Johnny Carino’s

It’s really a hit or miss with this place, only a few times have I actually enjoyed myself and I visit quite often although come to think of it, they never Cook my steak right and service this last time was extremely poor our servers name was tiffany. I didn’t have a drink the majority of the time, we got our salads after our food which was burnt to a crisp. All our dirty plates stayed on our table and not once did she pre-​bus. We sat and waited to talk to a manager for what felt like 20 minutes, our server was clearly in the weeds…

We learned a few weeks ago that Johnny Carino’s was doing BOGO for lunch specials. My initial visit was with a party of 4 and the waitress was outstanding. The food itself was lackluster (esp the lasagna). However, because the BOGO lunch was such a good deal and we’ve consistently had good wait staff, I’ve been bringing a large number of my shop with me each Tuesday. For 4 weeks straight I’ve brought a party of at least 8 or more to this location.
That ended today. We try to arrive right at 11 but no matter what the party size is, the kitchen is incredibly slow getting the entrees out. The quality control on Tuesdays also seems to suffer as we’ve each had some small issue where the food didn’t come out right. Today was the last straw. Despite being one of the first tables for lunch, it took over a half hour for our entrees to come out and every dish was overcooked. The spaghetti was especially mushy and simply not edible.
When I brought this up to our waitress she didn’t seemed concerned in the least and simply took it back. I watched her pace to the pass and never brought it up to the expediter or cook staff. That was the deal breaker, it’s always been the service that’s kept us coming back. But now, since that’s even a crap shoot, we are done.
So…thus ends our crew having Carino’s in our weekly lunch rotation. We’ll find somewhere else where the cheap special isn’t an excuse to put out mass helpings of sub-​par food.

Arrived for dinner on a Sunday night, around 7. We were seated quickly and our server greeted us and took our drink order.
I’m not going to give you a break down of everything we ordered but will provide these important details:
The Pros:
1. The food was good. The portions were hearty and everything was made as it was described. My dining companion ordered the seafood pasta medley and was impressed that they didn’t skimp with the sea meats.
2. I’m a vegetarian and I’m sure I annoy the hell out of servers with my questions about meat stuff but my server didn’t even flinch. She even accommodated my request to keep meat on one side of a shared dish without batting an eyelash.
3. Very chilly and dimly lit, perfect ambiance for date night.
4. Our server was mostly competent but the right amount of friendly.
The Cons:
1. The restrooms weren’t awful but what you’d expect at a truck stop at 9 am… Could have of been better.
2. We walked it at 7 and left at 8:30. The wait was very long and from what we could tell no reason…
A bit of a time burglar, something to consider if you’re on a schedule e.g. A movie after.

It was just okay. The service was a tad slow for me, but the server was helpful when around. The meals were average and pretty forgettable to be honest. I probably won’t go back.

Horrible slow service. The waiter likes to b.s. with tables and not place orders. Wasted 25 minutes watching the waiter not do his job so we spoke with a manager and walked out!

We have eaten here several times with no issues, however our most recent trip was a bust.
I had spaghetti and meatballs, which was less than decent. Edible but not enjoyable in the least. My husband had chicken marsala and it was straight up disgusting. It was very watered down — it looked like soup on a plate. It was grotesquely sweet.
He couldn’t even finish it, which is very unlike him. I wish I could remember the name of the waitress that waited on us, because she was either having a bad night, or she is truly a miserable person.
We won’t be returning.

Our server was outstanding and extra ordinary and saved this place from getting 1 star. We had a very large party and the service was executed perfectly. However the food just wasn’t very good. It wasn’t horrible, but it check a box for the person in our party who wanted pasta after his 8 weeks in basic training and our reason for being in San Antonio.
So in summary, service some of the best I’ve ever experienced, food not so much.

Our third time here. Third times the charm! We had the lasagna (superduper great!) the pepperoni burger was out of this world! Ady was the best server. 10 out of 10… ooh yes the bread was fresh and warm =)

Why do I as a customer have to abide by the seating rotation of the restaurant. If I want a booth I shouldn’t be told No then after I’m seated at a table witness the party behind me get seated at a booth because they were next on the rotation… the food was not that great and the only thing that saved me from walking out of there was my hunger and our waiter was actually very courteous and respectful. Hostess was young naïve and zero personality, following stupid by the book cookie cutter instructions on how to apologize when a customer dosnt get what they requested. Management needs to do some serious revamping of this place or it will close.

Calamari was overcooked. I ordered the lobster ravioli. Out of 8 raviolis… only three actually had frozen lobster in them. The rest, just cheese and spices. Skip this place. Ok… so now I’m editing this review because I have been gone from this place 26 minutes and have had to stop the car twice to be sick. Please don’t eat here.

Order some jalapeño Garlic tilapia– taste horrible that I can’t even explain how it is. The stuffed mushrooms I was thinking more of a dried mushrooms stuff not soak with some type of soup. The potato soup is way too salty. The calamari is sooo chewy like it’s half cooked. pretty much wasted $$ for this crap.

Great food, great staff and great customer. If you’re not happy tell the manager and he will make it right.

