My spouse and I made reservations several weeks ahead of time at Carmen’s for a Valentine’s Day/anniversary dinner. Although there were out-of-the-door lines at other restaurants nearby, we were seated at a table on the 2nd floor quickly and the atmosphere was quiet and calm with only about half the tables occupied at 5:30pm. Our dinner proved to be very pleasant. She had a glass of Tuscan wine, house salad and lobster ravioli in a red-pepper cream sauce. I had an NA beer, Cesear salad and chicken spiedini Beatrix. The Cesear salad was bland, while all the other dishes were very good. Our server (Mauricio) was attentive without hovering and personable. The meal cost $70 plus tip. Overall, our experience at Carmen’s on 02/14/2026 was acceptable and we will consider returning in the future.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Endsley Evans
We had an amazing experience at Carmen’s Cafe Italian Restaurant, and a huge part of that was thanks to Jay! His service was absolutely outstanding. You can tell he has worked there for many years—he’s incredibly knowledgeable, personable, and truly passionate about what he does.
Jay made wonderful menu suggestions, checked on us just the right amount, and made us feel so welcome from start to finish. He went above and beyond to make sure our experience was perfect, and it really showed.
The food was delicious, the atmosphere was warm and inviting, and the service was top-notch. Thanks to Jay, our visit was unforgettable, and we will definitely be coming back. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Randy Weih
Great food and fast carry out service
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
The Doble's
Love coming here. Always great food and service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Barrie Couture
Excellent Italian-American food, live the immigrant families I grew up with made. My pasta was cooked perfectly and the Italian sausage was delicious.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Italian Butter
Diane Prenger
I took 5 grandkids for a quick dinner after spending all-day @ the KC Zoo and could not have been more pleased. They had full reservations starting just in about an hour from our arrival but seated us anyway! The server made recommendations for kids meals and we got our order placed promptly. The complimentary bread was a hit and EVERYONE loved their spaghetti and chicken Alfredo! I had manicotti that was to die for! We finished and were able to leave in time for them to reset the table for reservations! Kids wanted to go back the next day and really enjoyed “the fancy place”.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Michelle Hatfield
Ordered the baked Caneloni and it was not good at all. My husband did however enjoy his veal Marsala.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 5
William Arni
Meeting to discuss business. I had not been here before. This was a nice place to be introduced to! Every item we tried was delicious 😋. We will add this on our list of places to come back very soon. If you are in the are I suggest giving it a try!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Meg Flanagan
We catered a party for 50 people. The food was amazing and the set up service was fast, professional and beautiful. Carmen’s took all the worry out hosting the event. I was able to enjoy my own party. I highly recommend Carmen’s.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Anne Benditt
Wasn’t aware of the existence of this restaurant to my lunch group went there. I’d passed on my way to other places in Brookside it but the entrance is not easily spotted. Great food at reasonable prices.
We met some friends here for dinner after a musical on a Sunday and it was wonderful.
They had been here a few times and it was our first visit. The interior of the restaurant is a little bit dated and kind of old, but that’s no big deal because the food is amazing!! There were a great variety of people here, including couples friends, and multiple tables put together for big families.
This Brookside gem has a fantastic wait staff! Our server was wonderful and she had a back up that was very competent in making sure our drinks were kept full.
The wine list was impressive for a small place like this. I enjoyed a nice Shiraz from Australia.
We had some delicious mozzarella sticks for an appetizer. I ordered the Chicken Spiedini Oscar and my wife had the tortellini. Both of them were excellent. They arrived at our table piping hot. We were very pleased.
We can’t wait to return to Carmen‘s Café to sample their lasagna and other dishes.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
S T
We loved the Chicken Spiedini! My favorite was the Jacqueline while my husband loved the Julian. Better than Garozzos and that is saying A Lot!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Rob Bannister
Not only is the chicken Spawhatever bland and basic. They give me a salad with all this orange bacteria around it. Who wants to eat that? what a waste of money.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Night Wind
We were there on a Saturday evening, early. Our original plan had fallen through, & we found this place on line. It didn't tell us we needed a reservation, so we didn't have one. The hostess was a bit snooty, but our waiter was exceptional. The meal starts with salads, it was the first Italian dressing my friend has ever said he liked. We shared the fettuccine carbonara & it was To. Die. For! That sauce... OMG, we ate way too much bread trying not to leave a drop of that yummy stuff behind. We had preorder the pistachio cream torte, & had to take it home as we were too stuffed to eat it there. Kudos again to our waiter, young man, you have no idea how much your kindness and cheerful demeanor meant to us, it had been a rough day.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Molly
Great food, good atmosphere, love their house salad.
