come here twice for their Friday and Saturday 2 can dine for $ 24.99 and it’s definitely one of the best deals out there. You get unlimited bread, salad, and soup, two entrees, and two mini desserts.
The bread is always hot and good. I had the Caesar salad which was okay. It had the right amount of dressing but the lettuce was a tad limp.
I’ve gotten the spicy chicken and shrimp pasta which is my favorite. The sauce is flavorful and the sun dried tomatoes add to the flavor.
Finally for dessert, I had the mini tiramisu which is definitely mini, but just the right size after a big meal. I’m not a tiramisu expert, but I did this it was really good.
The service has always been good. The waitresses we’ve gotten have been super friendly and attentive.

Went here for a work lunch and I was really happy with how quick they were, even though we had a super weird waitress who was somehow both over-​talkative and very negative.
I was glad that they had some unlisted lunch specials so don’t be afraid to ask if there’s something you want to see if they do a lunch portion of it because I was able to get a chicken alfredo dish that was pretty tasty for a lunch price, and the «lunch portion» was actually pretty big!
If I was only rating my dish I might have given 4 stars, but my co-worker’s sandwich was apparently not that great and my other co-​worker had ordered a lunch portion of ravioli and I think she got 5 ravioli? She ended up gorging on bread because her portion was so small. Oh well, I made out like a bandit I guess my big suggestion is to be careful what you order. I can recommend the chicken alfredo!

Maybe I just didn’t know what I ordered but the spaghetti was a little bland. The soda shake was good. The service and professionalism was excellent. I only gave it 3 stars because of my taste in food. This could easily be a 4 or 5 star restaraunt depending on your taste in food.

i love this place so much. The unlimited bread they give you is enough to come back for but the really treasure here are there family size meals! There is so much to choice from and all of them as good! There ceaser salad is the best!

Good food

After a couple months of online banter, I had come to catch the interest of a «Melissa C» on
. To my surprise, I found out that the «C» stood for Carino, as she was the oldest daughter of Johnny Carino himself!
I thought it strange, but she wanted our first meet/​date/​whatever to be at the Johnny Carino’s restaurant location in Irving, TX. That was fine with me, so I arrive on time at 7:30pm dressed slightly overly trendy for this chain restaurant, as I didn’t know what I might be getting into.
I ask the hostess if Melissa Carino was there, thinking she should know since Melissa is the owner’s daughter. Suddenly, a large brute-​of-​a-​man appears, and commands I follow him to the back.
I pass through a pair of red «employees only» doors, and suddenly the atmosphere changes from corporate Italian to old school mafia; I could hear Dino playing off an unseen tinny radio, pictures of the Old Country cover the walls, including Italian political figures and famous national actors from the 50s and 60s.
«Ok, wait here,» the hulk commands. I smell thickly seasoned tomato sauce.
After a few seconds, a short puggish Italian man in his late 50s comes from behind a nearby curtain that I thought was just a wall. «So you’re the guy from the Match dots, and you wanna date MY daughter?» he abruptly greets me with.
«Well, I’d like to meet her first,» I respond.
«You don’t already know Melissa? What kind of date is this?» he frowns.
«No, sir, we’ve met, just online. E-​mails and photos. Yeah, I know your daughter and I think she’s hot… I mean NICE. Now I want to meet her, you know, in person,» was my best improvised response.
He looked at me disapprovingly. Mr. Carino obviously doesn’t like the electronic dating thing, and lesser me. He stared me down for a few seconds, fixates on my shoes for a moment, then glanced over my shoulder single-​nodding to someone behind me. I turn to see who’s standing there and –
BAM! All I see, before losing consciousness, is a fist adorning a large chunky gold ring… heading full force for my face. It strikes and I’m out.
A while later I come to, in the now nighttime parking lot, and I’m sitting in my parked car. My face is stinging! I look at myself in my rear view mirror and notice I’m sporting a new black and purple shiner around my right eye! As I reorient myself, I realize the restaurant is closed and it’s now after midnight.
Then I notice something else; a thick bulge of something in my jacket pocket. I investigate and find a large coupon book full of free meal vouchers for Johnny Carino’s. A condolence prize for not making the cut to date Melissa C!
Over the next several months, using the advanced search functions of
, I find new woman to date — particularly those who like Italian food. I now have date after date of free meals complements of Johnny Carino himself.
After many times out, I’ve come to realize the food here is corporate Italian. The red sauce has some zest to it, not too much as they’ve got to play it safe for a wide audience. The meal portions are OK. Food is overall «pretty good.» Bread is good but is a little light on the internal density. Overall, think Macaroni Grill’s younger brother.
Compared to Olive Garden, this place is 1.5 to 2 rating stars better, depending on the night.
As I’ve mentioned before with other chain restaurants, however, is the location in context of other Italian restaurants in the area. Carino’s is not as good as I Fratelli’s which is right across the street. North 2 minutes off nearby MacArthur there’s Michael ‘s Italian Kitchen which is better than both those chains. And finally, 3 minutes farther North on MacArthur is Bruno’s, which I consider one of the best Italian restaurants in Dallas.
So while Carino’s is good, other Italian in the area trumps it. Of course, nothing beats a free meal. So if you want to earn your own coupon book I would suggest chatting up a certain «Melissa C» on Match.

