Carino's a Mini Review

If you live in a small town like we do, you know that finding a good restaurant with passable food can be challenging. If you find a corporate run restaurant with good food, well, that is a miracle. A new Carino's Restaurant just showed up in our little berg, we were skeptical, but desperate for a break from our Italy prep and for a meal out (a girl can only cook so much while she's packing!). What a pleasant surprise. We ordered off the lunch menu, which had a good choice of soups and salads and smaller portions of the evening entrées.
They start you off with a nice mini loaf of fresh baked bread and olive oil, garlic dip. Michael had the Caesar salad and the Green Chili Chicken Lasagna. The lasagna was a nice surprise, made with twelve full layers of Italian cheeses, and our own local spicy "hatch" green chilies, grilled chicken breast, finished with a spicy cream sauce and topped with fresh Roma tomatoes. He was smiling as he was eating...a very good sign! I chose the garlic potato soup and could have made an entire meal of it, but it was only part of the lunch special so I also enjoyed their homemade eggplant parmigiana. It was coated with a crunchy, tasty breading topped with a slightly spicy tomato sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese and served with a side of spaghetti. I thought the eggplant parmigiana was very good. The eggplant was firm but cooked through and full of flavor. I found the dish didn't really need the side of spaghetti, which was cooked a bit past al denté.  Our lovely wait-person suggested we order a "mini" desert, because they were, "just too cute". Well, cute and very authentic! We ordered the Tiramisu mini; a nice little "bite" of sweet for just a couple of dollars. All of this for less than thirty dollars! Okay, I know it is not real Italy, or all made from scratch...but some of it is! The Tiramisu was as good as many I have tasted in old country!

Carin's Mini Tiramisu ~ A great little presentation...I think I'll try this at home!!