Johnny Carino's — Restaurant in El Centro

Came in to catch some NBA playoff action and a bite. We were the only ones in our section during lunch hour. Ordered some Nachos and a pizza, along with a lasagna plate. The nachos and pizza came out about 15 minutes from ordering. I was shocked the nachos took 15 minutes. The waitress was attentive initially. However the lasagna took another 15 minutes from when we received the nachos and the pizza. I normally dont complain but this was pretty bad given we were the only ones in our section. Nothing was wrong with our food, it was very good, that's why we came. However the service tainted the visit. We closed our tab but ended up ordering a drink since we were still watching the end of the game. Closing that tab , luckily a manager happened to be sitting in our section and offered to take our check since we were abandoned by our waitress. And then our waitress reappeared and asked if we needed change from the check, thats a service technique no no. Feeling obligated to leave her the change, i did. In that time i happened to use the restroom, where 2 employees were on the dining floor talking to each other about last night's adventures. Meanwhile we were on an island wondering where our waitress was. Again luckily a manager happened to be sitting in our section and asked how was our visit, i must've had a certian energy from being dissatisfied and i had replied what my visit was like. He then gave me a $25 credit for the next visit. Johnny Carino's El Centro is very fortunate to have a heads up attentive manager he salvaged a bad visit into a looking forward to the next visit. Thank you Johnny...

Went for Monday family special. This was the 2nd time we did this after going with my daughter on a regular day. The first visit with my daughter she ordered the Chicken, Shrimp & Pasta bowl. I tried it and was instantly hooked. The portion size was extremely generous & the flavors were intoxicating! I never order pasta when I go out to eat because I know how inexpensive it is. But this was amazing! So when I go again on a Monday for lunch the normal $36. dish is half off! Oh happy day, so I thought... Half off doesn't mean the portion should be half off also!!! There weren't even 10pcs of shrimp in this "Family" platter. The bowl was smaller also and less noodles. Come on Johnny Carinos, everyone knows how cheap macaroni, chicken & shrimp are! The waitress only came over once to check on us & she brought the check. Now she wasn't that busy so I'm not getting it. I left more than disappointed. I was invited again for Monday lunch, so I went & wasn't so disappointed, I was disappointed even more! 8 shrimp, I asked was this normal and a server (not ours) said yes, 8-10 shrimp are normal for family pasta. Same server we had last time, same bad service. Didn't check on us the entire time & never brought our little bread loaves to us. I had to ask someone else & our server responds with, "Oh, hahaha I forgot". Not funny, Ms. Bucktoothed Sergeant!!! Needless to say, I'm back to my original opinion, going out to eat & ordering pasta is the biggest waste of my hard-earned money, especially since I'm a better cook than...

My wife and I drove from Yuma, AZ. to Carino's Italian restaurant on 12/23/24. We had gone there numerous times and we noticed that as time progressed the service and food was not to their high standards that we had gotten accustomed too. This particular day we ordered 1 regular Calamari which was not warm, 1 large Pasta with sauce, $ 5.99 for a small shrimp which was not hot. 1 large Lasagna which definitely was not hot, the cheese on top was not even melted. The waitress Amy had to be new because we had to ask for shredded cheese for the Pasta and other items. Before we never had complaints but this restaurant has since cut back on the service and food preparation, we have since decided to go else where. Also the prices have gone thru the roof, I don't mind paying for good service and food but this day it was terrible. My wife stated that the Lasagna was probably the size of the take out order because it was small and was priced at $ 5.99 and the one she ordered was the same size for $ 14.49. Normally we can eat left overs next day - our dogs wouldn't even eat it. SAD BYE BYE JONNY-...