Carlton’s Italian

Love this restaurant. The pizza is delicious and handmade. Happy to support these local owners when I visit home.

Love this place! Awesome food and great service! We will most definitely be making this trip very often.

The food is great and that’s why I keep coming back. The service is good but unbelievably slow. I get an hour for lunch and i work a 5 min drive away, I either have to call in my order 30 mins prior or eat elsewhere. Also, the portions are a bit small and the menu seems somewhat limited to be Italian. But like I said the food is great and they are really nice and that’s why they get 4 instead of three

Pizza is about it… Everything else is out of a jar and then watered down, or so it seems.

Nice atmosphere, great food, excellent service. Our group enjoyed: the spinach artichoke dip, lasagna, chicken bacon ranch pizza, and pasta ravioli. We also had Cesar salad.

Lovely atmosphere and good food. The prices are super fair and the service is great. We stopped in here on our way thru town because of the Unilocal reviews. It did not disappoint! The Praline Cannoli did not disappoint!

Looking for that perfect spot to get some Italian food? Look no further than Carlton’s. From the perfectly cooked pizza to the always delectable Lasagna and then to the Cajun Chicken Pasta, Carlton’s has something for everybody. One of my personal favorites is their take on the Supreme Pizza called «The Blaylock» named for the Owner. If you are looking for something a bit more get a side of the special house dressing and dip your pizza in it. Wonderful décor and the staff is excellent just like the food.

Beautiful Atmosphere, tremendous authentic Italian Cuisine and wonderful service!
A must try if your in Cullman!

It is not hyperbole for me to say I’ve been eating at Carlton’s for the vast majority of my life. My family and I have followed incarnations of this restaurant to at least five separate locations across three decades. (I mean, I had my 2^nd grade birthday party here when there was an upstairs arcade! And that party owned!) In some circles it is feasible to say I might be a Carlton’s expert. I would only claim this to give credence when I implore you to go out of your way to eat here. Seriously. Do it. DO IT. The lasagna is incredible and authentic — my favorite menu item here, and my favorite lasagna on the planet. The Tuscan pasta is great, the ravioli is a treat, the pizza is pretty freaking good, and the lasagna is wonderful. Did I mention the lasagna? It rules! Desserts? Also delicious! Salads & sandwiches? They have those too! And this might sound like nonsense to the many who never experienced the dry Cullman, but they have wine! And beer! This most recent location has even upped the ante on atmosphere. Prior locations (in ex-​gas stations and strip mall-​type spots) left the focus on the food, but Carlton’s on 3^rd Ave has excellent food AND feel. The design is thoughtful and homey, a little rustic even. And the outdoor seating and courtyard are awesome — plus, there’s an amazing view of the post-​tornado mural of USS Cullman. I make it a point to eat here as often as possible when I visit my hometown, and will even drag my Nashville and Birmingham friends here to convert them. We all clean our plates.

Traveled here on business and wanted something local. Great atmosphere great food. Preferred the spinach and shrimp penne which was delicious. The bread sticks that come with dinner were great too. Other posts talk about the slow service, but our food was out very quick. Highly recommended.

Yummm… half lasagna and cheese bread! This is so good! I love the atmosphere at Carlton’s too! There is an outdoor patio or indoor dining… service isn’t the absolute best, but isn’t typically bad. The blackberry cobbler makes up for any deficiency if there was any. Do not leave with out trying the blackberry cobbler… unless they are out… which happens so order early!

This place has boatloads of character inside and out. Reclaimed wood, brick, warm people and great pizza!
The thin crust of the Mediterranean Pizza is out of control! I only planned to eat half. But, I scarfed the whole thing down.

If you’re looking for authentic Italian, keep going. BUT if you like quality American Italian cuisine, you’ll be very happy. The portions are generous and the prices are fair. The restaurant is beautiful and clean. The baked spaghetti with garlic bread is my favorite. (The bread is VERY garlicky, I like that). The service has been slow and underwhelming every time I’ve visited, so I get my food to go now.

Ordered one of their pizzas for carryout yesterday. It was very good and hot, and I especially liked the sauce they use. Fairly priced: not cheap, but not overly expensive either (14″ 1-​topping was just over $ 12 after sales tax). I’ll be ordering from them again.

