johnny carino's

the best ever. i have eaten at johnny carino's several times. my first experience was n el paso texas, but i frequent the restaurant in greenwood, indiana. i live over an hour away, but whenever i am in the area, i eat there. the food is delicious and i especially enjoy the italian nachos. i really enjoy olive garden, but always chose johnny carino's over olive garden if i have the option.

connie

i love johnny carino's!!!!. johnny carino's is great!!! their food is amazing!!! try the bowtie festival!!! yummy!!!!

the quail springs carino's is by far our favorite carino's. heather works in the bar area and is a superb server. we now live near yukon and do not visit as often as we did before moving as it is now an almost 30 minute drive to get there. we visit as often as we can, though.

not a good lunch day. we went back as we have had good food there in the past. lunch for me today was not good. just a heads up on ordering eggplant parmesan. my hubby had a skillet lunch which he said was wonderful. i got my eggplant dish and when i cut into it there was no eggplant in it. it was deep fried crust . i called the waitress over and she was very nice and called the manager over. he looked at me and said i will get you another one. i said it was ok as i just wasn't hungry anymore as i had eaten half of it trying to find the eggplant. the waitress came over later and told her higher up manager what had happened. they took my lunch off the bill, which is what have been done in the first place. we just had to laugh after it was all over. we will go back as the waitress was so nice and she just didn't think the first manager did the right thing. wish there were more staff like her. she saved the day and we left happy.

i have always enjoyed going to carinos! the food is beyond amazing my personal favorites being the eggplant parmesan, grilled chicken bowie festival, and the baked cheese tortelloni. the staff is friendly and knowledgable going above and beyond to make sure we were happy. if you haven't been you need to try it out!!

it's okay. have had the spicy chicken pasta, that was good. last time i went i had the chicken stuffed ravioli. the chicken inside was not good. it looked and tasted like blended canned chicken.

need to work on service. we ordered a bottle of wine. it took a long time for it to show up and when the waitress came back, she said she had a hard time getting wine glasses, so we were given warm glasses that smelled of soap. talk about a way to ruin wine.

the meal was ok, nothing great. probably won't return here anytime soon. there are too many good restaurants in the area to come back here.

to answer the question.... i see people reach this page by asking if greenwood's johnny carinos is any good, well let me answer that with a giant yes. i have been coming here since the place opened and never had a bad meal or bad service.

on my last visit i got the "small plate lunch" on the back of the menu. it comes with un-limited bread and salad but the salad is $1 extra. totally worth it. the house dressing is the best i ever ate and the croutons aren't so hard that you break a tooth eating them. they also put parmasan cheese on the salad, which gives it a good taste and they also put fresh tomatoes on the salad, which are never tasteless like they are in the garden of olives.

i got the tortellini for my meal and it was great. i always take whatever garlic is left over from the bread and put it in my tortellini and it is another level to the flavor of the food.

i didn't mention the service yet, well it is fantastic. this is one of those places where i can say i have never had bad service. some of the staff when you walk in the door can give you a wrong impression but the rest of the wait staff is just about perfect and can't ask for any more. if there is a bad server here i haven't had them yet.

i also love the music here but i wish they turned it up a little louder, i don't think it would hurt.

so to answer that question...yes carinos is good and it's a favorite!

good food, good prices. carino's plays in a tough market: chain-based italian food. they've got a menu similar to olive garden's, the ability to order family-sized meals like buca di bepo, some of the finer touches and fresh bread like carrabas and the freshness of a macaroni grill. *shwew!*

but somehow throughout all of that, we were pleased with our meal and our service at this carino's location. the waiter and entire waitstaff were so pleasant and patient with our children, it made us happy. the special drink of the night was a bellini which was so strong, that it should've came with a "no smoking" sign hanging off of it. at $4 a pop, there's no complaints from this side of the table. my chicken balsamico was amaze-balls just as i would've assumed anything that hints to the use of balsamic vinaigrette to be. our kids also absolutely destroyed the fried zucchini sticks. i couldn't believe it. as a parent who just wants their kids to eat vegetables, this was about as close as i can get. bonus points for carino's for that.

overall, it was a very pleasant and fun evening here and next time my wife insists on chain-based italian food, carino's is probably going to become our new standard. i guess i can live with that.

