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Family ambiance, lots of couples in the restaurant. They have a bar in the back. Huge portions, small parking lot, and decent prices for the portions. Avoid the bread!
I went here with my best friend last night. It was our first time (ooh la la), so we ordered a dish each for ourselves. I had the gumbi, she ordered the linguine and clams with white sauce, and they both came with salads. We munched on the bread until our salads came, which was a huge mistake. The bread was mediocre and there was nothing special about it - I wish is had more crunch or garlic or something! Anyway, our salads came and they were a good size with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and croutons. I was almost feeling full, until our entree came. OMG, huge portions! The gumbi was served on a platter! The linguine and clams were served in a bowl filled to the brim. We shared our plates and had enough for leftovers, which I shared for lunch with my male coworker. The gumbi could easily serve three people! Thank goodness the pasta was deelish. The noodles were perfectly cooked, the meatballs were meaty, moist, and tender, and their sauce was rich and melty with cheese. So good. The linguine and clams with white sauce is salty and buttery, but also very good. I added some red pepper flakes to give it a kick. The clams were tender and plentiful. This dish could easily serve two people as well.
I would come here again, but I will have to remember to share the entrees!
OMFG...for you mushroom lover, please try the sauteed mushroom appetizer. Please provide them 7-15 minutes to prepare but I can tell you it is worth the wait. Each bite of these delicious mushroom has this flavorful burst of butter, garlic and spices. You can even dip your house bread in this sauce. Oh man, super yummy!
I order the shrimp scampi and the noodles and shrimp were just so dang flavorful. HUGE shrimp and cooked cauliflower and broccoli with my dish. The portions are pretty big so it didn't even look like I ate anything! I didn't save room for desert. =(
Service was great and the food was good! Yes I am a fan!!
We came here to meet friends in the bar and check out the live band called Flirt. We came early to have dinner. I ordered the Laetitia Pino Noir ($10) to start and my bf had a Corona ($5). The wine tastes like it was an old bottle and little floaties were in my shallow glass. I asked the server if she knew when the bottle was opened and replied that it was done recently. She confirmed with the bartender. They were nice enough to open a fresh bottle for me but it tasted the same. Guess it's just the bottle. I ordered an vodka tonic as well.
The bread served was super hot. A bottle of olive oil was already on the table with bread plates. Cheesy bread and came aplenty.
I had the Lobster Ravioli for $15 and my bf had the veal parmesan. He wasn't too thrilled with his meal though the portion was huge. I have set the bar high for Lobster Raviolis based on a place in Sacramento that I had four years ago an still haven't found it's equivalent. But the portions were huge. This version was topped with a red sauce and cheese. Fresh Parmesan was not offered like most Italian joints I'm familiar with. I ate half of it. We didn't go with dessert.
The highlight of Carmine's was meeting with friends and the band. The guys played Los Lonely Boys, The Doors, Lunard Skyard... Pretty darn good band. It was a good crowd for a Saturday. Not sardined packed and not stuffy.
Will probably not have dinner there again but would see Flint. BTW our server was very friendly.
Best thing about this place is that there is a sign outside that reads "Absolutely...no Raider fans, no bald heads, no tats, no gang affiliations, etc..." Second best thing is the portions, crazy large portions here. The Gumbi is a good dish and the pizza isn't bad...I wish they would have kept their dinner rolls, now they serve some lame bread that's just a filler...good/fun ambiance...good for family pizza night outs...
It's getting less and less stars for the simple fact I met a group of my friends here to watch Sunday Football and the place was not even packed..I like others, enjoy team spirit and like being in a packed bar so I can shit talk to the other fans.. oh and I'm getting tired of being picked up on by older drunk women.. What is that about?
Okay so last night my girlfriend and I have been having a rough weekend and week so we decided to… Read more »
I have had terrible experiences both times I went here. The first time we were "kicked out" because of wearing sports Jerseys. Hello, it's called a restaurant and sports bar. Second time, I swear our drinks were drugged. Very weird place, don't recommend it at all.
S-l-o-w service. Pizza was just okay. Loved the ambiance, except "Volare" playing over the speakers was clashing with the cover band in the next room (our friends, who we had come to see post-noshing). The bar area was crowded with nowhere to sit except near the pool tables where we constantly had to shift to escape a giant jabby poke in the groin area from a pool cue. Not totally digging this place.
