johnny carino's

a step up from o.garden which is really two steps up from microwaved italian food. the food is blah for the price and when you find diffrent types of pasta noodles in your dish,it's not a good sign. for example finding angel hair pasta in your bowtie pasta dish. what's going on here? they really need to take more care into cooking their dishes. won't bebackfor awhile. the quality of the food really doesn't add up to the mid to high prices.

i've been a returning customer of johnny carino's for the past 4 years. in addition to be a returning customer, i've also highly recommended johnny carino's to family, friends as well as celebrated many birthdays there; however, today at 12:00pm, 09/13/2016, i've received one of the worst managerial handled situations i've ever had not only at johnny carino's but also within corpus christi area. the individual, who stated he was kitchen manager did not resolve the issue and chose to make it worse by remaining condescending during the entire conversation. it's very conducive for a business to train their staff well and understand how lunch specials works before any customer makes an order. i placed an order for the 2 for 1 special, which was gladly received by the waiter. while waiting for the food, the waiter camebackand told me i'm not permitted to order the 2 for 1 special and take the second plate to go. it would have been fine being told this at first instead of minutes before my primary plate was being placed on the table. furthermore, if he would have provided me with the second plate to go and utilized this as an attempt to train his staff then it would have been handled as it should have been. however, due to his lacking in both managerial relations as well as customer relations, the customer is the one who loses? managers are the forefront of any business and in most cases managers seek to make a situation better than worse as he had chosen. for this, i've chosen to give johnny carinos 1 star and will publish this on facebook as well contact the chain.

-larry medrano

food and serve was very poor.  only 4 tables being waited on it was 2:30 pm. there was a door greeter, several waiters and manager roamed around.  however all four groups were seated in the same area with the same waitress.    it took food over 18 minutes to be served and then had no flavor.  waitress never refilled our drinks.  oh yea - we had to ask for bread.  then she asked if we wanted cheese and we said yes it took over 9 minutes to return and her reasoning was she was so busy.  while she walkedbackand forth giving customer their ck, and then refilling drinks and also providing to go boxes.  meanwhile we are waiting for cheese.  location is poorly manager and cooks need training on how to season italian foods.

used to go all the time a few yearsbackand then stopped for a while as we'd moved away... tried it when we camebackand found that it wasn't the same... didn't taste the same and menu was different. bringbackthe 2008 menu and all will be right with the world! 😀

better than olive garden, a little pricey. as far as pasta and italian-style cuisine, johnny carino's was not bad (i would say a 7/10). the flavors were there, the food dishes were large, and the service was great. the only thing was that it was pricey and one can easily rack up a large bill. other than that, my husband and i did determine that we would indeed comebackin maybe a month or two to try them out since we had a good experience with them. much better than olive garden, that's for sure!

not a good lunch day. we wentbackas 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 gobackas 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.

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 comebackhere.

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 thebackof 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!

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 breadbackand 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.

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 bebackto 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 getbackin 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 getbackto 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.backto the manager today april 4, 2013 asking me to verify, by goingbackto 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 behindbackto 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 bebackto 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 goingbacksoon.


-----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 comebackand 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.

bad service and food was cold. we waited almost 20 mins after being seated to be greeted by our waitress and that was after we went and told the hostess. meal arrived in about 10 mins after ordering. the food was warm on the outside but cold on the insude. only ate about 1/3 of my meal before deciding it wasn't worth it. the manager was very apologetic and even took $20 off our meal, but i really doubt we'llbackin a while. this was on sunday eve about 8:00 pm.

this is for carino's italian restaurant.

well, this what we call it, anyway. it is all good.

after attending the symphony on sunday afternoon, while we were still dressed up, we decided to stop by carino's italian restaurant for dinner. even though carino's is a national chain, neither of us have eaten before. we heard it was good, so we gave it a shot. we are glad we did!

for the appetizer, we ordered the sicilian fire sticks. wow! as per the menu: "tomato-basil tortillas rolled with italian sausage, chicken, bacon, roma tomatoes, jalapeños and italian cheeses. served with spicy marinara and ranch."

my partner ordered the shredded beef pappardelle. as per the menu: "wide, northern style egg pasta with roast beef, marinated onions, carrots and roma tomatoes and a burgundy tomato cream sauce." he said the burgundy cream sauce set the roast beef apart from anything he had eaten previously.

i ordered the spicy romano chicken. as per the menu: "bowtie pasta, cayenne pepper, romano cream sauce, mushrooms, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes and green onions." it was just a tad spicy for me, but not too overwhelming. cuttingbackon the cayenne pepper would make the dish perfect for me. i love bowtie pasta.

we did not feel like drinking anything alcoholic that night since we were driving, so we opted for some italian sodas. from the menu: "our original non-alcoholic recipe served with or without cream. raspberry, blackberry, lemon, orange, cherry and vanilla (unlimited refills)" oh yeah, unlimited refills. he drank the raspberry and i drank the cherry. sure, we looked like kiddies with the fruity drinks, but they were excellent.

service was good even though they were crowded. our waiter did his best to keep us happy, but we could tell he was overloaded with tables. we tipped him extra.

the atmosphere was quite festive, as are most national chains. the decor was pleasing and added to the ambiance of the experience.

prices were ok, but not on the cheap, though. with the quality of food and experience, it was pretty much appropriate. on a university budget, this is a once-a-month treat. if you want to impress a casual date, this is the place.

carino's is on our list of restaurants to experience again. yes, we gave it thumbs up!

i have only been here around 5 times. but this place bringsbacka few very fond memories. one of those being my first real date with my fiancé :-). the atmosphere here can go two ways. as they seat for family style dining as well as private low light romantic. i've always had amazing service here. i highly recommend this place!