* Pros: Huge portions; friendly staff; clean dining area; reasonable prices
* Cons: Not for the faint of will power; creating a cuisine genre that falls short
I’ve been to Carino’s multiple times in Tulsa, and found the Dallas area location to be extremely flavorful and abundant. We were the only ones there at 11am on a Saturday, and the manager was extremely friendly. Not faux friendly, with the rehearsed banter and below the eyes smile. She was genuinely witty and engaging.
Our server was quick with drinks, bread and olive oil. I had a skillet that combined grilled veggies with chicken, sausage spaghetti noodles and marinara.
The portions are huge and, if you have issues with self control, I advise you seek lunch elsewhere. The caloric content on what I consumed had to be 2000+. A very yummy two thousand kcals, but two thousand kcals nonetheless.
They seem to be experimenting in a mexican-​italian fusion which is of some concern. They have italian nachos, and my skillet appeared to be some sort of a fajita/​pasta hybrid.
When you combine both cuisines, I think you miss something in the process.
Regardless, it was enjoyable and tasty.
Oh, and it’s weird as hell being the only two diners in a restaurant at lunch for like 45 minutes.
But yeah, knock it off with the fusion.

You know what? It’s just about impossible to complain about a place that has $ 2 wine, beer, and sangria on happy hour and half price bottles of wine on Wednesday.
So I’m reviewing this more as a watering hole than an eatery, because you know what the food is like. It’s Italian chain restaurant food.
But the booze! It’s cheap! The bread! It’s free! The appetizers! They’re half off!!!
So come get a good bread base, get sauced, then finish it off with a half price pizza.
Side note: the bartenders are a genuinely friendly. This can be a pro or a con depending on how much you like interacting with strangers. If you’re not a fan, maybe not the best place. If you are a fan, then hot damn! These people will talk to you!

Poor Choice for a Party! You can multiply this review times 15: We had a large party so I can understand some wait, but two hours to serve 15 people is a bit much, it was lunch but they were not very busy, I now understand why.
The people that worked there seemed pretty nice and they appeared to be working hard. The bread they serve is above average as were the french fries.
Slow service aside, everyone agreed the food was too salty, my fries were great, that’s it, not sure what a pannini should taste like but I couldn’t finish half, it’s just a grilled sandwich, how on earth can you mess that up. HOW?
Not sure how long this place has been there but I can’t see it lasting much longer, must be a tax write off for someone.