I've only been here once but they made a pretty good impression on me. I don't know why everyone complains about the food and pasta. I ordered the Gumbi and it was DELICIOUS. The portions were HUGE and when I took the leftovers home, it looked as if I haven't even touched them.
The only downside to this restaurant that I can see is the ambiance of the place sort of sucks. It sort of gives me a feeling that I'm either in a very nicely decorated Mcdonald's with waiter service or an italian restaurant gone downhill. But besides that, everything else is good. I'd definitely come back.
Food's really good, but the waiters just stood around and gossiped THE WHOLE TIME. We had to ask all the hard working runners (that probably get paid 10% of what the waitstaff gets...sadly) to GET OUR WAITER FOR US!!! They are like little high school kids... Grow up please!
I was enamoured when I first came here- old school-ish ambience, good service and hearty food.. but the food is not what it used to be. A little too much- too salty, too much sauce, etc.
The pastas are good and the lasagna is decent, but noting to write home about. The desserts are not prepared in-house, and I have a feeling some of the appetizers are pre-frozen, or whatever you call it. Neverthless, it is a cool joint and I will continue to frequent it on nights that I am hungry or when Gale's down the street is closed.
It's aight. Not too long ago, a fellow employee resigned, so a dinner party was organized and Carmine's was the winner.
Everything served is typical Italian food, but if you've had Italian at one place, you've had them all.
I had the Lasgana, it was very meh. Then again, my Italian food palette isn't all that great to begin with. It's all the same to me.
The drinks are okay, but because it was a group thing, everyone just chipped in like a $20, etc...
I hear it's gone real downhill since its heyday. Fools are getting shanked, etc....
I could live the rest of my life without ever going back. Carmines is located on Fair Oaks Ave practically across the street from the 110 freeway, and next to the strip mall where the OSH is at in South Pasadena.
Eat at Carmines, have some donuts at the Winchell's after.
The biggest Chicken Parmesan I have ever had! 2 HUGE pounded 1/2 inch chicken breast, breaded nicely, COMPLETELY covered in delicious marinara sauce and cheese. That sauce was just begging me to use the table bread to sob it up. Oh, it was such a tragic carb day but I loved it!
Very homey feel as soon as you walk in. A little run down but still ticking. Kinda like Mimi's, but less white and more red. I wouldn't sit at the bar. : ] Service at the tables were great! Food was delicious!
I'm sounding the alarm on this one. Check it out!
Walked in on a Monday eveining around 7ish, man, someone should of gave me the heads up on this one.
$3 Margarita Mondays, very attractive and friendly ladies, oh and pizza if you start getting your buzz on. The waiteress on Monday was on it, great service. Check it out....
I'm actually conflicted about this place. I used to come here for happy hour almost daily - for the past few years since I moved to South pas.
Over the past few years, I've tried all the food, sadly, most of the food doesn't taste good - or at least I've had much better at mediocre italian joints.
The Sausage and Peppers plate is really good - with the exception of the nasty spaghetti it comes with (which I tell them not to bother to give, but they do anyways) - and of course, the every once in a while when they don't cook it long enough. When it's right, it's really really good.
The pizza is also good, you can't go wrong with their pizza. Especially the bambinos during happy hour (though I think they removed it from Happy hour and now charge full price) but it's still good to have a bambino w/beer as it's the perfect size (pep/bell peppers/mushrooms!)
Now the bar: well, it used to be great, I've met a lot of people there over the years and the bartenders are all great-though a lot of my favorites have since left - but there are still good ones there.
The crowd used to be pretty good on a friday night (live bands) - but lately, well, I don't know what's going on. A friend of mine was stabbed there 2 years ago, and the crowd dropped off and changed, then last year, 2 more guys were stabbed, and again, crowd dropped off and changed. Now, I sort of just walk past it and go everywhere else. A lot of the regulars don't stay after 10 anymore - which is stabbing time.
I went there last friday, saw a few of my old regulars, but it's just not fun anymore. I didn't even finish my beer and just kept walking home.
That's right- I said it - I didn't even finish my beer!
"Leave no alcohol behind" has been my rule since I started drinking. I embarrassed to go against it, but I had to.
