Carino's (in Muncie)

In Muncie on serious business . . . BSU Homecoming, the 3 Elles had to stop at Carino's for some pre-game fuel. This rather spontaneous outing is exempt from our normal outing blogging format - it was just about the food and fun today.

For starters, Carino's is likely to be Adam's L's FAV restaurant. She was like a kid in the candy store - seriously, a woman on a mission. In one second, she had us hooked up with drinks and an appetizer.

Here's what arrived (some photos in this post are from Carinos.com):

First to arrive, a pitcher of Bellini's. What's a Bellini you ask? Here's what Carinos.com describes them as "Frozen peach nectar, white wine, champagne and rum, swirled with our Italian Sangria"



We've heard Adams L talk about awesomeness of these Bellinis and sure enough . . . they were worthy of the hype . . . and gone in a flash (Thanks Allen L for being the DD!)



The appetizer arrived next and Allen L and I weren't adequately prepared for what arrived - 3 uniquely presented red tubes standing on end in an interesting metalic spiral funnel flanked by 2 attached dipping sauces. They are called "Fire Sticks" and are described by Carinos.com as Tomato-basil tortillas rolled with Italian sausage, chicken, bacon, tomatoes, jalapeños and Italian cheeses with spicy marinara and ranch. They tasted a lot like a combo of a piece of sausage pizza and Don Pablo's Prarie Fire Bean Dip.



For the meal, Adams L ordered Italian Nanchos. Described as Crispy pasta chips, Italian sausage and/or chicken, black olives, pepperoncinis, tomatoes, jalapeños, alfredo, mozzarella and parmesan by Carinos.com. Here is a picture from their website:



Allen L and I shared a 2 for $23.99 meal. We each got a choice of soup or salad, an entree, and a mini dessert.

For starters, I got the chicken & wild rice soup (YUM!) and Allen L got the house salad (very delicious). Sorry for the poor pix of the soup and no pix of the salad.




Allen L chose a new menu item that was a stuffed ravioli and artichoke with mushrooms. She enjoyed the ravioli, but not much of the "accessories" that came with it (mushrooms, artichokes, etc).



I selected the shrimp scampi. It was super delicious. I would definitely return to get it again. Below is a picture from Carinos.com:



Our 2 for $23.99 meal came with a mini dessert - Allen L and I both selected Turtle Cheesecake. It was absolutely fabulous. It was a GREAT lesson in portion control. First off, we were already stuffed! Second, it was served in a little parfait glass with a TINY spoon. The actual size of the dessert was probably 1.5 inches X 1.5 inches and maybe 2 inches tall; however, with such a small spoon, it was probably a good 15 bites. Had they served it with a regular spoon, it would have been 2 bites and over in a flash. This way - it was savored.



After lunch we went to see the Ball State Cardinals get smacked by Western Michigan University. Although the score was something like 16-45, we had a very nice time. The beautiful weather was sunny and a HOT 83 degrees. Here are some random photos from the game - enjoy!