Oh boy, it did not take long to figure out why the parking lot was partial occupied.
My first time in a JCCI and my last.
The wait staff is what makes a place and calling me ‘Honey’ by someone close to 30 years younger than me is not going to make me a smiley fellow. A greasey spoon yes, not at a quasi Italian place.
I do not believe I have every had chicken scallopini served like the way they do. I am not saying it was bad or good, it was certainly different.
The soup, which was minnestrone, was close to luke warm, if it was that hot. My poor late mother would have pitched a fit.
And what’s the deal with giving you money back? The tab was $ 16.24, and instead of getting $ 3.76, I got back $ 4 or more, don’t remember exactly but when service is questionable give me the correct change and your TIP would be closer to comensurate with the going rate.
The other two chains are far better: Carraba’s and Buca de Beppo.

I’ve only dined here twice and I must say that I should kick myself down a flight of broken glass covered stairs for living right around the corner and just now trying it out.
The food is amazing… phenomenal…epic…legendary…it’s…it’s really that good!
Now I expected service to be like any other mainstream restaurant with a wait staff full of fake smiles and call center concern! I was fooled! Our waitress was energetic and engaging, not in that creepy hovering waitress type but genuinely engaging. She walked us through what was available, what was her favorites, and was even all the wiser to even make drink suggestions based on our entrée selection. She was spot on, but continuing…
My theory is that restaurants send you out a low mediocre appetizer to take your mind off the fact that they take their sweet pound sign time with your food. Little did I know that I was seconds from being served a dish that would blow my head gasket! I was so tempted to just stop the meal there, but I wasn’t going to wimp out there… I was already an appetizer, two loaves of bread, a few drinks, and a Ceasar salad in… I couldn’t wimp out! The flow of things were like boom boom boom! Drinks then appetizer, some bread, then salad… and even though there was some time that passed from sitting to ordering to the bind date that was my meal… it all built up to the moment that I completely forgot about! My main course!
*moment of silence*
Upon getting my plate, I was assaulted by the sultry aroma of delicious deliciousness! I could smell the faint whispers of a food induced coma nibbling at my ear. I dove in feet first like a kamakazie cannonball off a 30 foot diving board and was greeted by the taste of a blissful eclipse eliminating what I thought I knew about good restaurant made Italian food. I was mesmerized, flabbergasted, shock, aroused, happy… so full of glee, I could have been my own television series! Yeah… it was that amazing!
Unfortunately like a moron I stuffed myself with bread so I wasn’t able to complete the plate, but I did pick and bite and nibble relentlessly at what was in front of me until I was asked would I like a to-​go box. Feeling elated and almost in nirvana I was asked if I would like dessert! The siren of irresistible morsels rubbed her hand at the base of my neck and coerced my head into a nod! Luckily for me, Carino’s offer a «mini» of their normal desserts that allow you to sample without completely committing to the dish.
I received my mini…
…it was wrong! It was a sham! It was evil! It was so delicious, I wanted to marry my waitress right there, where instead of rings we exchanged those little servings of breath taking excitement that coated your tongue like cool silk sheets against freshly shaven legs on a hot summer night! Not that I know what freshly shaven legs are like, but you get my analogy! *cough*
After two visits, I am forever more a faithful believer! If only but once, you owe it to yourself to go and indulge! Indulge like it was something that all the cool kids do! Indulge like your taste buds are holding your stomach hostage! Indulge because you don’t need a reason and just love GREAT food! Indulge in Johnny Carino’s because it is Great food!

A few years back Johnny Carino’s used to be my favorite Italian place, but until recently it hasn’t been the same for some reason. My favorite dishes were the Jalapeño Tilapia and chicken scallopini; however after the last three orders it was confirmed that it was no longer my favorite :(What happened? Did they change owners and went cheapo on their ingredients?
The service was terrible and judging by the amount of people that was in the restaurant, I’m not sure what the disconnect was? Our waiter took forever (ok 20 mins, but that’s a long time) to bring us our wine-​nothing fancy.
I may give it another shot sometime in the future.

My mother in law & I are fanatics about Johnny Carino’s. I haven’t had bad service yet & each time I have tried something new.
Last visit, we tried the lasagna nacho’s which were amazing. I preferred the fried lasagna to the actual toppings.

