Review: Carino’s Gluten-Free Menu

When I first heard that Carino’s had a gluten-free menu, I called the location near us to inquire about it. The first person I spoke to said they did not have a gluten-free menu (after I explained what that was). I asked for a manager who had barely heard of the words ‘gluten-free’ and he said that although corporate had something about that on the website, they didn’t actually have a gluten-free menu there. He was very nice and apologized for the confusion.

Recently, I called the same location of Carino’s again and without skipping a beat the person who answered the phone cheerfully said they had a gluten-free menu. Just because a place has a printed gluten-free menu doesn’t mean that the people working there understand what gluten is or how to safely serve gluten-free customers. The only way to find out how well a restaurant does with gluten-free service is to check it out. The knowledge level of the staff can vary from location to location which is why we tend not to dine out at large chains that often.

The gluten-free menu at Carino’s is pretty small, but the items on it are fairly interesting. There is even something that is not that easy to find when dining out – a gluten-free soup. After reviewing the menu, I knew immediately I had to order the Roasted Garlic Potato Soup. The Lemon Rosemary Chicken won out over the Grilled Citrus Balsamic Salmon for my entrée.

For some reason, the soup normally comes with croutons in (or on) it so you have to order no croutons when ordering the soup on the gluten-free menu at Carino’s. There are actually chunks of potato in the soup that are about the size of croutons so I paid  close attention when eating it in case a mistake was made it and croutons somehow made their way into the soup. The good news is that none did and the soup was absolutely delicious!

My entrée was very good and flavorful, but the soup was the star of the show for me. The next time I go, I’ll probably order a Caesar salad (sans croutons) and soup and call it a day. My husband ordered the Italian Pot Roast which was gluten-free and I tasted it. He loved it and I did not. I don’t like pot roast with a tomato flavor, but for those who do; this dish is a good option. The meat was super tender just as pot roast should be.

Carino’s worked with the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America to create their gluten-free menu. With so many places jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon lately, knowing a place has worked with GIG’s restaurant certification program (GFRAP) is much more important to me now than it used to be. From pizza places telling me they have gluten-free pizza, but they don’t know what toppings and sauces are gluten-free (or that those things could contain gluten) to dessert places telling me their key lime pie is gluten-free if I don’t eat the crust, it’s clear that safe gluten-free options are not clearly understood by many places that claim to have them.

Our meal at Carino’s was a decent value, coming in for around $40 for one soup, one salad, a glass of wine, two entrees and one dessert. For the record, the bread pudding didn’t impress my husband who I consider a bread pudding expert. The only gluten-free option was ice cream with chocolate syrup, caramel sauce or amarena cherries which I wasn’t even slightly tempted to order.