Do not eat here! I am so disappointed because I was really excited to try them for the first time. My roommate and I had never been there, so we both went to their website to check out the menu. While we were on the site, we saw that they had a welcoming promotion for a medium pepperoni pizza. Great!! We both used one since we signed up separately and checked out separately. We both included a large tip, plus paid taxes and fees, got a confirmation from the website saying the Order was completed. Voilà! My roommate offered to go pick up the pizzas so I could hang back with my little ones (who were also very much looking forward to pizza for dinner). Well, when she got to the restaurant she called me to let me know they were only making one pizza because it was one per person. She told me that she explained to them the other was for me, but they still said No. Like what in the world?? Then she waited a REALLY long time. When someone finally emerged from the backroom, she thought they were coming to tell her the pizza was almost done, but instead the hostess explained that something happened with their oven. They told her the pizza fell apart in the oven so they had to start over. So my roommate patiently waited even longer (I told her to just forget it over the phone). Needless to say, I was about to just give the kiddos cereal when she finally got home. Omgoodness it was way past dinner time now! Well, the pizza was ice cold (of course! ), but we were so hungry we didn't care. The best part? My sweet roommate insisted on letting the kids and I have it all. After all that she had been through, she still went without. I insisted she have some, but she said no and even apologized for wanting to try that place. She is the best!!! Johnny Carinos? Not so much.... Morale of the Story: If you're going to have a Welcoming Coupon for your business - honor it. To turn customers away (new customers at that!) because you are penny pinching says more about the integrity of the owner, the customer service from the staff, and the likelihood that they are cutting corners elsewhere in an effort to save money. During my roommate's experience, the restaurant was VERY quiet at dinnertime, the oven issue so bizarre (I'm well aware I probably ate pizza that had been intentionally disgusted with .. Maybe that's the real reason she didn't want to have any! ). Anyhow, apparently, the whole ambiance of the place was like a depressed Olive Garden. Please just go anywhere else if you are craving Italian food. read more

I've eaten at Johnny Carina's since 2008 and the food quality has gotten a outrageously amount more expensive when the taste and the quantity of food has gotten cut down to the point where it's sad , the last two times I've ordered from them for take out both times with in the last 30 days they have managed to screw up my Calamari order the first time ordered a family size and got a hand full of calamari and now once again today I ordered a Medium calamari same thing please see the photos keep on mind there is banana peppers that are breaded and fried with it so makes you think it's calamari until you bite it and want to Ralph read more

From the moment my husband and I walked into this fine establishment we were greeted. And felt very welcomed. We then sat down and our waitress quickly greeted us. We ordered our drinks and received them promptly. Next was our food order which our waitress was phenominal. She took her time and explained the menu and made recommendations since we had never eating here before. My husband ordered the Spaghetti and meatballs. Which by the way are not made until you order them so they are big fresh meat ball. I ordered the Spicy Ramano chicken Let's just say "AMAZING" SO DANG YUMMY!!! read more

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This ghost kitchen is one of the worst bbq restaurants ever. It took 40 mins to get the food...The packaging is even worse though, like I've never seen any sort of order put together like this, very messy. To add onto that, all of the kids working behind the counter seemed very clueless and didn't seem to know how to work there correctly. Please fix these things!!! read more

We had a nice dinner at Carino's this evening. The food was good, and the service was excellent. A party near us was causing a big scene, including yelling at us because they thought we were intentionally shaking their booth seat. (We were not.) The management handled the situation very well. Kudos to the lovely waitress and the manager who kept their cool and went out of their way to make sure our experience wasn't ruined by the other party. read more

Service was incredible! Aurora was very attentive and friendly, and the food was soooo yummy!!

