Carm’s Restaurant

After driving by Carm’s for 5 years, we decided to stop in for some dinner. Yes, the dining room needs a makeover– BIG TIME. However, the food was really really good and that is what is important. Our server was really really nice and super sweet. We had a pizza (half cheese and half mushroom and onion). It was a delicious pizza and was not greasy at all. Also, their bread is homemade and very good. Id eat here again

Food is good but the restaurant looks straight out of kitchen nightmares. I had to reach over the pizza on display (no glass no cover) to hand the cashier my money. Floors, walls, everything is coated in dirt. Kinda made me wonder what the kitchen looked like. If you can get past that, the food is good.

I gotta tell you, growing up in a Italian Restaurant, you become a hard critic when it comes to Pizza restaurants. Also being all Italian too, I expect the real deal.
First off, before I write a review, I go several times to get the over all dining experience.
This place with just a few simple décor changes could turn into a big deal, Restaurant!
People aren’t expecting this caliber of quality because the place looks like you don’t care.
I would go full force with a make over, and you don’t need to sell candy bars. Bring in maybe one or two homemade cakes.
The food here is really good.
Very fresh. Homemade. Your hot wings never disappoint. You can tell how fresh they are. Your marinara is on point. I’m impressed with the food we had.
The only points you lose is with the décor. The waitress was polite, and knew the menu. My personal advice is, look the part. Uniforms. As a customer it looks professional. Table clothes.
You got the hardest part down… your food is great. I think your not recognized because the dining room gives you the feel that your not serious about what your serving.

Carms — we have had a long lifetime together but sadly I think it is time we go our separate ways… The last pizza we had gotten from there was so thin and crackery that we actually called and asked them if they had switched to a premade crust. She said there was no way that they made all their own dough and it must have been a fluke. Well much time had passed since then and not to be one who holds a grudge (after all growing up in 1980’s Alplaus I had only ever had Carm’s pizza every friday night of my entire childhood) I had always commended them that even almost 40 years later their food was consistent and without noticeable change. So last week we tried again ordering an 8-​cut pepperoni/​meatballs and 20 wings ($ 32!!!) and hoping for a taste reminiscent of my childhood — NOT! The three of us each took a bite our slices and went… what the hell happened to this place??? There is NO WAY this pizza is made from fresh dough — it is tough, as thin as cardboard, and has about the same taste. Fresh dough rises and has air pockets and is chewy with a crispy crust and bottom. This was flat wafer thin with tons of holes on the bottom (like a premade crust). We ate the wings and called and ordered another (delicious COB) pizza from Red Front 2go (8 cut w/​2 toppings-​$ 10) Therefore — I am finished with you Carm… we have to go where the food is prepared with love and yummy goodness. There is too many other fabulous pizza joints around here to waste another dollar on your tasteless crap. You might see me for an occasional sub on the way up to the lake — but even those can be gotten elsewhere better and cheaper. You need to go back to your roots of making great food (slowly) but with love…
Upon reading the reviews I almost suspect that the people who ate on the premises may have actually enjoyed their food more — our last sit down pizza there was fabulous — fat, messy, cheesy, hot, and loaded, you needed a fork and knife to eat it in fact! But that was probably 2 years ago. My how things have changed… In fact the pic of the slice shown here was nothing like what they make now. they might wanna frame it in remembrance!

First, I consider myself a pizza «cona-​sewer». This is another childhood memory for me; I remember very well it opening some 40+ years ago. I thought then it was the best !!! Not having been there in 40 years, I did not recognize the surroundings and had a tough time finding it. OK — why 5 stars… Simply the best pizza I ever had — still !!! My rating is for the pizza only — its amazing — at least for my tastes. Carm’s (the restaurant) is not a place for atmosphere or great service and the attitudes are somewhat snobish in a ‘Seinfeld Soup Guy’ sort of way. I have done sit-​down twice since being back and both times the pizza was PHENOMENAL (Pepperoni and Sausage). Everything else was a step below average — 2 star (I now am back to take out). It’s one of the few places where five stars, one star, one star, and two stars average out to «5» still. One big negative about ‘eat-​in’ — they charge for soda refills — who does that anymore?

«Meh» is a good way to describe Carm’s. My first experience there was with pizza, which I took out. The pizza is OK, but I found it to be rather bland. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and tried Carm’s again. Ordered some pizza and garlic knot. Yes, the pizza was better, but not by much. I’m only eating here again if someone else is paying for my meal.

A coworker and I decided to stop here randomly on my way back to my office. I can’t say that it was great, but I also can’t say that it was terrible.
We stopped by around 12:45 and the place was empty except for a small group that was just on their way out. The service was attentive, particularly when we first got there, but this trailed off a bit. I ordered a small pizza (which I had heard was great), and my coworker ordered a sandwich.
One would think that being the only people there, there wouldn’t be a big wait. Not so much though. It took FOR-​EV-​ER. In the waitress’ defense, she was pretty attentive on refills and such. But holy hell, on the kitchen’s end, there was a wait for the food. When you consider what we ordered, there isn’t really an excuse or explanation for it.
While waiting, I had enough time to construct my own space shuttle, fly a few laps around the outer solar system, and come back just as the food was being placed on the table. Now, the food… the food was pretty good. I enjoyed the pizza. They didn’t try to make it too complicated or fancy. My coworker also enjoyed the sandwich.
By the time we paid and left, it had been nearly an hour and a half. That’s a long time given the circumstances. It was still a pretty good experience though, and I’ll probably be going back at some point.

This is a roadside pizza joint with a dining room which you enter through the take out area. The back room is conventional with a drop ceiling that has a fence or two hung from the ceiling. It’s very modest, but has comfortable large tables with lots of room.
The service was friendly. We had eggplant Parmesan and baked ravioli with meat balls. The meat balls were too plain, with too little bread crumbs, flavoring and cheese and the ravioli were tasteless and the only flavor I got was the pizza sauce; too acidic and very little other flavor.
The eggplant Parmesan had virtually no flavor and the sauce for the pasta was hollow as well.
So, what I can say is that if you want hollow flavored Italian style food for $ 40 for two, this is your place.

Two of us visited Carm’s last week. Great sausage and peppers! Dining companion enjoyed the baked shells. A casual laid-​back atmosphere that makes you feel comfortable. It ain’t all about the pizza (which is great too!)

I’ve only had Carm’s take out pizza and their meatball subs, but they are authentic and delicious.