what the &#%% just happened!. second time here, and service was a train wreck. waited 10 minutes for our first encounter with the woman who could only focus on a single task at a time. i ordered a shiner bock (draft) and rhonda just wanted water. and wanted a water...wanted a water...a water...water. three tries at level 165 of candy crush saga (60 untimed moves!) later, a young man shows up with a shiner, and a water. he didn't know who ordered what, so with that "i-don't-have-a-clue" look in his eyes, he offered me the water. i deflected to my bride.
we are into this drama a full 30 minutes before our waitress (casandra ((or something like that))) shows up to take our order. baby doll ordered a tilapia fillet and i ordered a shredded beef pasta dish. cassy informs us our salads should be out shortly and that we should be expecting some bread. {we have been here once before, and fresh baked bread and the tastiest olive oil is served upon seating.} another 3 levels of ccs pass and cass finally shows up with bread and olive oil. i am thrilled, and starved! as usual, i cut the heel off for the mrs. as i am cutting through the "fresh italian loaf", my knife gets stuck in the middle. bread did not bake long enough. no sooner did i put my knife down, then our salads were delivered by another "food runner" confused as to "whom" ordered "what." (at this point we sent the bread back and requested another loaf.) my "italian wedge"" salad was very good. long time getting to me, but good. baby ordered a caesar salad (dressing on the side). when she put the first piece of brown lettuce on her saucer, cassy delivered the second loaf of bread. yup, you guessed it, not cooked through, doughy in the middle. (baby looked me in the eye right then, with that look of "just one more thing!")
my salad was very good. rhonda's was the same as any caesar you ever had. except hers came complete with the stems of the romain lettuce! yup, an inch and a half stem from a head of romain was on her plate! she looked at me and asked "what is this?".
after we have pushed most everything aside, another runner shows up at our table and asks "who had the chicken ravioli?" dumbfounded, we glance at each other, and inform the young man "neither of us". he dis-appears. then, there's the waitress, promising to remake everything... blah, blah, blah. as we are leaving, some snotnosed kid in a tie (i can't imagine this is the manager) shows up to seek "solutions". i give him a quick synopsis of the cluster "intercourse" we have just been through, and i throw a 10 spot on the table. i looked him straight in the eye and asked "will that cover two beers?" he lowered his head as he nodded.

service. food is good. one problem: they always want to seat you at the worst table whether crowded or not. they get angry when you ask to move. even had the general manager argue with me on a sunday evening when there was no crowd.

this makes for an unpleasant experience.

i had the lemon chicken...it was good but not restaurant good. it didn't do anything special to the taste buds. kinda boring and the menu to me was also boring.

i am convinced that there is a reason you don't try steaks from places that don't specialize in steaks. outside the sirloin there are now 2 steak options on the menu. i decided to try one of the new summer flavor items, the tuscan ribeye was medium on the outside as i like & well done full of fat throughout. now the seasoning was awesome in flavor. i opted for the combo skillitini instead of trying another steak


-----13 may, 2013-----

skillitini. jonny carino's skillitini combo is really good. you get a sizzling cast iron skillet of pasta with the choice of either chicken or sausage. i chose to get both. the only thing i didn’t care too much for was the big chunky slices of bell pepper and onion. i had to chop them down a bit. the cast iron skillet kept my pasta really hot. this visit was really good. the bartender was very nice


-----04 apr, 2013-----

3rd visit, not a charm, but horrible experience. i decide to use one of my gift certificates at johnnie carrino’s. to avoid problems i call my order in ordering chicken italian nachos i wait 15 minutes like the guy says whom took my order. no one came out to curbside. it’s now 22minutes passed and i had to be back to work shortly. i get out of my car, in which there is supposed to be someone at the door to deliver call in orders via curbside. the door is locked! i get back in my car and drive around to the front entrance and asked for a manger. i first ask her, how long does it take for a mini chicken italian nacho, she has me follow her to the curbside location, in which no one is attending too. the manager then said there is no order in the system for nachos and asked me how long ago did i order my nacho’s. i tell her by now it’s been almost 30 minutes. she apologizes and says they can make it really quick and for me to save my gift certificate.