Amazing Thanksgiving dinner!! And our waitress Mercedes was amazing as well!! Great job!! read more

Johnny Carino's - Italian Near Me - Meridian, Idaho

We arrived on a Sunday morning around 11:45 AM. And it should've been a tip off that they were no customers in the restaurant at all despite the fact that it opened at 11 AM. I ordered a pizza and after about 10 minutes the waiter comes back and said that he was just informed that the pilot light in the oven had been out since Friday and I had to choose something else. I ordered the two servings of pasta and a salad. The salad piled in comparison to any kind of Italian salad I've ever had with it being just wilted iceberg, which had no taste, and the pasta I ordered was lukewarm it best you would think with us being the only patrons in the restaurant we would've had a better experience. We will not be back. read more

My wife and 3 children show up, no one waiting, not busy at all, and they have the greeter seeing who shows up, then this poor girl has to go and sets up a table specifically for the number of people that show up. Then they sit us in the bar area. I didn't ask to sit in the bar area. So they move us to the dining area and try to sit a family of 5 at a table for 4. All the booths are made for 4. I myself had to slide 2 tables together. I haven't even ordered and want to leave. I guess we'll see how the rest of the night goes... read more

Horrible service today! Waitress had us waiting the place only had a couple people in it! Totally awful service not attentive at all! Had to chase down napkins never got more water or even asked if we wanted anymore. Won't be back! Plus just to note an order screen I could see from our booth was absolutely filthy and service staff kept coming to it and using it not what ya wanna see while you're eating! read more

The food was good but the serving size is getting smaller. The prices go up and the amount got smaller. The waitress was very busy which I get but she did not check on us once for refills or anything like that. I had to actually find her to get the check. If you have lots of time to wait to get any service then casinos is the place to go! read more

Stopped in the other day while my daughter and I are were out running errands. We had a fun, great experience and a nice lunch.The food and the service could not have been better. read more

Ambiance - Fine Service - Adequate with room for improvement Food - Flavorless meat sauce on spaghetti - the sausage had good flavor. I was not expecting a gourmet meal but at least a casual dining franchise experience. It fell short. read more

It was delicious and the waitress great. Thank you I received a bag in the mail and gave me lasagna pasta steak strips and Italian nacho .

Officially priced us out. Entrees are now $22-28 and for pasta it's just not worth it. Saturday at 7PM the place was literally empty with two tables. Looks like we're not alone. read more

On a Friday night not really busy 6pm crowd (6/14/24) 5 to 6 tables total. One waitress five cooks and a shift manager. Waitress was either new or overworked with no support from no one. Let me set the scene.... Six adults two kids for a birthday dinner. A couple of burgers a couple of pastas, a steak, a couple of kids meals. When the first person got their food and the last person got their food it was easily an hour apart but lets say 45 minutes to be nice. Manager seems less interested of helping his waitress out and there were three cooks standing there just talking to each other. No coordination whatsoever and the only person who was working at all was the waitress. Luckily for me I live out of state and don't have to worry about this place no more. What amazes me is I see all the decent reviews on here and what I encountered was horrible. One last thing I was the birthday boy, got my meal last. Didn't know the waitresses name but you did great and tried your hardest. You deserve a better environment to work at rather than that selfish team you had to work with. To the five cooks? Learn how to work together and get the food out on a timely matter. One hour difference from 1st plate to the last plate is no excuse, ever heard of hells kitchen before? Yes, you five stink! And the manager have some respect for your paying customers, without us you have no job. Stop being people's friends and don't let them run you to the ground cuz from all of us that night Johnny's Carino's was a horrible experience. Hopefully no one else has to deal with awful team, except the waitress she was gold! read more

The hostesses at the front gave a sense of false hope. They were so friendly and quick to seat us! The main issues arose when our waitress came by to grab drinks and food orders. She jumped around and had no order, our drinks and bread were never refilled unless we requested it. They were not even busy, we were one of two tables in her area. First red flag should've been that it was a Saturday night at 6 and no one was inside. We came in to celebrate with some friends and are embarrassed that we recommended this place. We will not be coming back and will not recommend this place to anyone. Our waitress knew nothing about the menu and when we did compliment one of the dishes she said, "oh good I'm glad someone finally liked it".... We will not be coming back! read more

Johnny Carino's - Italian Near Me - Meridian, Idaho

The food is delicious, with good-sized portions. I ordered the classic chicken pammasion it came with a side of spaghetti & bread. Even had leftovers. read more

Norma was so amazing with our needy family!! Norma was very attentive and make sure our food was out was soon as it was ready. The restaurant was nice and cool on a hot summer day. We will most definitely be back. Thanks Norma!! read more

Norma was the best! Amazing food amazing service she is your go to for a great date night!

