Johnny Carino's — Restaurant in Eastvale

This was the absolute worst experience and waste of 75 dollars I have ever experienced in all of my 49 years. I was in the food and restaurant business for many years before my current career and cannot believe the experience my family had. I have long frequented this restaurant. Would go weekly to the Temecula location when it was still there 20 years ago. Since it left, I have driven to other locations to dine. We drove an hour to celebrate my parents anniversary and 2 birthdays. Upon arriving, the hostess was standing off on her phone. We had to get her attention and she was extremely rude and did not want to be bothered. She said it was a wait , yet there was nobody in there but 2 tables with guests. She finally got a table and then came back and told us where it was and pointed. She did not walk us to the table. We had 6 in the party. She left 3 menus. The table was dirty with old food on the table and seats. We asked to have it cleaned which took a bit. We finally sat down and the tables were wobbly and uneven and 2 of us were sitting in a hole it felt like. My mom went to aks the hostess for 3 more menus as the waiter was nowhere to be found and the hostess literally rolled her eyes and made a noise and was so obviously irritated, it was unacceptable. The waiter took a long time to greet us and when he did, he was not friendly and seemed put out to wait on us. My mom asked about a certain drink and he didn't seem to know much and was not helful. We ordered the Italian Nachos to start. I asked about meat on them and he said it was extra to get meat. I looked at the menu and it stated it was included. They took a long time and when they arrived, they were literally ice cold. The cheese was not even melted. As a side note, all the tables behind us and around were dirty and had plates of old food piled up on them. Nobody bothered to clear or bus them. It was a whole section of the restaurant. It smelled of old food and was awful to look at. We asked for bread and garlic and it finally came. I asked for more garlic and was told no and that is what it came with. I insisted on getting more garlic and finally he brought more. The drink my mom had was made wrong and that was another issue. We had to flag down the waiter to order our meals and again, he had maybe one other table so he was not busy. His attitude when we had a simple menu question was annoyed and it made it awkward and uncomfortable. We had to keep asking for the bread and he was irritated we requested another basket after the first. The meals came and the chicken in the chicken scallopinni dishes(2 ordered) was not fully cooked. It was raw and slimy in the middle. I brought this to his attention and he proceeded to tell me I was wrong and it was my problem. My son's was the same and the waiter refused to have it remade or the chicken cooked more. One was sent back because I would not eat raw chicken and my son was so uncomfortable, he just kept his and did not eat it. This is a health department issue as serving undercooked chicken is not acceptable. Our server told us it was "precooked" before the restaurant gets it and they just heat it up. Using not fresh chicken is really low standards and there is no way it would be that raw if it was precooked, I think he was just telling us that to not deal with it anymore. The lasagna had tons of bright orange grease surrounding it and leaking over the plate. My mom ordered the angle hair with capers and olives and it there were so many capers and olives, it was overpowering and inediable. She just did not eat it but didn't tell him because he was just awful and she knew he would be nasty. My other son had Alfredo with chicken. The premade pressed chicken pieces in that dish were awful quality and not hot. The meal was such a nightmare, we didn't even celebrate our occassions with any dessert, we just wanted to get out of there. We drove an hour to get there, got awful food and horrific service, paid a lot of money, and...

I have been to Carino's several times before and have had nothing but pleasant experiences. However, this place seems to be under new management and I was not impressed.

We arrived at 4:30 or so. The "Johnny's Tavern" sign above the kitchen is tacky and obnoxious. The manager seemed to be micromanaging everything and it was not working. The lighting was too dark for an afternoon meal. The menu had far too many choices, and they seem to be going for a hybrid American/Italian menu.

The service was not terrible; our drinks and appetizers were served promptly and a second loaf of bread was brought upon request. However, the entrees took a long time to get out. I do not place any of the blame for this on our waitress; she was personable, polite, and responsive, if a little too talkative.

While we waited for our food, a panhandler went from table to table, making it through about 10 groups before management finally kicked her out. The lady behind us ordered a Coronarita and was later informed that they had boxed up the beer last night and couldn't find it. (To their credit, they later found the beer.)

Finally, the food came. My fiancé was asked whether we wanted mashed potatoes or fries; he received neither. Also, his "medium rare" steak was rare to raw. And his jalapeño ravioli had only a bit of diced jalapeño and chicken on top of the ravioli, and instead was mostly topped with bell pepper. My "spicy" chicken and shrimp pasta had all of three pepper slices and maybe 5 slices of chicken. Overall, we were disappointed with the food quality and overall atmosphere and decided not to chance dessert.

Ending on a positive: bread is still good and tasty, tasty water.

UPDATE: This had been a 2-star review. However, we recently went back and were pleasantly surprised by the improvements made. The drinks were well mixed and the dessert was good as well. Service was a little slower than I would expect for a table of 4 not ordering entrees, but it wasn’t terrible. The water is...

DIRTY BATHROOMS & VIOLENTLY ILL. I was motivated to come here because I always been a fan of this place for many years. On Sunday I seen a commercial for an all you can eat shrimp special so I called to make sure it was still going on and told them I would be in the next day for it (Monday).. Showed up Monday and the waiter said the special had ended on Sunday- no problem I was going to order something else anyhow but my son was interested in the shrimp deal. I used the bathroom to my regret as they will haunt my dreams for a while. The toilets were disgusting and the toilet seats were something you would see in a horror movie. So gross for food handlers to be using a facility in that condition. Anyhow I ordered the potato soup and spicy chicken and shrimp Romano. Be also warned that if you order their chicken sandwiches it’s just the standard dipping bread they give you in the beginning w extremely thin sliced chicken. The bread they served for my son’s sandwich was so hard n gross (his words) I offered to him to pack up the inside on his sandwich as we can put in on some sourdough at home, but the thin slices he had were not worth saving. So sad to see the quality drop substantially at a once great place. Hours later I had the food poisoning feeling we all know and hate. It was terrible I was crying in my bathroom so defeated. To put a cherry on top for just my son and I eating there our bill was $63 and that doesn’t include a tip. So I called the next day and I believe the woman who answered was named Araceli. I told her the story of how I got sick and their food was the only thing I ate. I told her everything-the dirty restrooms and she had an excuse for everything. She didn’t ask for my name or number for any type of feedback for me so I knew she really didn’t give a rats booty. So here I am sharing my tragic story with yall of how I had a terrible breakup with my once favorite...