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| - Johnny Carinos is a southern Italian restaurant across the street from Wal-Mart at exit 60 on I-85. This was my first time going, and was recommended buy a couple of friends. Needless to say, I wasn't all that impressed.
When my husband and I arrived, the restaurant was not busy at all, but we had to wait a good 5 to 7 minutes just to have the hostess come to the hostess stand to seat us. We get seated in the back, right next to the kitchen, which later on we were pretty warm after the kitchen got started cooking. Our waiter was a nice guy, but slow on the uptake. There was one point during our dinner where he didn't come back for about 15 minutes because he had to make salads and another waitress to take our drink orders for a 2nd time. It was pretty annoying.
As for the food, the menu is pretty extensive. It ranges from a 16 layer lasagna to a simple chicken parmesan. I had the 5 meat bow tie pasta with a sweet tea. The pasta was good, but when I got the meal, it was very luke warm like it had been sitting in the window for almost too long. My husband got the lasagna and he was disgusted with it. He said that it was too cold, the price for the portion he received was too much, and he said the meal tasted like it was frozen and then quick defrosted in the microwave. He was very disappointed in his meal. Our friends got chicken parmesan which said was OK, and her husband ordered a chicken fettuccini ham alfredo bowl. It was odd because the ham was a slice of ham (that looked to me like it was from your local grocery store deli) instead of in pieces. He also said it was OK, just enough to be filling.
The desserts were very good. There are only 4 to choose from, but their turtle cheesecake and bread pudding were excellent. The cheesecake wasn't overbearing with the caramel like most turtle desserts usually are. The cheesecake itself, chocolate fudge, caramel, and nuts were balanced nicely to give it a great flavor. As for the bread pudding, it too had a nice blend of everything. It was soaked in mascarpone custard and topped with vanilla ice cream, complete with a little sprinkle of cinnamon.
Last but not least, the drinks were OK, though I think the bar tender was intent on getting my husband drunk. He had 2 Bellini's and he was quite tipsy. I tasted a little of his drink and it was defiantly over powering on the rum. To me, the bar tender needs to go back to bar tending school and learn how to use the measurement cups because both drinks would have knocked your socks off.
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