Not sure why I'm leaving a review, it's not like they really care but here we go. This place went above and beyond over the last several years to go down hill and into the trenches. The amount of self sabotage, my goodness! lol. They used to be consistent, and a good family restaurant, then they decided to go cheap and cut so many corners that they're no longer recognizable. Like putting fried fish sticks into a pasta!? What!? Was frozen, grilled tilapia REALLY that much more? It's insane. Their service is a joke too, they mention a manager but I don't think they actually have one. Which would explain a lot of things. I mean they'd have to pay one. I just wish they would close their doors and let someone who cares and wants to cook REAL food take that nice spot. read more

Staff was very kind, no issues there. When I searched famous daves this location popped up. I pulled into the drive and noticed JC was the restaurant. They did confirm the are a famous daves and would make the food for us. I had a to-go order placed. Brisket, beans, coleslaw, and corn. Large order $$. My husband, myself, and 2 yr old were very sick after eating our meal, hard trying night for us all. We called about the issue and was very kind and asked to speak with manager. They stated the manager was not working but when they would be back they would deff reach out about the issue. Maybe we shoud have been karens! Well, I did give it ample time and now its weeks later so I am leaving this review and turning them in to the correct channels for not reaching out when they made my whole family sick. I find it revolting and careless. I will share this with many ppl and tell them not to eat here to avoid food poising. After getting on here and reading reviews it is very apparent they dont care. read more

Johnny Carino's - brisket - Italian Near Me - Meridian, Idaho

Oh my. What an amazing little spot. Not that little. Came here on a Sunday because so many restaurants had lines to get in. This place deserves to have a line but isn't back to it here yet. Not sure what it is. Maybe that person who didn't want cold wine and had to have a happy hour. Sheesh. This place earned the 5 stars. Amazing food and such a bright spot in our day today. Started off with some absolutely perfect warm fresh bread and oil and spices to dip. I had flashbacks to a little Italian restaurant in Boston. Mmmmmm. Amazing. I ordered the lasagna and it was really the best I have had In decades. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. I ate it before I could share with my family. Oooops. My wife got the shrimp scampi like she orders at the OG. (Not the original gangsta but that other Italian) and this was FAR better. She doesn't eat as fast so I was able to try hers. It was awesome. My son had the pizza. BBQ chicken with pepperoni is. Best he has had. We have leftovers in the fridge back at the townhouse and we are planning to throw it all out and take these leftovers home and eat later. The portions here are large. Love it. We will be back. You gotta try it. AND you don't have to stand outside in the cold and wait for that Texas place to allow you in. read more

Johnny Carino's - Oil and spices - Italian Near Me - Meridian, Idaho

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I received a free meal, salad, bread, fettuccini alfredo with steak slices and lasagna, it sounded good, so my husband and I decided to try it. He has Alzheimer's and doesn't like crowds, so we went at 5:00 on a Wednesday, hardly anyone was there. we were seated in the bar, which I didn't ask for, but there was only one table with another couple so it was quiet. As soon as I showed our waitress the free meal she immediately had us figured out. "Water's only?!" she asked, I said "yes, thank you." she snatched the bag (Free meal coupon) off the table and left while I looked at the menu to see what my husband would like. 15 minutes later she came back for his order, Shrimp Scampi a $25. meal. She brought our salads and the bread around 5:30. Meanwhile, another couple was seated in the booths and one couple at the bar and a man picking up a to-go order. The waitress was talking to all of them, ignoring us, getting drinks and bringing their food out, while we waited and she kept her back to us. at 6:05 I finally got her attention and asked where our food was. Her reply "I don't know what they are doing back there (The kitchen) I know I ordered your food, I'll go get it. She left and came back within 5 minutes with our food, set it down without any apology and left. My Steak was red and cool, the fettuccini was flavorless and warm and my Lasagna was ice cold, no cheese on top and I couldn't even cut through it, it was still partially frozen in the middle, once again I tried to get her attention and she wouldn't look at us. My husband ate his shrimp scampi, he said it was okay, and just warm, not hot. I finally ended up asking her for to-go boxes when she was behind the bar ten feet away talking with the other couple. She brought the box and I gave her my card at that time but before I could say anything about the food she left. When she came back I told her my Lasagna was cold. Her reaction "Well, It was already FREE!" and left before I could say anything else. I didn't go out to eat with my husband to sit and watch him eat, I wanted to enjoy dinner with him, I didn't get an apology or even an offer to warm my meal up so I could eat there. I will never go back there. Worst service and food ever. read more

It was all around a bad experience .Bad sauce ,overcooked chix, brown,BBQ like marinara. Never again.