I would have easily given it a 5. However, my judgment was likely clouded by the fact that I was eating with some of my favorite people. (If you've read my other reviews, you would have noticed a trend-- I tend to like a restaurant if I have been there with people I like)
Anyway, that's not to say their food was bad. I liked our pizzas. Their "thin crust" wasn't thin enough in my opinion; it was god nonetheless. I liked our table in the "little cave". When I walked back from the other side (the dive bar?), I could not stop smiling as I passed by these tables seated with families. I was particularly intrigued by my very own table. On the wall, there was a really cute black and white photo of a little girl kissing a boy and another girl pouting beside them ("Il Bacio"). It was a beautiful scene because on everyone's face I saw an expression of delight (except that little girl, of course)
...I wasn't sure if that was the reason why we were ignored, however. Our server could have been a tiny bit more attentive. It'd be nice if she could stop by our table to pick up the check the first, third, or maybe even the fifth time...
It's at the same complex as OSH. If you're heading north on Fair Oaks, stay on the right lane. You can park along Fair Oaks or at their free lot but parking can be tricky at night. It's really close to the 110 exit. You need to make a left when you exit Fair Oaks and then a quick right into the lot, just after State. If you're not from the area, you may miss it the first time. (If your sense of direction is as impaired as mine, you will likely miss it several times...)
Went to Carmines for dinner a few nights ago. I've been to the one in Arcadia a few times, which is very good, but this was my first time at the Pasadena location. Overall, it was just as good as the Arcadia one.
There were four of us and after looking at the menu nobody could decide on whether to have pizza or pasta. Some wanted salad too. Ok, we decided to get it all and share everything family style-like. We ended up getting the tossed antipasto salad, an order of fettuccini with the carmine sauce and a medium pizza with sausage, olives and canadian bacon on half and pineapple, pepperoni and mushrooms on the other half. We got some bread to start out with. Good bread, but might have been cooked a little too long as the bottom was pretty hard. No big deal, it's just filler anyway. Next, the anitpasto salad. Lettuce, tomato wedges, beets, olives, cucumber, red onion, peperoncini, mozzarella cheese, romano cheese, salami and italian dressing. Really good salad. Fresh veggies and the italian dressing was really tasty. We also got a small tossed salad that came with the pasta and split that. Pretty simple salad with lettuce, mozzarella, olives and mushrooms, but very good nonetheless. Next came the pasta. One of my friends loves the Carmine sauce, so that's what we got. I hadn't had it before, but have to say it was really good. Lots of garlic, which is the way I like it. After all that, we still had pizza coming. I have to say the pizza was the best part for me. I love thick crust pizza and that is what this was. Not pan pizza, but very doughy and thick. The toppings were fresh and really good and I like that they used chunky pieces of italian sausage.
My only complaint with the pizza is that we were told that if we got the 3 item pizza with different toppings on each half we would have to pay for 6 items because they would put the same amount of toppings on the one half as they would if we had gotten those toppings on the whole pizza. Alright, then, we got the deluxe pizza, which was a few dollars more than the 3 item, with 3 toppings on one half and another 3 on the second half. But, when we got our pizza there was no way that there were the same amount of toppings on one half that would have been on a whole pizza. If so, they would have been really skimpy with the toppings on a whole pizza. Not a huge deal, as it was only a couple dollars, but I think that if you serve pizza and someone wants half and half, only charge for the number of toppings on each half. Kinda lame to charge for double the amount of toppings.
After the pizza we were all stuffed and very pleasantly surprised when the bill came and it was only $15 each. We thought it'd be more for all the food we got. Overall, decent service, very good food and a great value. I'm glad to have tried this location, so now I know I can go to either one and have a great meal.
I love this restaurant I just wish the service was as good as the food. Tucked away in a South Pasadena shopping complex (osh, starbucks, winchell's) is this quaint dimly lit Italian restaurant. It's perfect for dates, yet oddly enough, is great for families and large parties as well.
You get a lot of food for the price as most things come with bread and soup/salad.
I recommend the Clams and Linguine with White Sauce. I've had it over 5 times and I've found it's the most consistently tasty dish there.
They have a nice wine selection and a full bar too! The bar could use a seperate review as it has live music most nights, has 2 pool tables and a huge full bar. But I'm more familiar with the restaurant side so I'll sum it up.