Carino’s has surely… or is that, surly, slipped in my esteem. It seems that all they want to do is play «games».
Today, I went there for a BOGO meal that they emailed me about. As my wife abhors Carino’s, but I’m addicted to their Shrimp Skilletini, I decided on going by myself and take a meal with me when I left. I felt that I had jumped through all their hoops by dining in. The waitress initially told me I couldn’t take the 2^nd meal to go, but after consulting the mgmt. upon my request, reported that it would be all right. HOWEVER, they would have to bring out the meals and I would have to package the 2^nd meal myself.
Here’s my thoughts:
1.) It’s asinine to have made me package the 2^nd meal.
2.) What’s the purpose of the exercise other than to enforce some silly (unwritten) notion that both meals are supposed to be dine in?
3.) It dirtied dishes unnecessarily as I asked for a to-​go container to be delivered at the same time.
4.) it’s alienating and makes one feel as if they’re gaming the system when I did all that they asked me to do. I KNOW that they EXPECTED two people to sit down and splurge on their silly-​a$$ $ignature drinks that costs an arm and a stump. But, just because they didn’t set the hook doesn’t mean I gamed their BOGO.
It’s silly and petty of them to insist that the second meal be delivered to the table as if another, invisible diner were there and make me transfer the meal to the take out containers myself.
And, it probably cost them another customer.

So yesterday was my birthday. I told my boyfriend I felt like eating Italian food but not the normal every day chain like Olive Garden (which I should’ve picked). Well he read somewhere that Carino’s had gotten better in service and food so why not try it. So I said ok. We get there and it’s not busy at all for dinner service. We were seated quickly but waited for our server what seemed like forever, just to be acknowledged. We already had a bad feeling about what was going to happen. Finally we were greeted and had our drink and appetizer ordered we began to look at the menu and decide what to order. I had the eye view of the chefs that were cooking, while my boyfriend could watch the patrons behind us. Who were repeatedly getting ignored and sat at their respective tables making faces (clearly upset). I ordered the chicken penne gorgonzola and a garden salad with ranch. My boyfriend ordered the spicy seafood medley and the same salad. I am a huuuge salad lover and I was grossed out by the taste of the dressing that tasted like some cheap knock off dressing.
We proceed to get our food and while my boyfriend’s food looked gross, like a watered down tabasco looking orange sauce. His food was steaming and piping hot while my food was cold and bland. I sent it back nicely and the manager apologized and said he’d have it back out in about 3 mins and hot. So he brings out my food again and it’s hot this time but the food is so bland even when I put a pinch of salt and cheese. So my boyfriend (who usually leaves the complaining to me) tasted my food and said the same thing he flagged down another waiter to call Bonnie our waitress and let her know we didn’t want the food after all. She came to the table and STILL tried to sell me the plate asking me if I’d had «gorgonzola cheese» before and telling me it’s not like bleu cheese to not be confused and that this dish is her fave, that she’s surprised that I don’t like it. She also suggested that I take it home and add «chili flakes» like she does for more flavor. My flustered boyfriend said no thanks can you just take it off and we can be done. After all this the manager did take off my entrée but never apologized again nor asked if there was anything else he could do.
So thus ended my terrible birthday dinner at Carino’s! Never doing that again :-/

My husband and I stopped in before dinner on a Monday to use a Living Social coupon we had purchased. Our server (who was also the hostess at the moment) recommended some excellent dishes. He informed us it was happy hour and besides drink specials the appetizers are $ 2 off. Yay! We had the fire sticks upon his recommendation.
The waiter also informed us that Mondays are ½ price a Family Style serving. Yay!
We ordered the Spicy chicken and shrimp penne with a side of the iceberg wedge lettuce for our salad (it’s $ 3+ more than the house salad which comes with the entrée).
My husband had the Blackberry Italian soda (which was really good) and the waiter surprised him with a Raspberry Italian soda for the second round (good but a little too sweet for me).
Everything was delicious. Service was really good. We will be back. However, after returning home I looked up their nutrition — good thing my husband and I shared. :) No wonder everything was delicious.

We had no business being out in the rainy weather today, but we were. Took the opportunity to eat here. I had the Chicken Milano (chicken breast topped by ham, cheese and mushrooms). Husband had spaghetti and meatballs. I really liked that the menu was relatively concise. It wasn’t pages and pages. Both dishes were very good and plentiful. I took about two-​thirds of mine home. Service really good. Coffee, tea and bread were never empty.

The food was about 3.5 or a 4. The service we received made it worth every penny. Our food server whose name was Brandon definetly made me want to come back here. He was very attentive and provided really good recommendations. We tried the Italian nachos and my son and I had the chicken bowtie pasta. My wife ate the the seafood medley pasta. Another great choice from Brandon. Washed it down with blackberry Italian soda. My son, Keoni had the raspberry soda. If soda was actually known as food then he had a full course me lol. Every drop. My wife had strawberry lemonade. Had natural flavors and didn’t taste like it came from concentrate. Overall, we enjoyed our stay and the décor definitely helped us feel the vibe.

Just not what they use to be. Ordered the Johnny combo had no taste. Waiter checked on us one time during our dinner

Their appetizers are good, especially the stuffed mushroom and buchetta, we (2 people) almost got full with only 2 of the appetizers coz they come in with decent amount. However the main dish that, afredo shrimp pasta isn’t good, it’s kinda bland, not much seasoning at all. The other Carino’s are much better

Everything is good … Not to many people just perfect during a work week lunch rush.