Bad service happens to good restaurants. It does. I have some places I loooooove which have totally let me down on the service end. I’d rather have that happen than have my dinner taste like butt. I’ve never had a manager be so embarassed about it though.
Did late Saturday lunch at JC and the service was painfully slow, but only for my table. People who came in fifteen minutes after us were getting their food and we were rolling our eyes loudly in disbelief. I finally waved over a server and asked what the dealio was and a he said he’d find out and let the manager know.
Our food appeared shortly after. And when we were done eating – not during which I totally appreciate – the manager stopped by to ask what was up. I explained how sucky things has been and he asked what I could do about it. Uhhhhhhh… I dunno. Suck it up and do better? Well, we ended up with a discount which is nice but I’d rather had a real explanation about what was up.
Still, he was totally nice, totally apologetic and really embarassed that the service had been bad. It’s super that there’s managment out there who take responsibility for the short fallings of their eatery and truly try to make things right.
Side note to the server who kept saying very loudly about how she «couldn’t believe how busy it was for that time of day» — saying it loudly does not make it true. It was not busy. I could see that it was not busy. Hush Sweetie, it makes it look like you’re daffy.

I should have known better than to eat at a restaurant located on the Avenue of Awful (635 & MacArthur). But, my curiosity got the best of me. Please understand, I am not trying to shock and awe anyone by giving this 1 star rating. It is justified, and here’s why:
1. My napkin was pre-​stained.
2. Our server was apathetic.
3. The lettuce was bagged, and the dressing was sparse.
4. The bread was pretty good, until I found a hair on it.
5. The Fettuccine Alfredo came with canned chicken.
6. The spaghetti was almost void of any signs of tomato sauce.
7. The chocolate cake frosting was Crisco.
8. My stomach hurt after the meal.
And finally, at #9, and possibly the worst slam I could ever bestow upon an Italian restaurant: Olive Garden is better.

I’ve written several reviews on this place, but just can’t bring myself NOT to remind everyone of their HH specials, especially in this struggling economy and each of our desires to find good food and drink and fun at bargain prices. Not sure if this applies to Carino’s other locations as I just visit this one in Irving.
Mon-​Fri, HH, ½ price pizzas, 300p-​700p. I ordered a pizza with pepperoni, sausage, black olives, onions, and DOUBLE tomatoes. It was just absolutely delish… thin crispy crust, tasty spicy tomato sauce, and more than adequate toppings with lots of cheese. Server shaved fresh Parmesan on top forever until I said stop and I added red pepper flakes. SO YUM !! Everything was fresh and beautifully presented. Pizza was 6 slices… 2 filled me up. More for the weekend.
I also had 2 glasses of Merlot at HH prices of $ 2 each. Total bill was $ 8.60 plus tip. OMG, what a bargain, and in a wonderful, relaxing atmosphere in the bar area. Eric is OUTSTANDING as a server and bartender, along with Ricky. Comfy booth with two large screen t.v.‘s to watch the CNN news or a sports event.
Again, HH drink specials Mon-​Fri, 300p-​700p:
$ 2 — small drafts, house wine, sangria, wells
$ 3 — large drafts, bellinis. italian margaritas
AND, ½ priced pizzas… what a deal !!
Just a repetitive reminder, there are deals out there. Check it out !! (Also, they have a frequent diner card, buy 5 lunches, get 6^th one Comp. Just ask for the card and then present it each time you dine. Does not apply however to ½ price pizzas)

I would compare Johnny Carino’s to Macaroni Grill and Olive Garden, decent italian but we’re not talking North-​End-​in-​Boston-​Italian.
I’ve been here for lunch a bunch of times but it had been a while until this week, sadly I remember it better than it was on this visit. My favorite on their menu is still Jalapeño-​Garlic Tilapia served over spaghetti. It really is a great fish dish. Their ravioli is also pretty good.
Their service is usually decent but this time it was sub-​par. Granted, we were a pretty big group but we asked for a dessert several times yet the waitress forgot it every time which was disappointing.
They’re pretty good at accomodating groups, they don’t take reservations (at least not for lunch) but they do accept call-​ahead-​seating.
I rank Carino’s higher than the Macaroni Grill and Olive Garden for sure but YMMV.