Carolina's Italian Restaurant
915 South Harbor Blvd.
Anaheim, CA 92805
I've come to realize that there are two kinds of Italian food. There's the real deal, which is the more authentic. The stuff you might see while traveling through Italy, such as Neapolitan pizzas and the like, is mostly served in the more expensive Italian restaurants around OC.
Then there's what I like to call "stick to your ribs Italian food." Americanized Italian food usually features heavier sauces and more meat and cheese than its more authentic Italian counterparts. I like both kinds of Italian cuisine, but predictably, I enjoy American Italian food better. So when I heard that there was a new Carolina's Italian Restaurant opening a few blocks away from Disneyland, and they invited us in to try it, Katie and I were excited about it.
I was excited because we had already been to the original Carolina's, located in Garden Grove. If you want to see our first visit to the original Carolina's, click here. Carolina's has been in business for over 35 years and shows no signs of stopping. Even when a grease fire burned the Garden Grove restaurant nearly to the ground, customers, employees, and friends helped Managing Partner Tim Ibrahim get the restaurant back open in a remarkable two months. They may have done this as a thank you for all the things Carolina has provided for the community over the years, like feeding first responders, fundraisers for sports teams, and more. Now, they have finally achieved another milestone, opening a second location.
This new location of Carolina's shares a parking lot with the Anaheim Ramada, near the corner of Harbor and Vermont, in what used to be a Carrow's, not that you would recognize it as an old Carrow's now. The inside was painted brightly, with murals by a local artist. There are themed rooms that can accommodate the hungry masses coming to and from Disneyland. Also, just like their original spot, Carolina's offers the most extensive beer list in Orange County, with 400 cans and bottles in their impressive refrigerated case. No Budweiser or Coors here. This is the good stuff and things you can't get just anywhere. I was also surprised that they had an herb garden in the planter boxes in front of their restaurant. I also spied some peppers growing out there. Seeing this got me very excited about my anticipated meal. Let's see if this new Carolina's has it going on like the original.
I usually shy away from sweet drinks, but I was talked into trying one of their Italian Cream Sodas ($3.99). These come in six different flavors, and I was given the orange one to try. This was a pretty stellar cream soda, which brought to mind a 50 50 bar from when I was a kid. Not overly sweet, this was refreshing and went down rather easily. It was even topped with a red heart.
We didn't need them, especially since I know the entrees are hefty here, but we got the Famous Carolina's Meatballs ($8.99) as an appetizer. It's easy to see why these are famous; they were as good as they look in these pictures. These came five to an order and were densely packed but still tender meatballs. They came served in plenty of Carolina's well-done marinara sauce and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. It was terrific, and Katie and I fought over the fifth one until we finally decided to cut it in half. Compromise is the key to surviving marriage.
The menu does not state it, but each entree comes with Soup or Salad. Katie took my selection (see, there's me compromising again), the Garden Salad. This is your basic dinner salad, which comes with fresh romaine lettuce and is then topped with red cabbage, cucumbers, diced tomatoes, and shredded carrots. This was brought to the next level by a delicious ranch dressing, which was thick and made fresh. I'm usually not much into soup, but this Minestrone was pretty tasty. This was a lovely version of this classic Italian vegetable soup, full of carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, Italian squash, and cabbage.
Entree time, and Katie selected the Chicken Alla Anthony ($16.99), which blew me away. This dish has got me rethinking my eggplant bias. This dish combined breaded chicken and breaded eggplant in their franchescana sauce, a creamy meat sauce. It is then topped with ricotta, spinach, mushrooms, peas, and mozzarella, then served over penne. All of these things combined to make a very comforting and filling dinner. The pictures do not show this, but this was enough to feed two people, as the bowl was nearly bottomless. The chicken was tender, and the eggplant added a nice textural element I was not expecting. The franchescana sauce was on point, and there was just enough cheese, so it did not get in the way of the other parts of the dish. I'd get this the next time I'm at Carolina's.
I also enjoyed my choice this evening as well. I took a shot with the Carolina's Trio ($18.99) and was not disappointed. This trifecta of Italian entrees included cheese ravioli, fettuccine alfredo, and meat lasagna. Again, there was a lot of food and plenty to take to work the next day. The meat lasagna was the best, with plenty of beef and cheese and delicious marinara covering it. The fettuccine was creamy without being too heavy. I used a little of the excess alfredo sauce to mix with my cheese ravioli, and it made an excellent pink sauce for the ravioli. A very hearty meal.
Not that we needed it, but I remembered how much I enjoyed the Tiramisu ($4.99) the last time we were here, so it had to be ordered. It was just as good on this visit, if not better. It was moist but not overly damp like most tiramisu tend to be. I also enjoyed that the coffee flavor was muted and not as prominent here. Of course, they also got points for topping this with plenty of chocolate sauce and doing it artfully.
We left Carolina's with full stomachs and plenty of food for the next few days. Not only is this restaurant good for tourists refueling after an action-packed day at Disneyland, but also for locals who want to experience some solid Italian food before a Duck or Angel game or for anyone who wants to consume some comforting Italian food with heavier sauces and large portions. This place will definitely do the trick. The prices were more than fair with the food you get here. Carolina's is one of our favorite old-school Italian restaurants in OC, and we're happy that their new location is just as good as the original one in Garden Grove.
We must thank everyone who made this visit possible, starting with the PR guru, Chelsea McKinney, at Powerhouse PR. Thanks so much for setting up this visit, and we always look forward to hearing from you because we know good food is right around the corner. We would also like to thank all of the staff at Carolina's, including the General Manager David, who took such great care of us and waited on us personally. You could really sense the pride he has in his restaurant. He's also done a great job of training his staff, as they were all very professional and seemed to enjoy being there, which is a rarity these days. Thanks for everything, guys.
If you would like to experience Carolina's Italian Restaurant for yourself, find out more information about them when you visit their website here: http://carolinasitalianrestaurant.com/
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