Johnny Carinos

Sunday Janda and I went to an old favorite....

Johnny Carinos
8400 I-40 West
Amarillo, TX (806) 468-9375

Sunday after church, we had to run a few errands in town, so we thought we might enjoy some alone time (the boys were staying with the grandparents), with a nice meal out. Being a Sunday, a lot of places that we'd like to try are usually closed. So -- we opted to dine at our old faithful...Johnny Carinos. The place in Amarillo is usually pretty well, although we've had a few bad experiences lately. Well, maybe not bad, but just disappointing.

It was nearly two o'clock when we arrived Sunday afternoon, and the place was still busy. I don't like sitting in the middle at a table because everyone is walking by, it's noisy, and I just like to eat my meal and enjoy my company in relative peace. We requested a booth, but they didn't have any available, so, guess what -- we're stuck in the middle. This time was a bit different, just being the two of us. We both sat on the inside of the table (not in the aisle), so we didn't have to worry about folks walking behind and hitting us. I know this may sound picky, but it just feels cramped in this area, not enjoyable in my opinion. We always ask for someplace NOT in that middle room, most of the time they are very accomodating.

When we placed our drink orders, we got salad as well. This time, they informed us that it would be 99 cents extra for the salad. I think the economy is catching up to their menu prices. Last time we were here, they didn't charge for salad, but they really skimped on serving sizes. I think I prefer an add-on charge for the salad over cheating me out of entrees, but that's just something that will happen, I suppose. We got Ceasar salad, one of our favorites. The last few times we've had the Ceasar salad here, the dressing tastes VERY fishy. It's easy to pick it out, it's a bit overpowering. I don't really mind it, but I think Janda does. It's the first thing she said after tking a bite. We've had a lot of ceasar salads at home, and it may be that there's such a contrast in dressings that makes the fish stand out. I know it's supposed to be in there, I just think it should be a supporting player, not the main event.

Janda's favorite dish here is the Angel Hair with Artichokes (pictured above). It's angel hair pasta (of course!) with roma tomatoes, garlic, capers, basil, black olives and parmesan. The sauce for this dish is light and tangy. I enjoy having small bites of her dish. Normally, she just gets the plain dish (without meat), but I talked her into trying the chicken with it today. For just a dollar more, it's money well spent. It was good, as usual.

My choice, was a bit more difficult. I like trying new things, but I think I've found a keeper here. Some of the dishes I've tried are Chicken Marsala (nice wine sauce, I like it), Jalapeno Garlic Talapia (pretty bland, not hot), and Skilletini (not a big fan). Lately, I've been gettin the Spicy Romano Chicken. It's made with bowtie pasta, artichokes, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and green onions, all topped with cayenne pepper romano cream sauce. It's not as hot as the name implies, but it has more heat than probably anything else on the menu. The sun-dried tomatoes in this dish are one of the big players, I like the taste very much. Janda says they taste like raisins. Of course, they are a bit sweeter than regular tomatoes, but not THAT sweet, I'd say. The artichokes also play well with the creamy romano sauce, though they usually don't put but three hearts in the whole thing. Usually, I can eat half of this dish, and save the other half for leftovers. This time, I ate the whole thing, and was miserable. I shouldn't eat that much, but it was so GOOD!

The service was good, our food was good, and being with my sweet wife for a dinner together was wonderful. You can bet we'll be back, Johnny Carinos is a reliable place to go for a good meal with someone special.

Ben's Overall Rating: 88 (scale of 100)
Price $15.00

Janda's Overall Rating: 85 (scale of 100)
Price $13.00