but before that she says she has to verify that i actually called the right location and would need to see my phone. for one i found that offensive because really she was trying to imply that i was trying to get free food. i do not lie about my food and wouldn’t to get free food. i love food and don’t mind paying for food. in all actuality your establishment messed up horribly yet again. i tell the manger the reason why i stopped to get something to eat, was to use the gift certificates that were given to me because my order was screwed the last time i was in the visit. the time before that the food was cold. it was so cold in temperature that i had a manager place her hand directly on my pasta meal. her face was priceless because the food wasn’t even slightly warm. she offered to make me something else but i had 15 minutes to get back to work and i had a better chance stopping by mcdonalds to get some hot fast food.

but this is my third visit, surely jonnies can’t be this bad in food and service. back to the manager today april 4, 2013 asking me to verify, by going back to my car to get my phone to prove to her i actually did call. here is the thing if i would have been the same nationality or an elderly women, there is no way in hell this manager would have asked me to show proof that i called in my order. if that were the case i could have just dialed the number and hung up, that didn’t prove anything. this is why i am offended. why not go find out which one of your staff members forgot to enter my order. as my battery had no bars on it, i prayed it would stay on to prove my point. i first let her see that before i called it in i got the phone number off urbanspoon.com where i am a prime top food blogger for oklahoma city. # 1 in 7 of the 9 categories. she then changes her reason for verifying to make sure i called the order into the right location and gave me this b.s. story of how people always get the southside and memorial numbers crossed. blank stare.... blink blink ...... lady please don’t try to fix your assumption of you thinking i was trying to get free food. i show her the time i called including the time, now showing 35 minutes since i called in my order. i get my free food didn’t even check it was, just trying to get my behind back to work.

i get to work and i have italian sausage and chicken nachos..... uhmm i don’t like italian meat sausage, i ordered chicken. the funny thing is they guy on the phone suggested combination and i remember saying no i want chicken. so why in the hell did my nachos have italian sausage. i don’t even eat italian sausage on pizza. ijs what if i didn’t eat pork. smh. i still have three gift certificates to johnnie carrino’s and i will not be back to use them, but i plan to give away.


-----13 mar, 2013-----

looked & sounded amazing! it.... chicken bowtie festival however the pasta was cold.the lunch menu didn't say this dish had bacon or tomatoes. i guess those ingredients meant festival. ijs what if i didn't eat pork, & surprise
bacon. that's something people should be aware of. jeez


-----31 jan, 2013-----

great management customer service. on january 11th a manager was supposed to be sending me some gift certificates for messing up my to go order. she said i would get them in a day or two. i had so forgot about them until on january 24, 2013, i had passed johnny carino's, so i called to talk to another manager to inform them that i still had not received them. i talked to store manager dianne whom wrote an apology letter for the delay and to always give feedback to the restaurant because this was not their standard of service.

i did receive my gift certificate in the mail within a couple of days. so i will be going back soon.


-----11 jan, 2013-----

stale chips!. i go in to johnny carinos for their delicious italian chicken nachos with alfredo sauce peppers, black olives and tomatoes. my mouth was ready only to find the alfredo sauce was luke warm & my chips were stale as hell. highly upset! i call and talk with the manager to inform her of this. the manager offers for me to come back and they remake the order. she say's " i dont thing your chips were stale, but maybe not fried long enough because we cook our chips fresh daily". well regardless fact remains is that they were stale. i was on my lunch break very hungy so i ordered the large order, but was unable to eat due to the stale chips. two things i dont like people messing with my money and my food. in the end the manager agreed to send me some gift cards. i guess i will give them another try another day.

super salty and nothing special. just another chain cooperate restaurant.

aweful. it could just be that i watch too much food network, and that i come from a family that worked in the food industry, i was completely disappointed by the food and service.

the wait service was horrible. the waitresses stood around the soda machine drinking the entire time. some drank out of closed containers, and others just sipped away on open cups, leaving the possibility to spill their drinks. then i asked to get 2 plates for me and my husband.... they never came.

now to the food. i ordered the bruschetta and i was served toasted bread that came from a regular loaf of bread, and the tomatoes were soft and not fresh at all. my entrée came with a salad, and for some reason the cesar salad tasted like frozen fish. my entrée was pot roast, and it had way too much red wine, and it hadn't reduced, so the sauce was runny. my husband ordered one of the house favorites the crawfish pasta. the pasta was overcooked, and the sauce was very heavy.

this is a place that i will never go to eat again. this was a very disgusting experience.