The Good:
The ambiance
The food and drinks
The Bad:
The Service (Always takes about 2 min. to be greeted, bussers are more helpful than the servers-what's up with that?)
Parking can be very bad on weekends despite the huge lot.
Not bad, not bad...I was fortunate enough to be in the company of several people who did not mind my fork in their plate so I was able to get a pretty decent sampling of their menu in one sitting.
Pasta dishes, sorry, all tastes the same. Meaning, it could be a Gumbi or it could be a Penne Rosa, it still tastes the same. Ditto on the white sauce dishes. Good, but tastes the same.
I had a pretty decent Carmine's sub sandwich. But the real catch of the day was their meatball sandwich. Hot diggity, hot damn. It was huge, meaty and delicious, exactly the way I like my men.
Now I know what to pick up on the way home from work on a dateless Friday night...
We gave this place another try on Friday after my latest ultrasound. My baby's kidney is still enlarged, but we still needed to eat. It was raining and nothing sounded good to me, so we just went for what was on our way home.
The bar was hopping! Well, it was around 5 on a Friday. It looked like a fun place, but I'm pregnant, so I don't get to enjoy the bar scene anymore. Maybe someday for a date night.
We shared a garden pizza. The vegetables were fresh and the crust was nice, but they kill it with the garlic. We took the leftovers home and it stunk up our whole house. I like this place "okay," but it's nothing special. I wish they'd lighten up on the garlic.
For 5 years I lived within 3 blocks of this place and I never knew. I never knew how close I was to… Read more »
So, I was a little further north than I usually, and one of my friends recommended this place. She had never eaten inside, just always gotten the food to go. Unfortunately for many restaurants that I've been to, the service is was MUCH better than I've experienced.
We were seated right away, and had a waiter at our table within 2 minutes. Got our drinks, and NEVER had an empty glass. I was extremely impressed with that. I've only had service such as that in Europe.
The food was excellent, service was great, unfortunately, this is about an hour or so north of me, so I wouldn't make the trip out JUST for this place, but if I'm in the area, I'll most definitely come by again.
Went here once, probably won't again. Service was fine and our waitress was very nice. No wait for table or food. But, salad out of a bag would have been better, also, Stouffer's spaghetti and meat sauce would have been better. Even my mom, who sees good in all things, suggested (kindly) that we might not want to come back.
First just to be fair, I never really wanted to go here in the first place. My pasta-craving girlfriends talked me into going.
I guess it bothered me that it was in a shopping complex next to an osh and a laundry mat, I don't mind location if I'm looking for cheap and quick, but if I'm going to spend time and money ambiance is important.
It was just pain bad from the minute we walked in and were greeted by the very unfriendly hostess who looked me and my friend up and down like in a high school movie she walked us to are table and threw are menus on the table with out making eye contact with us. Our table was very dirty.
I do have to say that our sever was prompt and friendly, but I never did get my coke. I ordered the spaghetti and meatballs. The meat tasted like cat food balls and the sauce tasted like unaltered Prego. The food was not inedible...but it was not by any stretch of the imagination "good".
The real reason I'm rating this place so low is the place just has an all around bad seedy fake weird vibe.
I love the flavor of the pizzas here, but they cannot serve one without overcooking the bottom of the crust (nearly burned every time). If only that could be improved I'd definitely rate it higher. Graffiti inside (by the REst Rooms) from gang members also leaves one to wonder about the night crowd.
Can't beat $3 martini's on a Tuesday night.
Not crazy about the Brushetta, but love the pizza.
Two words: Not impressed.
I was referred to this place by a friend from work. It looks like a restaurant on one side then right next door is a sports bar. My friends and I decided to go have dinner first then walk over to the bar. As we walked into the restaurant, the first thing we noticed was poor air quality. Just imagine people from ALL sizes, many LARGE families and children packed in one area....yeah the air might not be as fresh as one would expect. The décor was interesting. On each space of wall was some sort of hanging plantery things. I forget what to call them but it looks like a fake window ledge with plants on top. There was also different sized bottles of wine aligned a shelf of some sort and a brick wall. I didn't see any pictures of any Italians; sometimes you see some old black and white photos like other restaurants but whatever.
