I had Carmine's in NYC a few years ago. Up until recently I hadn't realized it's become a chain. I'm extremely weary of chain restaurants, but we figured we'd give it a shot because my boyfriend had never tried.
In short, service was straddling the line between mediocre and poor. Our server showed little interest in making an impression- come to find it was the end of her shift. After our food was brought out she whisked by us saying "I'm leaving, so and so will finish up with you." Gave us a brief smile and left. No thank you, no asking if we needed anything else. My boyfriend sat with an empty drink for nearly the remainder of our meal before replacement server came in to check on us. Nice.
We had the vodka penne...it was good, in an Americanized Italian sort of way. I'm also weary of "Italian" labeling like this, because they are seldom authentic Italian. No exception here. The draw is portion size and I get it, like Cheesecake Factory. I guess we're just not people who like to sacrifice taste for a heaping pile of bland food. I will also add, like many reviews have done before me, the bread was cold. Like...not a hint of warmth to it. Yuck.
If you're not feeding a family, opt for Trevi instead. Much friendlier service and better food- can't argue with that.