Carino's Northern Italian Cuisine — Restaurant in Saint Pete Beach

Why have I NEVER heard of Carino's Northern Italian Restaurant before yesterday!!

We haven't had Italian food but a few times this year since I've given up pasta and most sauces for the health journey back from diabetes.... and Meredith Morey has a special place in her heart for great Italian food. Last night we got to scratch that itch!

We drove down Gulf Blvd south from Park Blvd and through John's Pass to admire the growing number of tourists and locals filling the parking lots and stores with business. The sunset was deep gold as we drove over the bridge and we ended up over next door to Shrimpy's (almost across the street from Sea Dog Brewery) at Carino's Northern Italian.

It was later around 8pm when we arrived and we invited friends to join us out there as we enjoy trying new places (and going to our favorites) together often. They were about 15 minutes behind us and they served us toasted bread and butter with an oil/seasonings mix. I didn't have any bread but I did taste the oil seasonings and it was really good. We enjoyed hanging out and the new owner stopped by and we talked a bit.

Chris explained the 35 year history of the family that has been the backbone of Carino's and how he recently became the new owner. I've been here in the area for that whole 35+ years and never heard of the place! That seems to be the reason new ownership and some new tech/marketing can renew the longstanding business.

Okay, the food... WONDERFUL. I got the rack of lamb with veggies instead of pasta. It would usually have mashed potatoes and spinach but I asked if I could get something other than the potatoes and our server mentioned I could go with double spinach. GLAD I did! It was great. I ate everything on the plate (except the bones) and it all followed my diet pretty close. There were some toasted breadcrumbs on the grilled rack but those really added to the rustic flavor. Meredith DOES NOT like lamb and I had her try a bite and she loved it.

Meredith got the chicken parm, and fell in love with the red sauce. She got penne pasta with the same red sauce for her side and ended up bringing half of everything home. It was one of her most enjoyable authentic chicken parm dinners. She also had ordered a bowl of pasta fagioli soup before the meal and said it was fantastic. Wishing I had tried it. I did try the Brie! Friends ordered the Brie appetizer and I don't usually like Brie much but they had like a pesto topping and it was VERY good. I didn't have it on any bread but happy I gave it a shot.

The rest of the table had Veal Piccata, Chicken Piccata and the house special yesterday which was a veal Osso Buco. Never having it before Josh thought the tiny fork in the middle for the bone marrow was a new experience he would pass up so his dad really enjoyed it. He ordered some bread and put it on that. Yumm!

Everyone really enjoyed dinner and we will for sure be back. With having so many kids, we rarely go out to nicer restaurants as the spend is more than I enjoy experience but this was well worth it. It's going to be a special occasion spot for us moving forward.

Not sure how I've missed this place as long as I have, anyone else in Seminole Happenings been there over the years? They have a piano bar lounge next door that seats like 50 people and pur next trip over there will be on one those nights. Very happy about the beaches being more busy and seeing tourists back! There was a patron there I spoke to that said he's been going there 20 years and his wife has been going there since she was a child. He travels to Florida here and there and MUST stop in each time because it's still his favorite. I asked him what he recommended and hands down it was the chicken parm. He also ordered calamari which we will have to try next time.

Bravo! This will be added to our list. Can't...

Visiting Treasure Island for a couple of days. After searching for an hour for a place to eat close to my hotel and to treat my twin daughters on their birthday, Google search gave me this place as an option. It's in a strip mall type location with a few other businesses. It was before 4pm today, which is a Friday so there was parking available. First impression wasn't good: the place looked old, rundown and was empty except for two tables that were occupied. I should've left then and there but was really hungry and thought I'd give it a shot. There were three of us and the hostess seated us immediately. Server came quickly gave us menus and tap water, and left to care for the other tables. She seemed to be very attentive to the other tables and kept checking up on them and offering suggestions, even going over the desserts with them when they were finished. We didn't get the same service; she told us she was the only one serving and kept going away, even made a couple of snide remarks when I asked for coffee. We ordered the Mozzarella Caprese as an appetizer, which I thought was very expensive at $15 for 3 slices of tomatoes, mozzarella, on a little bit of lettuce with 4 halves of olives. Two pieces of bread were brought to the table with a few pats of butter. Bread tasted old. We ordered a lasagna, carbonara pasta with added chicken and cheese ravioli with spinach. Carbonara was a huge portion, the lasagna was a decent amount, the ravioli was 6 big ones with a creamy sauce on top. The food came pretty quickly and was a good temperature. The server came to us just a few times compared to the other two tables, never asked us if we'd like something besides water to drink. Usually servers keep checking and offering other options, especially when they want a good tip. At the end of the meal, my daughter had to ask about the desserts because she didn't even offer it and instead of telling us the options, the way she did with the other 2 tables, she pointed to a display case and told my daughter "There's the display case, you can go over there and see what we have because I'm busy." Mind you, by then we were the only customers in the restaurant. This really irritated me, because we were very respectful, not loud like the other table and didn't bother her for anything. The only difference I could see, and I am not a person who looks at this, is that we were a different race than the other people. Both my daughters are disabled and shy, and I didn't want to ruin their birthday so I ignored it. It was $129 meal, plus the tip (which I always give 20% because I know servers don't earn a lot) for what was an unpleasant, mediocre experience. On top of that, the Carbonara which I had, has given me an allergic reaction and now I have hives and itching, so there's something in it that I reacted to. Next time I visit this area, I...

So first off the food here is amazing! I'd give 5 stars if it was just for the food. The reason I'm giving 2 stars is for the service and the decorations. My girlfriend are locals here in st. Pete and we went here the other night and was sat in the super tacky and very ugly piano room. We couldnt help but to laugh at the decorations in this room. Its soooo bad its like a low budget mob movie with all the mirrors on the wall and some what it looks like is home made art. Its really bad. Our waitress was also horrible. After we were seated we started to look at the menu and our older female waitress comes to greet us and doesn't ask if we wanted any alcoholic beverages and takes the wine menu before i even had a chance to look at it. I would of loved a bottle of wine but she seemd like she didnt even care about us because of 5he table of 6 sitting next to us. I had to ask the busser for the wine menu back because the music is so loud in that room that she couldnt hear me yelling to her for the menu as she walked away with it. My girlfriend ordered a coke and i had to remind our waitress of it because i saw it sitting on the bar because our waitress was standing by the table of 6 like a dog waiting for a command from them and not paying attention to her other tables. She then cuts her hand opening a bottle of wine at the table next to us. She was very short with us and seemed not to care about us. We would of spent a lot more money at this place but didnt because of the waitress. Yall really should do more training with your staff and remodel the horrible piano room. Definitely gonna get our food to go next time...