We sat down and looked at the menu. BTW, the waiter wasn't very bright. He had little but no personality at all. I would reference something, try and get him to react, nothing (blank) stare..LOL. Oh my! I think he had a short term memory. My friend wanted ice water with lemon. Instead he brought a Corona with a lime in it. We all just laughed at that...well I did. Also, I ordered the Diced Sausage and Egg plant. The ingredients sounded intriguing, but like I said the waiter wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer...because I received the wrong order. I received Lasagna! At first I was going to eat it but then it was really salty and not good. So my friend told me to get what I originally ordered. We told some other waiter because we couldn't see ours. So after someone else gave me my correct dish, he came back and asked if everything was okay...I just said can I have more napkins and three lemons, thank you. Finally, he brought what I wanted because I said it firmly with my not-so sweet voice. I'm not sure if the waiter got a tip, but my tip is priceless, a message: Hey Buddy please purchase one of those voice recorders when you take orders, so you won't forget what was just said! Thank you~
Now it was time to go hit up that bar. Not much to see. We were surrounded by old fogies. I'm talking about people who are doubled my age. Not even good-looking older men or women just a bunch of old saps. It was like happy hour passed 9 o'clock, when all the old folks come out at night. I think I was a minority there in the Whiteman's World. Even when I went to the ladies room, there was a 40ish looking lady trying to dress half her age sitting on the bathroom sink all wasted. As I was peeing, her friend was like are you okay...blah blah! I heard her friend say you had too many Mojitos. I just laughed because Alkie doesn't care what age you are, he will mess you up. So when I got out, I asked if she needed some water, (suggesting it would help) she was like yes...and I was thinking well go get some. Good thing there was a waitress next to me because she said she would get it.
This place is WEAK. Not for us, sorry!
Ciao~
My family had been coming here FOREVER!
Love the pizza
Love the MINESTRONE (i sometimes go just for that)
Love the Gumbi too, but they give you SO MUCH! Its enough for 2.
Its defintiley my favorite Italian place...i think mostly for nostalgic reasons :)
The bar is pretty chill too. They have some good drink specials and the bartenders Ive met were super friendly.
I came here for a birthday lunch for work, and I have to say - wow, do you get a lot of food. I think it's going to take me 4 more meals to finish what I got. Then again, I did opt for the Gumbi, which is apparently renown for being uber-heavy.
We all ordered from the dinner menu, and got a choice of soup (minestrone or lentil) or salad. I opted for the soup, since I'm a sucker for minestrone, but I had a couple bites of the salad and it was very good. My minestrone was hearty and flavorful.
The Gumbi was delicious, albeit way too big of a plate. I think I got through about 1/5 of the plate and had to box the rest of it. I also tried the linguini with clams in white sauce, and I must say, the white sauce was done very well - ight and buttery, not heavy and creamy like I had imagined.
We were all too full to try any of the desserts.
I give this place 4 stars because I love leftovers and you get plenty of that here. Plus, from what I tried everything had a decent amount of flavor - not too heavy but not bland in the least. Worlds better than, say, Bucca di Beppo.
Plus, the service was fine for us. I mean, I guess we had a bit of a mixup in the beginning, when our table of 5 got served a basket of 4 rolls (like, are we supposed to share?). But when we asked they brought over another roll in a timely manner, and everything from then on went smoothly.
Terrible. I went with a friend that was craving pizza and I was craving Italian, so I figured we try the place. Having grown up in South Pas I never actually ate here, but now I'm glad I didn't.
I ordered gnocchi and iced tea, and my friend ordered calzone. Service took forever. The small pieces of sourdough weren't that great, but it was filling enough in between the long wait between bread, soup, and food. Surprisingly I had a fresh batch of minestrone, which was quite good. Too bad the rest would be a bad let down.
I never got my Iced Tea. Then, we waited about probably 20 minutes until we actually got our food. They gave me the wrong order, the gumbi (pasta with marinara, mushrooms, meatballs) instead of the gnocchi. I actually ate a bit of the gumbi and it was alright but not that great. After I told the waitress that she got the order wrong, she quickly apologized and I had my gnocchi back in like 2 minutes. Why did I wait 20 minutes for a messed up order only to have the right one in 2 minutes? Did they reheat it in the back or something? I admit I'm biased since I've had the most delicious gnocchi in New York City, I wasn't expecting the best, but the gnocchi at this place wasn't very good. Mind you it probably tasted even worse there were so many screw-ups.
