Johnny Carino’s

Just had a Chicken Caesar Salad and was soooo disappointed! Advice: ask for dressing on the side! The dressing was so overwhelming! I should have sent it back! Yuck.

I love this place. Friendly, prompt service. The family platters are ½ off every Monday. The patio and bar are the best places to sit. The lasagna and pizzas are my favs. But I’ve never had a bad meal. Jenn is the best bartender.

6÷11÷15
The restaurant was dead. It was dinner time and there were only a handful of tables filled. The hostess brought us to a table right behind another couple. I’ll never understand the point of filling tables right next to one another when there are so many to choose from. We all started whispering so that we wouldn’t hear or bother one another.
The server wasn’t exactly rude but she was abrupt. She cut me off several times. We told her it was our first time there and we had some questions. I got the impression she had somewhere else to be, but it certainly wasn’t waiting on other tables.
The food was pretty good. I got the Johnny’s Combo which is lasagna, chicken parm and spaghetti. The lasagna is supposed to have sixteen layers, but it tasted like sixteen layers of noodles, so that was a bit of a disappointment. My son loved his spaghetti and my husband enjoyed his seafood pasta.
I would recommend the to-​go service to enjoy their food and skip the poor service.

Used to be a lot better, sadly the service, food and cleanliness has gone downhill recently. Our tables were sticky, I had to asked for everything and the food was something I could have made better myself.

My wife and I used to really enjoy this place but in the last year or so everything about it has declined. *I created this Unilocal account for the sole purpose of voicing my concerns with this place and to save you all time and money.*
We were seated right away, however it took ten minutes or so to even have our waitress come to our table. No bread, just oil was at our table. We had enough time to decide what we wanted so when we finally saw her and she took our drink order, we ordered right away. Our waitress rolled her eyes consecutive times. Ten minutes after that, we finally got our bread which satisfied us for a short time. Another ten minutes go by. Our food finally arrived cold, including pasta and sandwiches which should’ve been hot.
Such a disappointment. Management needs to be aware of how their employees treat customers. We decided we will not return after this is the last straw.

After Church this Sunday, I treated myself to lunch, unfortunately here. I was alone, so the hostess tried to persuade me into sitting at the bar, but finally let me sit in a booth, in the restaurant part, which was very nice. Being lunch hour, after church, I was surprised by how few people where there. My matted/​dreadlock hair waitress, drug her feet over to me and gave me a tiny roll sized piece of bread. I remember the establishment used to give tiny loafs of bread. So I was disappointed to see that had changed. I ordered the ‘homemade chicken parmigiana’ which I’m positive had been frozen for a while. It came with spaghetti, and the portions we very small. I ate all my small bread, and drank all my water while waiting for my food. I was never asked if I wanted more of anything. Not more than 5 minutes after I received my food, my waitress shuffled over and gave me my bill and asked if I wanted a to-​go box. I set down my fork, finished chewing my bite of, less than tasty, food and smiled and said «yes». I’m not one to cause trouble or problems, so I just packed up my food and left. I thought maybe they needs the table, so as I stood up to leave, I looked around and counted tables of people. 6. there were 6 tables in that entire restaurant. I was slightly shocked, but whatever. If they don’t want my business, I don’t have to go back. I will definitely go to Olive Garden, next time, like I’m assuming everyone else did.

The food, service and cleanliness of the restaurant were all lacking. The wait staff was extremely rude and lazy. We spent most of our time waiting on our waitress. There was a huge sticky puddle, complete with lemon slice and straw next to our table the entire time we were there and the waitresses just walked over and ignored it. We had two orders of fettuccine Alfredo and a meatball panini. We watched the panini and fries sit on the counter for a good 15 – 20 minutes before it was delivered to our table ice cold. Both of the pasta dishes were cold as well. The only reason I gave them two stars was because the food would have and could have been good if it would have been served even lukewarm. I will not be going I another Carinos ever again.

Great food, great service! Stuffed mushroom appetizer exceptional. Built our own pizza, great also. Oh, and to begin with you are brought a small loaf of warm bread in a wrapper along with olive oil/​garlic on a plate. Delicious. Wait staff great, always at hand but not overbearing.

I have actually had pretty good service here. I know it’s a chain but it does it well. I like that it’s not as noisy as OG and not as lit up and bright. I ate here the second week of OCT 2013 and the meal was fresh and tasty and the service was perfect.

It was the basic chain type of restaurant. The food was ok, felt like it was a bit greasy on the veggies. I was not very impressed.

It’s everything to expect of a chain restaurant. Food quality is consistent, usually quiet delicious. Service is lacking a bit, but it seems to be the norm in Bismarck. Carino’s is a family favorite. I think the kids love the fresh bread and oil most of all.

The service has become lousy. Every time we have been here over the last two years, it is more evident.
Nice people. Lousy service. Food is ok — not great.
This was the second time in a row (and last) they stuck us in the table from hell (immediate left as you walk in the dining room). Loud and no privacy at this table. Sloooow service.
Four of us had our meals ordered at the same time. Three came well after a reasonable time and the fourth came ten minutes after the other three.
I am done with Carinos. Last time.

The alfredo sauce was a cream based broth. That and they had run out of ravioli.

Sooooo good, need I say more

I have a love/​hate relationship with big chain restaurants.
People LOVE the Olive Garden for some reason. I USED to love the Olive Garden a long time ago. I felt as though it was the place to go in Fargo and couldn’t wait until Bismarck got one. Then I moved away and experienced REAL Italian food in North Beach in San Francisco and after that the Olive Garden was dead to me.
Enter Johnny Carino’s Italian Grill. While it’s not a mom and pop owned shop, it’s pretty tasty for a chain. It’s better than the OG and is certainly better than the locally-​owned Italian place in town. They offer many different dishes, including seafood. They have a pretty good drink menu too. So if you’re craving Italian and the line at OG is too long, head to Carino’s instead!

Being in North Dakota for the holidays has its challenges. We went with my sister in law on a Wednesday night. This is a chain so my expectations are very low to start with.
Lets start with the décor, exactly what you expect from a chain. The menu is the same reworked olivegardenish type food. Who ever decided that burnt garlic dried herbs and poor olive oil was a dip for bread was an idiot. This stuff is awful and the funny part is they make a production about of pouring it on your plate. OK, so the bread was warm and I was hungry. I asked for some butter, what the waitress brought me was little tubs of tasteless country crock margarine. I had her take it back and go to the kithcen and get some real butter. My wife ordered mussels, the actrully tasted fresh if they hadn’t been overcooked and dried out.
The only positive thing I can say is that on Wednesday night wine bottles are half price, even if the wine list sucks. at least when i drank it i did not feel bad about paying to much for it.

Great food. Love the spices they use. Everyone is really nice. my only complaint is that it seems a little unoriginal like a chain… maybe it is?

great food and service. Ask for the waitress Daisy when you go in tell her chad and kelley rial sent you. Great food, love the warm bread. I usually get the nachos. yup nachos at an italian food joint? They are great just try em!