Johnny Carino’s

I love their raspberry cream soda it is really good and has perfect oil and seasoning sauce for your bread and it also makes me really full but I doesn’t matter because it’s good tasting food in my stomach.

Pecan crusted chicken salad. Absolutely delicious. I guess I don’t understand the other negative reviews. This place has been consistent and superb every time (now 5 times) I have been here. I would drive 30 minutes out of my way to eat here.

I was back in town and this used to be one of our favorite restaurants; however I was disappointed this go-​around. Longer than normal weights and the food was mediocre, the staff did an OK job except for the hostesses which were not good at all and contributed to the long waits. The three stars reflects the food and overall experience.

We were happily surprised with how good the food and service were when we chose Johnny Carino’s the other night. We had been craving a big plate of pasta all day long and had heard about this place from a friend of ours; and decided to give it a shot.
If you’re not familiar with Fargo/​Moorhead restaurant choices, there really isn’t much choice when it comes to simple Italian fare. There’s a very nice downtown restaurant where you’ll get a great meal, but it’s fancier than what we sometimes are looking for. There’s also the Olive Garden, but we were looking for something new. We were pleased with Carino’s.
For one, the portions were BIG. For two, the meals tasted great! I had the 16 layer lasagna (that’s right…16 layer). It was fantastic! Full of meat, cheese, and more cheese. So good! My wife had what she had so wanted. .. just a simple bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. Simple meal, but not simple taste. The meatballs were big as well and full of flavor. Both noodles for the lasagna and the spaghetti were cooked properly.
The only weird thing was that the bread came in a paper bag. Strange? Never seen that before. But nonetheless, it was good too.
When in need of a simple bowl of pasta, Carino’s is the place to go.

It’s another version of the Olive Garden

Went for dinner (noon). Had pizza and pasta with bow ties in tomato sauce. It was good. The appetizer mushrooms were fantastic. This is a place you could go over and over again and be well fed every time.

Excellent experience from start to finish! Hubby had lasagna, I had spaghetti and meatballs, and we shared the nachos. Everything was spot on! Everything was fresh and flavorful. Our server was exceptional! This is our new place to eat when we’re in Fargo!

Average at best, would have given 1 stars but 4 of 5 meals had decent enough food. The 5^th entre was served cold. Service was terrible, had to look for our server once. If it wasn’t for the homemade lasagna which my wife loves, the bread and garlic oil dip being unique — id say save $$$ and go to a mid service like «noodles.» Food equally as good at «noodles» and much cheaper. This is not a destination restaurant.

When traveling, I try to look for places that aren’t your typical chain. Johnny Carino’s was close to my hotel so I gave it a shot. For my appetizer, I went with the fried calamari. I would say this was better than average based on all the fried calamari I’ve eaten. Being indecisive, I chose the combo which came with Chicken Parm, Lasgna, and Spaghetti. The amount of food that came was impressive! Everything tasted really good and the service was great. I wish I had saved enough room for dessert. The next time I’m in the Fargo area, I would go back again and try some of the other dishes.

Eh, about average. Service was quick. Pasta was a little over done, meat sauce was tasty, added sausage was plentiful but not great. You do get a lot but price to serving ratio was appropriate. All and all, not somewhere I’d remember but if I were in the area craving Italian I might give it another try.

Solid 3 stars. Service was friendly, bread/​dipping sauce delicious, and the house vinegrette dressing was actually really, really tasty. I had a lemon rosemary chicken that was billed as «low fat.» The portion was great, and there was a heaping side of perfectly crisp green beans and a bit of angel hair pasta. very good. Tablemate’s eggplant parm, however, was pretty bland and not good.
Got an order of tiramisu to go. it was delicious and the portion was huge!

4 Stars simply because our waitress wasn’t the best. I understand it’s a tough job, but know your drinks & take note in when your guests are ready to order (menus are closed). We did notice she had some friends come in who were seated after we had our drinks and got their food before us. Not okay!!! Though I will add she was VERY sweet.
I had a stawberry margarita and it was delicious! It was served in a regular glass, which was kind of a disappointment. I also had the baked cheese tortellini and that was delicious. My boyfriend had the lasagna which he loves every time!
I will definitely be back.

Great environment, I can’t say enough about the Spicy Chicken Romano! Give it a try.

Great food… I love the Angel Hair Pasta with meat sauce the taste is suburb for they use a sausage blend in there sauce and then I top it off with some cheese and peper. But let’s not for get about there bread and dipping sauce I love the garicl mix with oil yum such mouth watering flovors that pop in your mouth.

It has been a while since I’ve been here, but the place is a great place to eat! I loved the pasta! It was very clean and the staff was great! The price for the meal was very reasonable for the quantity and quality of food you get. I will be stopping in again and I highly recommend this restaurant!

Possibly the worst food I have tasted! We sat down and the waitress came over and it seemed she was really flustered from her day and greeted us halfheartedly and said age would be back to take our order.
We waiting for a whole, but things got worse as we waited to place the order, because I was hangry by this point.
She took our orders and we must have waited another 30 minutes until we got our food.
We started to eat but the food tasted cold. How can something be cold if it was just prepared? The salad was limp and disgusting. The pizza we ordered was so cold that the toppings felt like they came straight out of the freezer. We sent it back but the next pizza was stone cold, worst than the first pie!
By this time I was full from the anger brewing in me that we paid the check and left! Don’t go here to pay out of the money prices for less than stellar serve and food!
Go here at your own risk!

Smallish Italian chain that’s slightly more upscale than Olive Garden, but with better food.
I came here the night before I ran a marathon, so I was looking to keep it very simple and carb heavy. The unlimited bread and olive oil that came out first was nice. I had a small garden salad that was fine (though I was disappointed that they didn’t offer any vinaigrette dressings aside from Italian).
For my entrée I had angel hair pasta with the spicy marina sauce. While I admittedly wanted to go for basic, I felt like the spicy marinara sauce tasted rather bland and lacked the heat I was hoping for. The portion size was huge, however, and the price was good ($ 9.95). My friend had angel hair with alfredo sauce and chicken (it’s her go-​to) and loved it.
Our server was very friendly and quick. The place was packed because of the marathon and she was efficient and kept our drinks full. My biggest complaint is with the hosts up front. After putting our names on the list we waited about 45 minutes (after being told the wait was approx 30 minutes). I finally checked on the status and it appears they had forgotten to put our name on the list. They got us a table, but were not at all apologetic.

this is one of the few places where you can order angel hair pasta. the service is really fast, the price is very reasonable and the atmosphere is nice. I love eating at the small bar they have and reading the paper. The portions are big so often it makes for 2 meals which is another reason I like this place.

Visiting Fargo and found this on Unilocal.I had the Jalapeño Tilapia. Excellent fish with good heat. My companion had the Chicken Parmesan which was
Middling at best. The service was outstanding.

As a self-​admitted pasta snob, I was very skeptical when I was dragged into an Italian chain restaurant for a group lunch. I have to say, Johnny Carino’s was a pleasant surprise and based on my experience, it’s the clear King of the Chains.
The complementary appetizer bread is actually real bread, and very good at that. None of the butter & salt-​laden freezer isle specials you find at *other* Italian chains. My pasta was cooked a little past al dente, but still very tasty with flavorful sauce and nice presentation.
I left very impressed with this restaurant and convinced it’s a solid choice that anyone would enjoy.