A Review of my favorite Italian Restaurant
Italian food is my most favorite cuisine. Give me a pasta dish of some kind and I'm in the dining room of heaven! Currently the local restaurant that I most favor is one called Johnny Carino's Italian Kitchen.
Our Rocket Moms assignment for extra credit this week was to do a review on our favorite restaurant. Follow along with me to find out why I pick Johnny Carino's over all of the other choices in our area.
Mangia!
Lasagna: My favorite entree
Whenever I visit a new Italian restaurant, I pick the lasagna first. It is my measure of just how good of a restaurant I'm at. If they can't fix a decent lasagna then I probably won't return. That is just my way to measure if the chef really knows how to cook classic Italian dishes.Upon my first visit to Johnny Carino's Italian Kitchen, I tried the lasagna and it passed my test with flying colors! It is incredibly good.
Several layers of pasta, cheese, Italian sausage, beef, meat sauce provide a taste treat beyond your expectations! I think I counted 8 layers of pasta. The noodles are freshly made which makes all of the difference in the world in how any dish turns out.
A little history of Johnny Carino's Italitan Kitchen
It began as Spageddies and was owned by Brinker International. In the 1990s Kona Restaurant Group acquired the chain and changed the name to Johnny Carino's Italian Kitchen. In 1997 the Texas based group Fired Up Inc purchased the chain of five and has pumped it with enthusiasm and zeal.
Menu Choices
Appetizers
Pizza
Salads
House Specialties
Classic Italian
Family Platters
Signature Italian Drinks
Atmosphere with Italian Music
Grilled Italian Sirloin at Johnny Carinos
One of my husband's favorite dishes on the menu is the Grilled Italian Sirloin. He loves his steak! The entree comes with an 8 oz premium aged sirloin and can be topped with Gorgonzola sauce or a Marsala sauce. Johnny Carinos Italian Kitchen lets you decide which pasta you want with the meal. My husband usually chooses the Fettuccine Alfredo with his meal.I'm not usually a fan of the Alfredo sauces as most of the time they are just a little to creamy for my taste buds. However, at Johnny Carinos the alfredo is light and scrupulously delightful.
Dinner Out
My husband and I don't get to have dinner out very often due to our busy schedules. I actually prefer to cook at home, anyway.Occasionally, we do decide to celebrate a little and go out to dinner. If it is my turn to pick the restaurant, I will always pick Italian.
Johnny Carino's Italian Kitchen is my first pick because I love the food and enjoy the atmosphere. We can't always go to this restaurant because it is a good hour's drive south of where we live. That means a two hour road trip just to go eat. So, I save Carino's for the very special occassions like my birthday or our anniversary.
Visit Carino's website to find a location near you.
Be sure to call ahead for reservations, as the food is so good that there is always a very long wait.
That is usually a very good measuring stick for any restaurant - a long wait indicates tremendously good food and exceptional service.
Italian Restaurant Must Have
Moonlight Serenade (Frank Sinatra/Glenn Miller Orchestra Cover)
My tribute to Frank Sinatra, as a singer, and to Glenn Miller as one of the pioneering Big Band conductor/arranger/initiator. ...with the help of the wonderful Glenn Miller Orchestra, and a couple of photos found online, i managed to put together a small collage of music, image and sentiment - with this wonderful song. Hope you all find it appealing. Don't forget, feel free to Subscribe, Rate, Comment and Share. Thanks for stopping by.
Runtime: 209
30004 views
54 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
You can cook Italian at home
when you can't dine out.
The Ultimate Italian Cookbook: Over 200 Authentic Recipes from All over Italy, Illustrated Step-By-Step
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009) 
Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites
Amazon Price: $19.00 (as of 11/28/2009)
Easy Italian Cookbook: The Step-By-Step Guide to Deliciously Easy Italian Food at Home
Amazon Price: $22.45 (as of 11/28/2009)
Quick from Scratch Italian Cookbook
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Rao's Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Italian Home Cooking
Amazon Price: $26.40 (as of 11/28/2009)
Lasagna and a Salad
you've got a well balanced meal.
Lasagna comes from southern Italy. It is a dish that is layered with pasta noodles, cheeses (commonly ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan), and the chef's choice of meat or vegetables.Typically red sauce is used, however Vegetarian lasagna uses an alfredo sauce.There are so many different varieties of recipes for lasagna but as a whole the ingredients supply us with several of the food groups that we should have every day. Grain, dairy, vegetables (either the tomatoes in the sauce or added), and meat.
