An Upper Arlington favorite, Carsonie’s is a restaurant that is cemented into the UA culture. It’s not only a favorite of many UA residents, but it also hires a lot of high school students. I’ve been meaning to go to Carsonie’s for a long time; not even as a food reviewer, but just because I’ve been hearing about it for so many years, and people made it seem like I was missing out on something huge if I hadn’t eaten there before. Unfortunately, to those of you who regularly eat Carsonie’s for dinner, you may be disappointed after reading this because so was I.
As many of you know, Carsonie’s nearest location is close to the high school at 1725 Lane Avenue. The establishment was first opened in 1987 by Frank Carsonie in Westerville, and the Upper Arlington location later opened in 2008. Carsonie’s offers many traditional Italian dishes but is best known for its stromboli and pizza. For those of you who didn’t know (me included), stromboli is a sort of rolled-up version of pizza filled with Italian cheese and meats.
To begin, I feel like I need to say that I’m a food reviewer and I review food. I am not cursing the whole establishment; on the contrary, everything except the food was outstanding. The service was genuinely great. Our servers were friendly and checked on us often, and the food came somewhat quickly. The atmosphere of the place was pretty cool too; all the Upper Arlington and sports memorabilia on show was interesting to look at, and the layout of the restaurant made me feel nice and cozy. However, if I could describe the food in one word, it would be overrated.
I ordered the famous stromboli, a 12-inch cheese pizza, and The Godfather sandwich with french fries. Unfortunately for me, I realized while I was there that I couldn’t eat the original stromboli. It had pepperoni and salami in it, and for religious reasons, I do not eat pork. All strombolis, however, are completely customizable and there are other options including chicken and veggie. I didn’t realize that while there because I didn’t read the menu carefully. Thankfully, I was joined by my two associates who both said that the stromboli was a little cold, yet good and rich in flavor. That is all the information I have on the stromboli.
I was excited for the pizza because when you ask someone here in UA their favorite pizza, many reply with either Dewey’s or Carsonie’s. I simply did not like the pizza. I find it genuinely hard to believe that someone craving pizza would think of Carsonie’s first. Out of all the places you could get pizza, I can’t believe that someone would have Carsonie’s pizza as their favorite. Sorry to those of you who do. It wasn’t that bad; it was okay. But for the hype that it gets, it was severely underwhelming. The cheese felt plastic-y and lacked much taste. There wasn’t enough sauce, but the sauce I could taste did actually have a nice tang to it. The crust, however, was hard and felt like reheated frozen bread.
I ordered The Godfather because I love the movie. Bada bing. The sandwich is a steak hoagie (sub) with sautéed roasted red peppers, green pepper, mushrooms, and onion topped with melted provolone, lettuce, and tomatoes. I enjoyed this sandwich. The vegetables were soft and flavorful, and so was the meat. The fries were topped with parmesan cheese and what I think is oregano. They were crispy enough and were hot. Good, but nothing special.
I was on the fence with whether I should Approve Carsonie’s or not. I tried to disregard all the previous sentiments about the place and how well-loved it is. The total cost for the meal was $24; the Italian fries went for $8, The Godfather sandwich was $12, and the small Stromboli was $14, which was good pricing considering the larger size of the Stromboli. I liked the atmosphere, and the service was great. But I thought, based on the food alone, whether or not I would want to go back. And the answer is no. Therefore, Carsonie’s is Not Ali Approved.