I noticed that I never got my Iced Tea, they apologized, yet they still tried to charge me for it. My friend didn't think his calzone was that superb either, but lamented that it was at least better than the horrid service i had.
Bad service, subpar food, mediocre rating. Would not go again.
It pains me to do this.
When I moved last weekend, some friends and family came to give a hand. We took them to Carmines after for a much needed meal.
The waitress was so damn rude.
Right from the get go.
I don't know if it was because we wanted to be outside, or because we all looked like we had been moving all day.
My friend who had been working his ass off all day tried to order a carafe of Chianti. "we don't have that" he asked then for a pitcher of Hefeweizen. "we don't have that" she sneered. BITCH, WHY DON'T YOU MAKE A NICE GESTURE TOWARD YOUR PROFESSION AND MAKE A SUGGESTION!
We dismissed her so my friend could look at the wine list for awhile.
Now, I wouldn't usually let a one time incident interfere with my relationship with a restaurant, and I will be the first to concede that, being that I was exhausted and stressed and starving, I had very little patience for being snobbed to by a waitress. That's why after she had not been back for 15 minutes and my nice friend had gone to the bar to get HIMSELF a drink, I asked for the manager. The manager never showed up, so I had to tell the poor stupid waitress herself to get me a new waitress. She took the opportunity to roll her eyes in her stupid head one more time.
The new waitress was quite competent, and although it was obvious she though we were a table of flaming a-holes, she refrained from sneering or rolling her eyes. She feigned friendliness, which is all I expect. The food was fine, but next time I'm forced to ask for a manager and they don't visit my table, I'm going to yell til they do. Patrons in even the lowliest of working class establishments deserve to be treated respectfully by the server, even if they have not memorized the menu!
It's really 3.5
I really like Carmines, but you have to take it for what it is, and the whole…
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Does anyone remember/realize that this place use to be Lasorda's? And, well, we all know that Lasorda's closed down because of a rat infestation. Anyways, that was years ago. It's Carmine's now, and I'm sure they've got that rat problem sewn up. This place is split in two. I would say it's equally a bar as much as it is a restaurant. In fact, there can be quite the wait for a dinner table, and the bar is very accommodating for those practicing good patience. The bar is designed in the sports vein, with TV's and pool tables. They use to poor a good sized beer there, using over sized chilled mugs...unfortunately, I don't think they serve those anymore. The happy hour is pretty good, get the pizza.
The dining side is your basic restaurant. I like to get the Rosa pasta, it's quite good. On warm evenings, there is patio sitting, should you feel inclined. The parking lot can get competitive, so be prepared
I've developed a love hate relationship with this bar. I love the dirt cheap happy hour food menu and beer on tap selection, but despise the lack of space when it gets packed. Like sardines in a tin can. I'm kinda surprised the door man doesn't oil you up so the can pack in more people!
As for the entertainment, it really is hit or miss. I loved when Shaolin Tempo performed there regularly because they were a good cover band who actually knew about sound levels. I've been back a few times and have seen screamo and young bands that weren't very good and way too loud for the small venue. And this is coming from a guy who has a thing for metal and rock in general. The jukebox selection is good and karaoke nights are usually interesting as wel
Not a huge fan of the restaurant. The food is ok and the take out portions are small and not as good as the stuff in the restaurant. Seems like they rush it through.
I do enjoy the bar. Really, its the only neighborhood bar in South Pas. Which annoys me. I like the idea of walking down to the bar, getting a few drinks, and walking home and this area is sorely lacking any kind of nightlife. At least give me 1 more bar in town so I have a choice. Nothing fancy, just a watering hole. Right now, I usually have to wander into Highland Park and convince myself that Johnny's is my neighborhood bar. Crap. I'm using a review to rant about other things again. Get back on track Matt.......
Carmine's is a good people's bar. The kind I like. The bartenders are friendly. They always have a sport on tv and sometimes there is live music. For the guys, I'm always surprised how many attractive women are in here. I don't know why I'm surprised. I guess its because I picture hot women at some place fancy, sipping cosmos. Its good to see down to earth women enjoy a beer and game of pool. Still, being a sports bar, the guys do out number those wonderful ladies and I'm not so sure about them;^)
So I say skip the restaurant, come to the bar, kick back and watch the game with good people.