The great thing about making lasagna at home is that it makes enough that you can have leftovers at least one more night. Personally, I think lasagna on the second night tastes better.
Serious Italian Cooks
need a pasta machine
CucinaPro 178 Fresh Pasta Set
Amazon Price: $57.99 (as of 11/28/2009)
I like this machine because it has the different pieces to make a variety of pasta.
Critic's Review
- Rate this lens:
- Email it
- Favorite it
- Lensroll it
Menu of Comments
Please be so kind as to sign our little menu and let us know you were here. Mangia!
-
Reply
- mbgphoto mbgphoto Sep 24, 2009 @ 7:37 am
- delightful music choice. 5*
-
Reply
- Rokusan Rokusan Aug 1, 2009 @ 8:52 pm
- I just went to Johnny Carino's for the first time this evening. It was fantastic! I ordered the Skilletini, soooo good. And it will be sooooo good tomorrow for lunch. The portion size is HUGE, I might even get two more meals out of it.
Very friendly servers, great food, good music ~ I'll definitely go back.
-
Reply
- Pastiche Pastiche Jul 15, 2009 @ 8:29 am
- Italian cooking is a staple in our German-Norsk household ! 8-D Home made pasta is heavenly - lasagna is my favorite pasta dish.
-
Reply
- annetteghallowell annetteghallowell Jul 3, 2009 @ 3:52 pm
- I love lasagna too, but I like mine the best! I do love to go to Italian restaurants since I am always hungry for pasta!
-
Reply
- kiwisoutback kiwisoutback Jul 1, 2009 @ 10:38 pm
- I don't know what I'd do without Italian food. I eat it at least once a week. Nice work!
- Load More
Other Lenses I've Cooked Up
Lensmaster BevsPaper has been a member since June 18 2008, has rated 3,065 lenses, favorited 390, and has created 133 lenses from scratch. Bev Owens donates their royalties to Squidoo Charity Fund. This member's top-ranked page is "Elvis Presley Sings Gospel". See all my lenses
This lens contributed to my graduating RocketMoms Session 2.
Restaurant Reviews
reviews by other Rocket Moms
-
Wine Country Gardens in Defiance, MO
-
Wine Country Gardens is only 45 minutes from downtown St. Louis, but the country living atmosphere makes you feel as if you were a world away. Set on a hill in Missouri wine country, Wine Counry Gardens has a large nursery, a great wine tasting bar,...
-
Los Banditos Mexican Restaurant in Green Bay, WI
-
The first time I experience Mexican food in Green Bay Wisconsin was at a small restaurant on the east side of town called Los Banditos. At that time there were only a handful of tables and a bar. Even then, timing had to be perfect if you didn't want...
-
Sitti: Authentic Lebanese Restaurant
-
I've been invited to dine at Sitti, an authentic Lebanese restaurant in Raleigh, NC. The name Sitti (pronounced Se/the) is taken from the Lebanese word for Grandmother. Since this will be a brand new culinary experience for me, I've decided to explo...
-
Salsarita's Fresh Cantina
-
Salsarita's is a fairly new franchise. The concept was first created in 2000 and it's based out of Charlotte, NC. It offers a casual atmospere where customers watch their meal being created right in front of their eyes. They offer all of the mexican...
-
Cinderella's Royal Table
-
Yes you really can dine inside Disney's Magic Kingdom Castle at Cinderella's Royal Table. This magical place to dine is the most popular restaurant in the whole of Walt Disney World. If you want to dine in the Magic Kingdom castle you are going to h...
Copyright Notice
Copyright: June 28, 2009 by BevsPaper (Beverly Owens)
by BevsPaper
Explore related pages
Southern Magnolia Tree- All over the South you can see and smell the blooming Magnolias and what a site...
My Dad-My Hero- There is so much in life that I have learned from my Dad. He was in many ways a...
Celebrating the Halloween Holiday in Style!- Are you a big kid at heart? Do you dress up in costume for Halloween? Adult Hall...
Canning Vegetables - Easy to Do- Canning vegetables is fun and easy. You can learn to can. It's s...
ITALIAN-ENGLISH GLOSSARY OF CULINARY TERMS- That's how you try to get the waiter's attention in a nice, polite manne...
Be A World Wide Chef Right At Home
- Cooking can be an exciting culinary adventure. No longer are our palates confine...
