Since its founding in 1990, Carmine’s Italian Restaurant has been celebrating National Meatball Day on March 9 in family-style fashion.
This family-style dining experience helps bring families and friends together to share a special and satisfying meal. Most meals feed 3-4 people, encouraging a sit-down meal on a Sunday evening feel. The generous portions and mouthwatering flavors make the restaurant perfect for birthdays, get-togethers and everything in between.
Chef Glenn Rolnick, Director of Culinary Operations at Carmine’s Italian Restaurant, has been working at Carmine’s Italian Restaurant for 21 years and has the art of the perfect meatball down to a skill. After two decades of experience, he says that, “the secret is gentle mixture, mixing, seasoned, always make sure your meatballs have flavor.”
The main goal and motivation for Chef Glenn is simple: “I want the customer to be really happy. I want them to smile, laugh and talk as a family.”
Carmine’s has a variety of different dishes for people to choose from, but four fan-favorites that you can try are the chicken cutlet parm, spaghetti and meatballs, caesar salad and the penne vodka. Whether you’re stopping by for the first time or if you’re back again for some Italian food, Carmine’s makes sure their food is a celebration of this Italian comfort food.
With 19 different pasta options, one stands out to Chef Glenn. “I love it over rigatoni. I am a rigatoni lover,” he said. “I don’t want to sit there and twirl my spaghetti or capellini.”
His favorite compliment he has received about the meatballs are people reminiscing about the meals. “People say they’re so much like we grew up on–my grandmother’s, my nona’s.” Another compliment he cherishes is guests saying that out of all the Carmine’s locations they’ve been to, the flavors never vary and that they are eager for their next visit.
Beyond serving their appetizing and delicious meals, Carmine’s takes pride in their sense of community and connection. They have many returning customers, Adam Sandler being a name drop, and that sense of loyalty expands to the staff as well. Chef Glenn points out that much of the staff has remained the same over his two decades. “Most of the staff is still the same people, keeping in line our community.”
He credits the warm and inviting atmosphere to the consistency of the team. “It’s a friendly environment from the person who works outside, to the host, to the person who takes you to the table, to the server, even to the kitchen staff.”
One of the most special parts of his time at Carmines, besides helping open four locations outside of New York, was helping to co-write and author one of the official cookbooks for the restaurant: “Carmine’s Celebrates: Classic Italian Recipes for Everyday Feasts.”
Creating a cookbook is a significant achievement for Chef Glenn as he believes it, “will live on forever.” The cookbook is sold on their website for $29.99, putting the 21-year recipes in people’s hands. “That gives me so much pride knowing that I was able to have so much input on the menu, you know, on the recipes, the adjustments.”
Over the time that Chef Glenn has been at Carmine’s, so has the staff. Their strong relationship transfers over to the community they build with their customers daily. “Most of the staff is still the same people, keeping in line our community,” he says. This contributes to the strong relationship the restaurant has not only with their customers, but with their employees.
“We only had two Carmine’s when I first started, up to six now, and I absolutely love being part of this brand.”
Just last year alone, they sold over 1 million of their meatballs to hungry customers. Chef Glenn is especially excited to be able to provide people with delicious and saucy meatballs on this holiday!
For Carmine’s 35th anniversary, they are celebrating National Meatball Day big with a Chicken Parm Meatball special for $24.95 from March 7-9. These breaded meatballs will be served over their traditional Vodka Sauce and finished with a layer of Parmigiana. Whether you would be a first-time guest or a big-time fan, Carmine’s invites you to celebrate this big day with you, one meatball at a time.
For more information about Carmine’s Italian Restaurant, visit carminesnyc.com.
