We visited Johnny Carino’s because my family was new to the area and our standard Italian eatery restaurants that we found on the east coast were nowhere to be seen in Northern California. Someone at work recommended we give it a try. We wanted a comfortable atmosphere, a family-friendly restaurant (i.e., family-friendly prices) meals too big to finish in one sitting. We got all three and came back the following weekend.
Johnny Carino’s offers a country-style Italian menu, so look out for herb blending and grilling all around. The restaurant design offered the standard booths and tables, but it also featured some booths against a wall with canopy curtains if you wanted a little more privacy and quiet during your meal. The open-style kitchen lets you watch the chefs make your meal. Prices were in a decent range at the Fairfield location with more specialized entrees starting at $11.
The kid’s meal selection was high in variety. There were pizzas and pastas to choose from. The kids can even do a pick-your-own-pasta combo of noodles and sauces. If you have kids older than seven and are like my children-made of hollow legs and big mouths- Carino’s offers a big kid’s menu that includes a create-a-pizza selection as well as chicken fettuccine.
Entrees can be ordered in regular size or Grandioso size, as in meant to be shared. Below is a description of the four different dinners we had the first two times we went. I highly recommend each dish.
Bowtie Festival– delicious. Exactly how she imagined a bowtie pasta meal should be. Every ingredient could be tasted, especially the bacon pieces and the asiago sauce. The sauce was a perfect blend of texture and strength- not too thick, not soupy thin, and the right level of asiago flavoring that didn’t overpower the entire meal. Some sauces at other restaurants try to hide a quickly-cooked entree, whereas this sauce gave it a light jacket. The sliced chicken and colorful bowtie noodles made this entrée quite a full plate!
Baked Cheese Tortelloni– Could taste almost all six cheeses involved with this entrée. Each tortelloni piece was smooth was filled with a smooth, creamy blend of cheeses, only to be covered in a rich meat sauce with Ricotta and Romano. And if that wasn’t enough, Carino’s puts the dish in a cover of mozzarella and parmesan. Splendid.
Chicken Scaloppini– Large chicken slices on top of spaghetti noodles was almost too much for me to bear. I had to take home half a plate because my stomach couldn’t take it all in at once. The chicken portions were about the size of two palms; the lemon butter sauce drenched each piece to give it a slightly bitter but warranted taste. Pieces of mushroom and roma tomatoes added into the mix and gave it all a blessing of new textures. I would consider this dish a small piece of art.
Honey-Pecan Salmon Salad– I chose this because I had a large lunch that day and wanted something light. I was very wrong, but not disappointed, and for the first time I had to take a portion of salad home. I expected some sliced fish on a few leaves, but instead I got a hand-sized block of salmon (coated in sweet, crushed pecans) on top of vinaigrette-covered lettuce. It took a little getting used to, but eventually I was won over with the polar flavors of sweet honey and tart vinaigrette circling the salmon. I would call this an experiment gone right.
Johnny Carino’s offers a surprisingly high-quality level of food and healthy portions. They probably do that so when you have leftovers for lunch, you’ll be thinking about going back for more dinner. I highly recommend this restaurant over Olive Garden any day.