My spouse and I made reservations several weeks ahead of time at Carmen’s for a Valentine’s Day/anniversary dinner. Although there were out-of-the-door lines at other restaurants nearby, we were seated at a table on the 2nd floor quickly and the atmosphere was quiet and calm with only about half the tables occupied at 5:30pm. Our dinner proved to be very pleasant. She had a glass of Tuscan wine, house salad and lobster ravioli in a red-pepper cream sauce. I had an NA beer, Cesear salad and chicken spiedini Beatrix. The Cesear salad was bland, while all the other dishes were very good. Our server (Mauricio) was attentive without hovering and personable. The meal cost $70 plus tip. Overall, our experience at Carmen’s on 02/14/2026 was acceptable and we will consider returning in the future.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
We had an amazing experience at Carmen’s Cafe Italian Restaurant, and a huge part of that was thanks to Jay! His service was absolutely outstanding. You can tell he has worked there for many years—he’s incredibly knowledgeable, personable, and truly passionate about what he does.
Jay made wonderful menu suggestions, checked on us just the right amount, and made us feel so welcome from start to finish. He went above and beyond to make sure our experience was perfect, and it really showed.
The food was delicious, the atmosphere was warm and inviting, and the service was top-notch. Thanks to Jay, our visit was unforgettable, and we will definitely be coming back. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great food and fast carry out service
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Love coming here. Always great food and service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent Italian-American food, live the immigrant families I grew up with made. My pasta was cooked perfectly and the Italian sausage was delicious.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Italian Butter
I took 5 grandkids for a quick dinner after spending all-day @ the KC Zoo and could not have been more pleased. They had full reservations starting just in about an hour from
our arrival but seated us anyway! The server made recommendations for kids meals and we got our order placed promptly. The complimentary bread was a hit and EVERYONE loved their spaghetti and chicken Alfredo! I had manicotti that was to die for! We finished and were able to leave in time for them
to reset the table for reservations! Kids wanted to go back the next day and really enjoyed “the fancy place”.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ordered the baked Caneloni and it was not good at all. My husband did however enjoy his veal Marsala.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 5
Meeting to discuss business. I had not been here before. This was a nice place to be introduced to! Every item we tried was delicious 😋. We will add this on our list of places to come back very soon. If you are in the are I suggest giving it a try!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
We catered a party for 50 people. The food was amazing and the set up service was fast, professional and beautiful. Carmen’s took all the worry out hosting the event. I was able to enjoy my own party. I highly recommend Carmen’s.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wasn’t aware of the existence of this restaurant to my lunch group went there. I’d passed on my way to other places in Brookside it but the entrance is not easily spotted.
Great food at reasonable prices.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
We met some friends here for dinner after a musical on a Sunday and it was wonderful.
They had been here a few times and it was our first visit. The interior of the restaurant is a little bit dated and kind of old, but that’s no big deal because the food is amazing!! There were a great variety of people here, including couples friends, and multiple tables put together for big families.
This Brookside gem has a fantastic wait staff! Our server was wonderful and she had a back up that was very competent in making sure our drinks were kept full.
The wine list was impressive for a small place like this. I enjoyed a nice Shiraz from Australia.
We had some delicious mozzarella sticks for an appetizer. I ordered the Chicken Spiedini Oscar and my wife had the tortellini. Both of them were excellent. They arrived at our table piping hot. We were very pleased.
We can’t wait to return to Carmen‘s Café to sample their lasagna and other dishes.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We loved the Chicken Spiedini! My favorite was the Jacqueline while my husband loved the Julian. Better than Garozzos and that is saying A Lot!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Not only is the chicken Spawhatever bland and basic. They give me a salad with all this orange bacteria around it. Who wants to eat that? what a waste of money.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
We were there on a Saturday evening, early. Our original plan had fallen through, & we found this place on line. It didn't tell us we needed a reservation, so we didn't have one. The hostess was a bit snooty, but our waiter was exceptional. The meal starts with salads, it was the first Italian dressing my friend has ever said he liked. We shared the fettuccine carbonara & it was To. Die. For! That sauce... OMG, we ate way too much bread trying not to leave a drop of that yummy stuff behind. We had preorder the pistachio cream torte, & had to take it home as we were too stuffed to eat it there. Kudos again to our waiter, young man, you have no idea how much your kindness and cheerful demeanor meant to us, it had been a rough day.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Great food, good atmosphere, love their house salad.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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