Johnny Carino’s

Why go: Johnny Carino’s is one of the few full-service Italian kitchens on the Pigeon Forge Parkway, with fresh-baked lasagna, sizzling skillet pastas and handcrafted pizzas coming out of the same kitchen as a full bar.

About Johnny Carino’s

Johnny Carino’s has been cooking Italian-American food for more than two decades, and the Pigeon Forge dining room runs on the same casual formula the brand built: a long menu, generous plates and a room sized to absorb a crowd on a busy night.

The menu is wider than the pasta-and-pizza shorthand suggests. Classic Italian runs from fresh-baked lasagna and baked cheese tortelloni through a five-meat Tuscan pasta to a marbled ribeye in two sizes. Chicken Specialties and Seafood each carry a page of their own, covering Chicken Marsala, Chicken Scaloppini, Shrimp Scampi and lobster ravioli. If nothing on those lists lands, Create Your Own Pasta lets you pick the shape, the sauce and the protein.

Starters lean toward the shareable, with hand-breaded calamari, stuffed mushrooms and a sampler platter. Dessert is short and traditional: warm chocolate cake, strawberry cheesecake and tiramisu.

Getting to Johnny Carino’s

The restaurant sits directly on the Parkway in the northern half of Pigeon Forge, well north of the Old Mill district and an easy run from the Sevierville line. Teaster Lane runs parallel to the Parkway on the east side and is usually the faster approach in peak season, when the Parkway backs up between traffic lights. The entrance is off the Parkway itself, so slow down as you approach rather than waiting for the GPS to announce your arrival, and allow extra time on summer evenings and through October.

Why Choose Johnny Carino’s

The Parkway is thick with buffets, pancake houses and pizza counters. This one earns its place by covering several jobs at once.

• A real bar, not an afterthought. House drinks include a Bellini built on frozen peach nectar, white wine, champagne and rum, an Italian Sangria with brandy, and a Pomegranate Granita that lands somewhere between Italian ice and a martini. Margaritas climb from house to top shelf, and wine is sold by varietal rather than a token red-or-white choice.
• Family platters sized for the table. Around a dozen house dishes are available platter-sized, and Monday is family night, with half off family platters for dine-in guests.
• A separate weekday lunch menu. Served Monday through Friday until 4:00 PM, with unlimited soup, salad and bread at the light end and smaller portions of the headline pastas at the other.
• Kids order from their own menu. Guests 10 and under get a short list of pastas, kid-sized pizzas, grilled chicken, chicken nuggets and a sundae.
• Three ways to get the food. Dine-in, to-go and delivery all run off the same kitchen, with online ordering for pickup and delivery, plus catering for larger groups.
• Open seven days. Later on Friday and Saturday, which helps when a show or an attraction runs past the usual dinner window.

Menu Favorites

The kitchen’s signatures are easy to spot, because they turn up on the lunch menu, the family platter list and the main menu all at once.

• Johnny’s Fresh Baked Lasagna. Layers of pasta, Italian sausage, beef, meat sauce, ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan. It is the dish the brand leads with, and it appears on nearly every menu the restaurant prints.
• Italian Nachos. Crispy pasta chips standing in for tortilla chips, loaded with black olives, pepperoncinis, Roma tomatoes, jalapenos, Alfredo sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan, with chicken, sausage or both.
• Sizzling Skilletini Cacciatore. Spaghetti, spicy marinara, Parmesan and marinated peppers and onions brought to the table still sizzling in the skillet. Chicken, sausage, combo or shrimp.
• Spicy Romano Chicken. Bowtie pasta sauteed with sliced chicken, cayenne, Romano cream sauce, mushrooms, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes and green onions. The heaviest hitter on the chicken page.
• Handmade Parmesan. The restaurant’s signature recipe, served with spaghetti and tomato sauce. Take it classic or grilled chicken, or swap to eggplant with spicy marinara.
• Shrimp Carbonara. Sauteed shrimp, bacon, peas, onions, fresh garlic and black pepper tossed with spaghetti in a lemon butter and egg cream sauce, finished with Parmesan and parsley.
• Tiramisu. Ladyfinger cookies soaked in coffee, layered with sweet Italian custard blended with rum and coffee liqueur.

What to Expect

This is casual dining rather than a special-occasion room, and it behaves like a Parkway restaurant in a tourist town.

• Large parties are workable. The dining room is open and built to seat groups, and a separate space is used for private dining. Call ahead if you are bringing a crowd so the staff can plan the room.
• No reservation policy is published. The restaurant does not list one, so phone before you drive over if you need a table held.
• Peak season means a wait. Summer and the fall color season fill the Parkway, and the dinner hours fill the dining room first. Ordering to-go is the faster route on a busy night.
• Dietary needs are worth a phone call. Third-party directories describe a gluten free menu, but the restaurant does not publish one, so confirm directly rather than trusting a directory.
• There is a loyalty program. The chain runs Pasta Points and an email club, so sign up before you order if you want the visit to count.
• Portions run large, and the baked pastas in particular reheat well, which is worth knowing if your cabin has a kitchen.

Nearby in Pigeon Forge

• Bullfish Grill. A few doors up the same stretch of Parkway, pairing steaks and seafood off a wood-fired grill with a full bar.
• Puckett’s Restaurant. Southern plates, breakfast served all day and live music in a room descended from an old Tennessee grocery store.
• Smoky Mountain Pancake House. A family owned breakfast diner further north up the Parkway.
• Azul Cantina. Mexican plates and margaritas one street over on Teaster Lane, away from the Parkway crawl.
• Paloma Scratch Kitchen. A from-scratch kitchen a little farther south, working through steaks, seafood and Southern staples.

Explore More

My Smoky Mountain Guide Pigeon Forge is a great resource for finding places to eat and things to do.

• Pigeon Forge Food & Beverage Guide. Restaurants, dinner shows, breweries, distilleries, and eateries throughout Pigeon Forge, from sit-down meals to grab-and-go stops.
• Pigeon Forge Outdoor Adventure. Mountain coasters, UTV rentals, rafting, helicopter tours, and other ways to experience the Smokies from outdoors.
• Pigeon Forge Attractions. Museums, escape rooms, mini-golf, arcades, and other family-friendly stops across the city.
• Pigeon Forge Entertainment. Dinner shows, live music, comedy, magic, and theater experiences throughout Pigeon Forge.