Pasta Rosa is amazing! Great Prices, Great food. Casual atmosphere. The portions are big! I eat here about once every six weeks or so. Love it! Make a reservation on weekends. It gets packed!
Pretty good place to eat italian for cheap. Great portions! You must try the pizza very very good!! :)
Check your diet plan at the door. This is the place to load up on carbs. Don't bother entering if you're on a no-carb diet, otherwise, you'll end up drinking water.
Hooray for family-styled portions. I ordered all the "Staff Picks" (7 orders) for a group of 11 and each person payed $9.
Cheese-galore!!: Gumbi
Rigatoni sauteed with marinara, Romano, light butter, melted mozzarella, diced homemade meatballs and mushrooms. Mmmm..
For the acquired taste (haha, not really...but it'd be great with wine): Pasta Pescatore
Spaghetti topped with baby clams, bay shrimp and scallops served in your choice of pink, red, white or cream sauce and topped with Romano cheese.
I LOVE LOVE sundried tomato so this is bomb-ass: Pasta Rosa
Mostaccioli sauteed in a pink sauce with chicken, sun-dried tomato, fresh garlic, basil and Romano cheese
Parking kind of sucks during dinner time. Reservations are highly recommended if you have a big party, but the service is pretty accommodating.
I'm going to write about the bar part and ignore the restaurant aspect of this place (never been).
Tuesday nights they have two dollar martini specials (they may have upped it to three dollars, not clear on that). Just order'em really dry and you'll get nothing but gin/vodka. You can get a good buzz going with fifteen dollars.
Otherwise the drinks are meh, 6 - 8 bucks per, but I like going Wednesday nights when all the drunkards are karaokeing. They have a couple pool tables there that are in bad shape, but that hardly matters when you're drunk as the balls seem to never travel in straight lines. Sometimes it gets so full that you can't find a place to sit. Sucks for pool players.
The people are nice and parking is ample.
I use to go here for lunch when I use to work nearby. I like this place. It has pretty good pasta/piza with decent price. Great service.
Carmines is hit or miss, both the bar and the restaurant. Don't get me wrong - the food is usually pretty good (I especially like their lobster ravioli), but the service can be great or really bad.
Now, if you are looking for a crowd, the bar, like most, is a good bet most nights of the week after about 9. (I don't)
Yeah yeah, I know I review alot of food places, but food is awesome.
Okay, I love Carmines. The last year or two, my grandmother and I go out to Carmines for ither her birthday or mine.
Motherfuck Jesus this place is amazing..
The Veal Carmine is so delicious, you will piss your pants after the first bite, because I can guarantee you there will never be a better dish of food you'll ever be served.
Just.. yum...
And I give you MAJOR kudos if you can even finish the whole plate! Pretty big portions of food there, I usually have leftovers for a day or two.
I know that alot of people are turned off of veal because of the whole 'dead baby cow' thing. But trust me, as much as I love cute little baby cows, I love to eat them twice as much.
And, I have to tell you to save a teensy bit of room for dessert, and order the Tartufo. Holycrapitslikejesusonaplate.
Its like, this tiny ball of cinammon-ish ice cream, inside a bigger ball of vanilla bean ice cream.. covered in a thick layer of this really rich tasting chocolate power.
I really can't think of one bad thing about this place, Its one of my favorite places to go.
This place is a "floater".
A floater in that it is floating between 2 and 3 stars and I bumped it up to 3 because our waitress and service was overall good and the wine list was decent.
A floater in that like a globule of buoyant material that refuses to be flushed, this place has managed to stay in business for many years despite its sheer mediocrity.
We were in the restaurant on a weeknight fairly early in the evening. Our service was good at the time, but I can imagine the service going downhill on weekends or later during busier hours.
There are some great elements of South Pas. (see the Rialto Theater http://www.yelp.com/bi...
, among others). But there are also some very bland elements to South Pas.
Carmine's is the epitome of all that is bland about South Pas. I did not have the awful service that Shirley Y. describes, so my impression of Carmine's is - not so bad as to be repugnant, not so good as to excite.
I have been here a few times, actually, but I can remember very little of my previous visits. Not what I ordered or how the service was. Nothing. That is the sign of a place that is unexceptional, through and through.
Arcadia, CA
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Pasadena
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Alhambra
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Alhambra
Category: Mexican
South Pasadena, CA
Category: Italian
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