With restaurants in Austin, San Marcos, New Braunfels, and San Antonio, Carino’s provides a lot of locations for those of us along the I-35 corridor in Central Texas. Each time we have eaten there, we have had very good results. My husband and I depend on Carino’s when we are traveling beyond our usual range and need to find a meal before we get back to San Antonio. Each time I have eaten at Carino’s it has been in a different location, and it has always been a good experience.

Carino’s has been a member of the Gluten Free Restaurant Awareness Program (GFRAP) for several years now, so there should be an experienced manager on duty to walk you through your choices.

One of my favorites is the Lemon Rosemary Chicken. I have also enjoyed the Grilled Citrus Balsamic Salmon.

Other entrées include Chicken Marsala, Jalapeno Garlic Tilapia, Chicken Scaloppini, or Italian Pot Roast, which I hope to try next time.

Although there is no gluten-free pasta served at Carino’s, they do offer some alternatives. Most of the dishes normally come with pasta, which we cannot have, but we can substitute with sautéed green beans, potatoes, or garlic-sautéed spinach.

Carino’s offers Italian Chili and Italian Wedge Salad. There is a Kid’s Grilled Chicken plate. For dessert, they offer Vanilla Ice Cream with chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, or amarena cherries.

I suggest that you print out an up-to-date menu from the Web site before you leave home and take it with you, just in case you encounter that one new employee who doesn’t appear to know what you are talking about. This happened to us at one location, and we asked for the manager to come over. He assured us that the chefs were well versed in how to avoid cross contamination. Indeed, our meals were very tasty, fresh, and enjoyable. (AB October 2010)