OMG… The blackberry cheesecake cobbler is a SIN! So good you will not be sorry you ate the calories! Splurge Day Only! Great service and friendly too

I just want to say I love this place. My kids and myself loves coming up. Love the atmosphere and I enjoy looking at the building itself. Lucy is the just awesome and I love Evan. Everyone else is great too. Best Pizza in Alabama!!! thanks for all you do keep up the good work!!!

The reason it’s on my Top 100 Dishes to Try list:
*Pasta Ravioli-​see description below
Trip 2: Success! Definitely one of my new favorite Italian places. Still need to try a few more dishes before I can bump it up to 5 stars though.
Drug my husband here for dinner on a Saturday night. Parking was a little cruel to us. The restaurant was packed but we were seated as soon as the hostess saw us waiting among the front door crowd. It took a little while for our server to get to us but I think he was dealing with a large group. The food was a little slow in coming out as well. Compare this to my first trip to determine what you feel is more appropriate visiting hours for you. If you have to wait just enjoy the beautiful architecture and décor. I mean our table at the booth was made from an old door, the ceiling looks like an old wooden floor, and if that’s obviously too boring for your husband (like mine) they have a couple of TVs too.
I ordered the Flatbread Pizza with chicken and black olives as an appetizer. It comes with two toppings for $ 4.99. It is ~6 inches square. I loved the crunchy flatbread, the flavorful sauce, and the perfectly melted cheese. The chicken was in large hunks and a little bland and dry. I’d definitely get the flatbread again except with different toppings. I thought it was reasonable for the price.
***Their pizza sauce has to be my favorite pizza sauce of all I’ve tasted. It has a perfect balance of tomato sweetness and tanginess. The Italian herb and garlic flavors just dance in your mouth after each bite.
My husband ordered the Chicken Parmesan and was disappointed in the portion size for the price. He said it was 4^th on his «Best Chicken Parm» list behind Francesca’s in Decatur, Joe’s Italian in Pelham, and Olive Garden. That’s saying a lot about his disappointment since those are the only 4 he’s ever tried. He said the chicken patty was just too small. I tasted it and thought it was pretty typical of Chicken Parm, but I really don’t know how special you can make that dish. It came with thin spaghetti and two breadsticks for $ 10.95.
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I ordered the Pasta Ravioli described as «pasta stuffed with shrimp and Andouille sausage and surrounded by Carlton’s mild cream sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese». OH MY GOSH it was so good! The ravioli stuffing was unique and savory with a hint of shrimp flavor and a mild smokiness from the Andouille sausage. The sauce was so creamy and luscious with perfect saltiness from the cheese. I loved the browned, bubbly cheese from the broiling of the dish just before serving, the flavor paired wonderfully with the smokiness of the Andouille. The dish came with two breadsticks for $ 9.95. Definitely worth the price.
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The breadsticks are very similar to Olive Garden. Pretty basic in flavor except for the garlic salt topping.
List:
The BEST ravioli I’ve ever had.

Went here for lunch with another couple and we all enjoyed it very much. Food was good and fresh tasting, service was great and prices extremely reasonable.

I tried this place several times, hoping to like the food because I love the atmosphere… very cozy and appealing space, but the food was mediocre at best. No memorable flavors and if I had to guess, not much on the menu is made from scratch. I can’t remember exactly what I ordered (that should tell you something), but I think it was manicotti, which was swimming in cheese, sauce & grease. I was not impressed with the salads or bread, either:(.

Friend of mine recommended the place for the pizza. I am a pizza junkie. This place was good, but not junkie worthy. The other dishes looked better.
Crust — Pizza Hut style. Thin, crispy. Bit bland. A little garlic butter would go a long way.
Sauce — bit salty for my liking, not bad — but did not have that San Marzano flavor I was hoping for.
Cheese — this may have added to the saltiness. Nice coating, but didn’t taste like good mozzarella, not Buffala Mozzarella, just good mozzarella. Bit too processed, seemed to have some cheddar in the cheese and that is always wrong.
Toppings — Canadian Bacon — nice flavor. Green pepper — tasted fresh. Seemed to have let the pizza cook a bit before putting the peppers on, which is okay, but I’d just let them cook into the pizza.
Service — slow. We had a waitress from another table ask us what we were drinking to get us refills, and then never came back. Our own waitress was very good.
Would I go back — probably not. I’m not in Cullman often enough to try the same place twice. My «friend» is now an acquaintance by the way.