Pricey for quality. Free bread was hard as a rock. Salads were nothing special. We ordered kids pizza and spaghetti, they seemed to like it. I ordered the sizzling Cacciatore; the peppers and onions were extremely salty, spice was decent. My husband ordered the shrimp scampi and said it was buttery with a hint of Parmesan, he did note that there was a lot of shrimp. Our waitress had to be asked to clear our old plates. When she served my dinner it nearly dropped onto the table.. my husband assisted. Needless to say, we won't be back simply because we'd prefer to spend this much money elsewhere. read more

This is a great place for families and children. They catered to the all the children in our party. We were sat right away & the food was prompt but tasty. TYSM 4 being AWESOME!!! read more

Returning to a sense of normalcy is difficult. The Covid experience at Johnny's was delightful. Great spacing for social distancing, the service was good and the food was delicious. read more

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The service was fast and friendly. The ambiance is good. unfortunately the food was the least best part of the dining experience. In my opinion the food is not family friendly priced. 20 to 25 per plate for fettuccine alfredo with chicken. Crazy. I had the bow tie pasta with chicken. It was decent. Except the chicken. It was hard and chewy. I will say the mozzarella sticks were excellent. read more

Had to wait forever to be seated even though there were only a few people there. Nachos were sour. Got billed for 2 to go lasagnas, that I never ordered. Lousy food and poor service read more

Went here for the first time and really enjoyed our dinner. The bread for starters is so darn good. Husband and I shared the meal for 2 which gave us a sharable item, 2 entrees and a dessert. Wat more food than we needed but we wanted leftovers for lunch. We got the pepperoni pizza as the shareable to also share with our daughter and it was really good. We then got the chicken parm and the spicy chicken & shrimp pasta but easy spicy. They were both so good! The whole time we just kept saying how much better this place was then Olive Garden. My dad got the normal chicken parm dinner which came with a salad. Not only was it a good portion size but it was a good looking house salad. The croutons were amazing. Crunchy yet soft and very flavorful. The blue cheese dressing was perfect also. Great flavor but not too strong. We then got the dessert and we decided to get the lemon cream cake as to try something different and dang was it good. We are not really dessert people as it can get to sweet but this was perfect. Not to much lemon flavor but also not too sweet. We ate the whole thing (which is huge). Overall we all left super happy and will be back for sure. read more

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a whole lot of MEH about this place. i'm genuinely surprised it has stayed open through all the covid times and whatnot. came in for happy hour, to which they let us know they didn't have one. well, ok then. we ordered a couple appetizers and a bottle of wine. the wine was cold, so they get the star for that. the first appetizer we got was the fried zucchini. the server informed us they were "normally" cut into strips but the chef felt like slicing them today? LOL. ok lady. they were greasy, soggy, and sad. we also ordered the "15 minute wings"- which they say are worth the wait on the menu. they did not take 15 minutes, so I have no idea why they call them those. they were the saddest wings I have ever seen. tiny, meatless. they brought a few sauces for us to try. all bottled, sad, and gross. also, they brought us a loaf of bread when we sat down which was also stale, dry, and gross. our bill was $70. $70 for this!! I laugh out loud just thinking about it. the bottle of wine was $27. they should just replace this restaurant with an olive garden. it's already all set up for that faux italian vibe. i'll be back when they do, because johnny carino's is just not up to par. don't waste your money. read more

Johnny Carino's - zucchini fries. like $12 or some ridiculous amount. it's insane. - Italian Near Me - Meridian, Idaho

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I read many of the negative posts for this restaurant and felt the need to post something positive. My daughter and I ate there tonight. First, the service was amazing. We never had to ask for refills because the server was on top of it. The Mama's spaghetti dinner is literally 3 servings of pasta!!! I personally had the Chicken Scallopini and it was fresh, tasty and hot. Usually I can finish a dinner but I had left overs. We also tried the zucchini fritters and I was surprised that they looked like French fries but they were tasty and not greasy. My only negative thing to say was the Caesar dressing is a little sour tasting but overall the meal was great and I would go back again. read more

