The Oven

The J Riley Italian Panini was awesome! Tasty and filling. Tastes as good as it looks. See photo!

I recently experienced doughballs for the first time! Apparently this is a local thing? :) There was a lot of hype. My family called in a few orders of doughballs as takeout from The Oven last time I was in Caro, so I finally got to see what all the hype was about! It took several tries to get our order right, but the doughballs were worth it! I’ll be back. We got a few orders of the plain and one of the cinnamon ones. For the plain there were two sauces — cheese, and marinara. For the cinnamon ones, which were a dessert doughball, there was a sweet frosting to dip them in. They’re basically just chunks of fried pizza crust, but they’re pretty great and fun to share. I’ve never seen them anywhere else. We’ll definitely go back for these, it’s a family tradition! :)

So I’ve been to this place plenty of times but checked in for the first time on Unilocal the other day. I used to live in Caro, and it’s pretty surreal eating here and realizing the same building used to house The Capri. Those feelings of nostalgia flow over me as I sit in the bar area, where The Capri used to have karaōke every Wednesday night, serving clientele such as myself until they were walking zombies.
One thing that kicks ass is that they kept the original wooden bar and some of the woodwork as well. The food here is very good, and I like the variety. They have a decent draft selection and a lot of specialty drinks. One of my favorite sides is the bleu mac and cheese. You’ll find the pizza is very good here. When I checked in I tried the cod dinner which was very good, batter wasn’t overly heavy and the fish was great quality. So if you’re looking for a good place with nice atmosphere, good food or just want to get your drink on, I’d highly recommend this place.

Not a bad place to grab a bite to eat.

We come here for lunch when visiting TI Automotive monthly. The outside looks like an old barn with heavy drab wood exterior. Inside it is an older 70’s style restaurant; there is not any order to where you sit. There is a few rooms of where you can actually go to sit which kind of throws me each time we walk in. We like the lunch bar. The salads are fresh with many toppings like cukes, tomatoes, beets, carrot slices, the usual veggies. The dressings must all be made of extra cream because they are soooo creamy and yummy! The pizza and stomboli’s rock! They are so cheesy and crunchy dough/​crusts. I over eat every time!

It is the best restaurant in Caro. The place was updated a few years back and I think the bar area is much nicer looking than the dinning room. The service is okay. I don’t think they have been formally trained, but they do try. The food is good, not great. The thing I like the best is the J. Riley sandwich. The pizza is okay not great, the sauce doesn’t have the best flavor. I also like their dough balls as an appetizer, but it can really fill you up before dinner. They do have a nice selection of beers. It sometimes takes a while to get your drinks, just depends on the day or the bar tender. The bartender a lot of times also waits on people in the bar so that sometimes is the reason why it takes a while to get drinks.

My husband and I were living in Caro for his job. Not from the area and didn’t know where the good restaurants were. The answer: practically nowhere but The Oven was one of the worst!!! Their pasta was DISGUSTING. The pasta to sauce ratio was ridiculous; it was more like «I would like a little pasta with my sauce.» My husband ordered the «chicken parmesan,» and all it was, was microwavable chicken breasts with canned tomato sauce and cheese. It looked and tasted horrible. The service was also TERRIBLE. The «hostess» was on the phone when we arrived and ignored us and catered to people who walked in AFTER us until someone asked us what we wanted. We were literally asked, «What do you want?» When we sat down, our waitress was rude, trashy and uneducated. We complained to the «management» of the quality of the food and service and they replied «you’re too stuck up.» REALLY!!! Oh, and the prices were outrageous for the food quality and service.

As previously stated, there aren’t a lot of options for dining out in Caro. We were pleasantly surprised that the experience at the Oven was nice. I was in town with my family after I’d worked in the area for a couple hours (I do home shows) and we wanted to get something to eat pretty close afterward, before the kids fell asleep in the car.
The bread was really good (hubby read a review for it elsewhere), but there was too much of it. I wish I could remember exactly which entrée I ordered, because I remember enjoying it!
My husband and his father stopped back voluntarily another day, so it was good enough for him to visit at least twice, although we don’t live in the area.

We live in Caro, and there aren’t a ton of options for dining out in town. The Oven is probably the best of the bunch, however. The food is good, the portions generous, and the atmosphere congenial. They removed the televisions that used to be omnipresent when the building was operated as «The Brickhouse», which means you can focus on conversation with your dining companions instead of staring like a drone at some football game.
The absolute best thing is that the ownership seems committed to trying hard, and they aren’t afraid to make changes when something isn’t working. The last time we were there, they had revised the menu to include some of the most popular items from the two previous restaurants that had occupied the building (The Capri and The Brickhouse), as well as standbys from when The Oven operated elsewhere in town without a liquor license.
Downsides, there are some: As mentioned, the wait staff does not deal with rush times very effectively, tending to forget some patrons entirely. Also, their buffet, while seemingly popular, never looks particularly appetizing.
Overall, however, The Oven is the best of what’s around in Caro, and is a place we consistently enjoy eating.

Drove through Caro looking for a good place to eat. The Oven looked newer and unique, so in we go.
BIG mistake, the service here was poor beyond any thing I have experienced in a long time. We were ignored for some time, our drinks were brought after the meal, the bill was brought with the meal and the waitress never returned.
The lay out makes no sense. we were seated at a table jammed into the middle of the room so that each time a patron or staff ventured into the room they bumped into us. (BTW the staff hardly ever excused themselves).
The house sauce was strange, the sweetest tomato based sauce I have ever had. After eating about half of my entrée I just couldn’t take the taste anymore.
So here we sat with empty glasses and plates half full of food, but no one stopped by to offer a refill or a take out box.