TWIN FALLS — Workers hauled furniture and cooking equipment out of Johnny Carino’s on Thursday afternoon, but memories of the Italian restaurant will linger. Workers hauled items out of Johnny Carino's on Thursday, putting tables, chairs and kitchen equipment into a U-Haul truck. It was a surprise to many Twin Falls residents that the restaurant on Blue Lakes Boulevard North had permanently closed on Wednesday.
It was one of the few survivors, after at one point there were 170 of the establishments in 30 states but after a pair of bankruptcies three years apart, in 2014 and 2016, the number dropped to below 40, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. What will become of the location hasn’t been announced, and a restaurant representative declined to comment as he sat in a corner with his laptop computer as the workers hauled out tables and chairs and loaded them in a U-Haul truck. A sign on the door invited past customers to visit the Meridian location.
The restaurant is across the street from Outback Steakhouse, where In-N-Out Burger says it will build a restaurant, although Outback management maintains they don't know of any such deal. Canyon Park East is the owner of both properties, according to records provided by the Twin Falls County Assessors Office, and are tied to Patrick Wood, CEO of Woods Investments based in Newport Beach, California. Although some people posted on social media that Johnny Carino’s had gone downhill the last several years, others remember.
