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10/9/10

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, jalapeƱos 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, jalapeƱos, 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.

Johnny Carino's Italian Kitchen on Urbanspoon

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!