Carmine’s Pizza Kitchen

My co-​workers and I ended up at Carmine’s the other day, when we scheduled to to a Paint & Party event. The owner of Paint & Party picked the restaurant for us, and I was pleased. We had the space that we needed to do our thing and have some privacy, and the food was pretty good. 3 of us split a large Carmine’s Special Pizza, which was perfect for lunch. We each got our fill, and it was delicious! Thin, crispy crust with just the right amount of toppings. Service was also great!

Gotta give it a 4 since the pizza is pretty good, not the best, but the best you will find on East Sahara.
I have never dined in, and probably never will because the place always seems a little dead and the waitress/​cashier/​hostess/​manger person is always having a spat with the cook. I have picked up from here many times, there is always a different person running the show are that individual has never been very personable.
They do not deliver, so dine-​in and carry-​out are your only options. Definitely call ahead and time your drive to arrive at the restaurant after your pizza is ready. Get your pizza and get out! That is my advice.
The pizza has been consistently good. You won’t be disappointed with the pie.

We are among the OG’s who used to eat here when it was Villa Pizza. The kids and my childlike brother always loved the sweet tangy sauce. (In later years, my brother made a discovery of empty cans of Campbell’s tomato soup in their trash. Coincidentally, this was always my mother’s «secret ingredient» in spaghetti sauce. My mother was not even one smidge Italian. She was a white girl from Idaho.)
Don’t worry about what my brother was doing in their trash.
Anyway, Babygirl and I were jonesing for pizza to go with our evening of the «Walking Dead» (eat first, view later!), and she decided it had to be the glorious pie of her childhood memories.
We picked up so I can’t comment on the delivery, but all went well with our order. A large cheese is about $ 14, which isn’t too bad. The pizza did taste pretty much the same as before, which is 4 stars from her and 3 from me. The thin crust is nice and chewy and had a decent char. The chicken wings were nice and meaty but a little tough, but they do have great ranch dip– nice and garlicky. They were at a steady 3 stars until we tried the meatball sub.
Yuck! Meatballs should be moist and tender– these went past that and deep into mushy. Tasted like more filler than meat. I think they used that recipe from the poor relative’s barbeque in «National Lampoon’s Vacation». Gave most of it to the very surprised dog, who never gets anything.
He ate it, but last night he was eating a rat, so I wouldn’t depend on his opinion.

this place is going downhill and fast. delivery service sucks. period. today I was quoted 10 minutes and it’s been over 40 and I am less then a mile away. the last time I ordered delivery, I waited over an hour for my order only to call and find out I was out of their delivery area. (obviously when I lived somewhere else) the fact that I had to call, only to find out that they wouldn’t deliver to me. I was livid. get it together cause ur losing business.
oh and my order was wrong. correct on the ticket but not in the box. nice.
fun fact: I praised this place over a year ago.

Just really mediocre and slightly overpriced. My sub sandwich had salami, ham, and cheese, a slice of tomato and a few pieces of lettuce… boring. As for ambiance… how about dust covered plastic grapes hanging from the ceiling, and a fat guy (Carmine himself) sitting at the front table talking loud. It was like a scene from one of those restaurant renovation shows. Don’t bother.

I thought the pizza was good. I think I would improve on the sauce a bit. The dough is excellent but the sauce was missing flavor. Overall not horrible, but just nothing to push you to return over and over again.

Another visit, another Stromboli, dropped one topping choice, added 2, ordered an ice tea and left a reasonable tip and I dang near dropped $ 20 on this place. WTF was I thinking? Trying to rationalize my stupidity I’ll say this is the price I pay for convenience as it is close to work and with a short lunch hour you do what you have to do. But all that money got spent and for what? Boring food. In 3 hours I will have forgotten about what I had for lunch.
And since I’m in whine mode let’s roll with it. I don’t mind a place making money but $ 3 for iced tea is what I’d pay for a bottle at Kauffman Stadium back in Kansas City and we all know stadium pricing is ridiculous. As for the vaunted crust, the same stuff is used to make the Stromboli and it’s not all that. And the pizza sauce if you like to taste tomatoes is ok, but it really needs some spices…
The bottom line: I need to go exploring other places to eat and kick myself out of food ruts like crappy strombolis. And who in the heck puts salami in a stromboli? Bleech. That’s what I subbed out, give me my black olives and tomatoes, keep the pepperoni and mozzarella. At least the server working today was smiling and was running her rear end off, and the LVMPD gang unit came in which was interesting. But as I said by 3 pm if someone asked what I had for lunch today I’d have to think about it… as it really was unmemorable.

It’s back to basics for the original owners of Villa Pizza. This location was originally Villa Pizza– home of the New York style cheese pizza. Like my husband, I ate here many years ago, my college years– the calzones and pizza were the best things on the menu. My husband liked it so much that his bachelor party started here for dinner. Years later, it was sold and renamed Amalfi Pizza, claiming the same ownership, which wasn’t true. The pizza recipe had changed– too much of a spice in the pizza sauce. Fast forward a few years, a buyback, a complete makeover inside (think italian vineyard), and back to the original owners.
It was amazing inside, considering it was a sports bar before– it was a nice surprise. We had dinner there with my father in law and his wife (who know the owners, by the way). We had the cheese pizza (delicious), and a dinner salad. The cheese pizza was just as how Villa Pizza made it (the original new york style cheese pizza). Carmine and his son (who also manages the other restaurant locations as well) said Hello, which was nice. This family owned and operated (open 7 days a week) place has: appetizers, salads, pizza, calzones, pasta, hot & cold subs, pizza by the slice (cheese @ $ 2.25 ea), and catering is available.
Coupons were mailed out to those who live in the area. Special on Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday: Large Cheese Pizza for $ 9.95, 5 pm– 9 pm dine in only.

Yikes and meh are the two words that come to mind when thinking about this place. I know that might not make much sense, allow me to elaborate.
I’ll start with meh. The taste. Very meh. The pizza was a bit bland. We only ordered a cheese and pepperoni as it was costly to get it piled with ingredients otherwise. Besides, we were trying this place out and needed to know if they can get the basics right first. It wasn’t bad, but not fantastic either. Nothing I would return for.
The dining area was average. I liked The vineyard look to it. It was a little odd how it appeared half «date worthy «restaurant and half sports bar if you catch my drift. Something wasn’t adding up. We were almost alone. There was another patron eating a slice. Why so lonely on a weekend? Oh wait… there was one more visitor… that’s where the «yikes «enters this story.
ROACH!!! Yes. I said it. I even screamed it while I was eating! This bug was walking up the wall right beside me just as we were finishing our food. I know, I know. Bugs are a natural part of this world and most if not all restaurants battle insect intruders constantly. However, an establishment that is kept clean shouldn’t have roaches crawling up the walls next to patrons trying to enjoy an over priced bland meal! We ran out the door after that, never to return.