Carsonie’s Stromboli and Pizza Kitchen, located in Upper Arlington in the Lane Avenue Shopping Center, offers unforgettable stromboli and a wide variety of other authentic Italian dishes.
In a modest-sized room with a relaxing Italian feel, Carsonie’s offers fine Italian food at reasonable prices. Carsonie’s claims its stromboli has been a Columbus award-winner for more than 30 years. After enjoying parts of all three different stromboli dishes, I would have to agree with the verdict of the city.
My experience began with a warm welcome from the host staff and taking in the creative and quirky wall décor. Upon recommendation of the waitress, we all ordered stromboli.
The waitress described it as a calzone-type dish, and said it was worth the price (the small stromboli costs $9.95, the medium costs $16.95, and the large costs $19.95). We ordered one of each of the three strombolis available: the “original,” chicken and vegetarian. A small serves one, a medium serves two or three, and large serves four to six. We each ordered a small one with intention to share.
Each table has several Trivial Pursuit cards on the table to peruse during the wait, and we enjoyed bantering back and forth about how little useless trivia we knew. I did end up winning the contest, answering seven questions right, out of about 50.
Our food came out in about twenty minutes, which felt like no time at all with the table entertainment, and was the perfect temperature for eating. The stromboli wrapped around a container of marinara dipping sauce. It was cut into manageable individual pieces, the perfect size for dipping.
The Original
The Original is a classic Italian combination of pepperoni and sausage, all rolled together with a generous amount of a provolone-mozzarella blend cheese. The flavor of the pepperoni and sausage complemented the cheese perfectly. The stromboli was warm enough to let each bite literally melt in your mouth. It is difficult to mess up this Italian flavor combination.
The Chicken
The chicken stromboli was my favorite of the three types. The dish was stuffed with the blended cheese, grilled chicken, tomatoes and banana peppers. The banana peppers were my favorite part of this entree. Mixed with the chicken, it added a fresh, flavorful blend of greatness. Paired with the red sauce on the side, the chicken stromboli is the reason I will be making Carsonie’s a regular dinner place.
The Vegetarian
The vegetarian stromboli was my least favorite of the three. Although still good, it lacked the consistency and flavor achieved by the other two. The vegetarian is filled with cheese, onions, tomatoes, artichokes and black olives. The flavor of the artichokes was very good, but without something to give it more consistency, it lacked in overall taste.
The Dough
The dough was by far the best part of this meal. Freshly made, the dough was the aspect of each stromboli that I enjoyed the most. Baked with the ingredients inside, the stromboli was golden brown upon arrival and was perfect for a dish like this.
Carsonie’s is open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.