Edible...but certainly not worth the price. Got a takeout "family" meal w/2 salads. All of it was nominal, and I added chicken ($10) to the pasta dish (jalapeño Alfredo), but there was no chicken. The Alfredo was unremarkable. Olive Garden may even be better, but I don't go there. Will stick with small, non-chain Italian from now on! read more

I had chicken Marsala and it the chicken was like rubbery, and I couldn't even eat it. I couldn't even cut through it. My spouse had the lasagna and it tasted like there was filler instead of real meat in the lasagna. The bread and salad provided with the meal was fine but I wouldn't go back there. read more

7/31/21 about 5pm. Service was terrible, very, very slow envethogh restaurant was mostly empty. Placed order that was advertised on TV. 5 for $15 that included a steak. Someone came out to tell us they no longer offer that special and added they have no steaks in the business. Ok, we re look at the menu finding that they have a steak offering in the menu. We choose the dinner for two. We pick identical meals, (pizza, entree, side and dessert). We get the pizza fine, then entree comes and both are not what we ordered and not even the same. So after an hour waiting, a different person came out apologizing, fixed one meal and I decided to just eat what I was given. Summing up, most likely will not be back. If no stars were avail, they would receive none. read more

Josh, the Bartender, is the best! so friendly and engaging, service was awesome too! definitely will be coming back!

If I had to sum up this place in one word, that word would be "oof." I've been here twice. The first time wasn't bad, for me at least. I had the jalapeñosomething ravioli, which was interesting. The other table (yes there were two occupied tables that night, hint hint) had their order screwed up three times. They were seated an had drinks when I walked in, and I was almost done eating by the time they got their food served correctly. This time, I had a craving for chicken parm, was driving home from work, and didn't want to drive the extra ten minutes out of my way to go to one of the good Italian places. The bread and oil: I'd eat it again. Sure. Wasn't bad. The McCaesar salad: The dressing was bland. It was like ranch dressing but without the spices, and is the excessively creamy, anchovy-lacking version that I would expect at a non-Italian restaurant. Remember the McDonalds "salad shakers?" Yeah. The chicken parm: Depressing. Chicken parm is one of my comfort foods, and if you're going to serve me a bad one, you might as well slap me and run over my puppy too, because I'll want to cry. First, the red sauce tasted like ketchup. There was a thin... like, wafer-thin bit of mozzarella (or some kind of cheese) that I really couldn't taste as I endured my dinner. The crust was a bit salty. The chicken was criminally bad. Some of the bites I grudgingly took felt more like I was chewing some kind of "chicken product" rather than chicken. By far the worst chicken parm I've had in my life, including that which I've had as chicken parm sandwiches, and also including one that I completely screwed up at home. Congrats. The pasta: The chicken parm is served with spaghetti, which is also covered in the bland sauce. I looked at it. The bill: twenty one dollars for an awful meal and a diet coke. I'd have been better off eating Taco Bell or... anywhere. Oh, and it took 5 minutes for my server to acknowledge me, and there were mebbe 5-6 other tables. Had the food been any good, I prolly wouldn't remember that. read more

We ordered a slice of their fresh strawberry cheesecake and a slice of the lemon cream cake for dessert and they were both super delicious!! Highly recommended! read more

Depending on the food you order, some are great and others meh. I LOVE their scillitini dish and it's the only reason I come back. My family ended up ordering a to go order to pick up on Christmas Eve - called 24 hours in advance. We go to pick it up and they have no record of our order. We waited an extra half hour to get the food. The manager was great (I think his name was Mark) and comped us our food. Great, I believe in second chances. I did another to go order for two people and called 3 hours in advance. The staff member I spoke with on the phone said it wasn't a problem. I go to pick up the order at 5:30. The hostess said she would go check the order, came back, and told me it would be out. Okay, I stood there for about 10 minutes before another staff member, this time the one in charge of the to go orders, asked me "would you like to make a to go order?". Not only did they lose my order AGAIN, but no one informed me of it. I had to wait an extra 30 minutes to get my food AGAIN. I'm not sure if this is a system ordering flaw or a staffing problem, but it's pretty ridiculous. I would not recommend ordering any to go orders from here. read more