Some thirty years ago there was only one place that I could find semolina flour for use in making fresh pasta. That place was Carlino's in Ardmore. In those days, the shop was small, white and for the most part rather bare. But in addition to selling a few special Italian ingredients like semolina, they made real egg pasta. For me, at the time, it was the greatest find. You have to remember that in those days there was no Suburban Square Farmer's Market, no Whole Foods, and no notion of finely prepared foods. The closest you might get to Italian delicacies was a hoagie at The Silver Slicer on Lancaster Pike or spaghetti and clams at Rittenhouse Deli.  Then things began to change. Slowly and almost imperceptibly there was a food awakening. The clarion was sounded by the Carlino family. Now, the shop was more alive, more colorful. There were stuffed artichokes, baccalà , olives of every kind and other delicacies. Carlino's became the food Florence of Italian foods on the Main Line. People came from miles around to experience their creations. On holidays, the crowds were such that a Lower Merion police officer directed traffic into their parking lot. Then, about two years ago, Carlino's blossomed into the full flowered gourmet Italian food emporium that now delights eye and nose and tongue.  Enter the shop and immediately to your right a shiny glass counter sparkles with the most enticing Italian pastries.  Just beyond the pastries long rayon of fresh salads, cold appetizers and imported salumi bring Italy to America. At the cheese counter two very well informed women help with your selection of just the right cheese from an extensive assortment. For breads, Carlino's has no rival. The varieties of bread are exceeded only by the depth of their tastes and textures. The last row of Carlino's counters parades you before an irresistible variety of dinner preparations. The menu behind the glass of this final richly colorful counter surpasses any number of the best Philadelphia restaurants. And if you are looking for real Italian American home style pizza, you can do no better than Carlino's tomato pies. Â
In the old days, Angela "Mama" Carlino was the matriarch of the family. Her recipes set the mark. Some years ago, before her passing, I recorded her kitchen work in a proposed television pilot. <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cometomyhouse.tv&s=eb5c5b94b0dcae2d29e17e12d5d2c051c4fe41562f13bf7b7aa44a10d5eb0448" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.cometomyhouse…</a>.  Today, her grand-daughter sets the contemporary kitchen styles. Carlino's is not just a Main Line treasure but a guardian of the Italian American kitchen.
This is quite a place. A large selection of Italian food, both prepared and cook your own. I usually go for their excellent bread and lunch meats. I tend to stay away from their prepared food because it is way overpriced. I would rather get the basic ingredients and make it myself. I am Italian and like to cook, but I guess a lot of people can't and have to spend 8 dollars a pound for orzo salad that you could make yourself for a tenth of the price. That being said they have a HUGE selection of food and it is all good quality, so bring the plastic and enjoy.
Review Source:I love this place. They have a great selection of homemade pastas, meats, cheeses and breads. The staff is helpful and knowledgable. Beware of the garlic knots, they are DELICIOUS and you'll eat them all before you get home.
My only complaint is that I always end up buying more than I intended to.
Carlino's is awesome!!! Â Their gorgeous desserts are to die for and they have so many fresh salads to choose from that it's hard to make a decision. Â Their Lemon Farfalle Salad is one of their most popular salads and I get it every time I go... Â Full of arugula, shredded parmesan, and lemon zest... Yummm!!! Â And I also love their Abruzzi Cabbage Salad - sorta like coleslaw but with fresh basil and shredded parmesan it it... Sounds strange, but it works! Â They have a ton of stuff to choose from, from their homemade pastas and dinner items to the antipasti bar and the olive oil/vinegar tasting area. Â They have a huge selection of cheeses to choose from and they always have one out for sampling with one of their vinegars. Â They also usually have samples of various crackers, breads, cookies, dips/spreads and olive oils for you to try. The staff and service are always great. Â Carlino's is a can't miss kind of place. Â I have never had a bad trip to Carlino's so I highly recommend it!
Review Source:This might tip a few people off, but if you read one of my other reviews of another Philly area bakery, you might have seen how I wrote about a contest my co-workers and I had recently to find the best tomato pie in the area. Â Three of us brought in tomato pies from three different bakeries to judge (my team has a thing for tomato pie... we go nuts for it). Â Carlino's was one of these three bakeries. Â One of our co-workers raved about this place and decided he would bring them in for the challenge. Â
I believe the owners of Carlino's would like to know that they won the contest. Â And they had very tough competition to boot. Â The pies they beat were from some very well known places. Â But out of 32 people who tasted the pies, 19 thought this place was the best. Â Not too shabby!
Now, they didn't win everyone's vote who tasted them. Â But, everyone who tasted them were still very impressed with them. Â Carlino's uses a much chunkier tomato sauce than you would usually see on a tomato pie, which usually uses a pastier sauce. Â That seemed to win a lot of votes as people thought it just tasted fresher. Â
I do agree. Â It was an excellent pie. Â I would go there to try other things based on the tomato pie alone.
Where to start with Carlino's. I generally go for prepared italian dinners; and have yet to be let down. Lunchtime hoagies are good; but you will need to get an italian or turkey if you are in a rush; they are made ahead of time. The bakery is simply a treat. Tomato Pie and Pizza are a godsend.
Even with the remodel it gets super crowded at times, the parking is a mess. Park on the street instead; save yourself some trouble.
Lastly the coffee bar; it's hit or miss (thus the 4 stars instead of five). It is a great place to stroll in the mornings.
One of my favorite places for take out. Â It is a bit pricy but not for what it is. Â The stuffed shells and all the pastas are great! The salads are fresh and delicious. It is a great place to go if you want to host a dinner for either yourself and group and want some help so you don't have to cook! There are tons of lovely items to make your cooking at home wonderful as well. Â Cheeses and meats are top notch!
Review Source:Carlino's carries a wide variety of  Italian specialty foods, pastas, sauces and desserts. I love this place. Yes, the prices are high, but not unreasonable given the quality and freshness of the food. The handmade pasta aisle is extensive. Same goes for the homemade sauces, soups and entrees. In addition, Carlino's offers a huge selection of cheeses and hard-to-find meats. When in Philly, make a special trip out to Carlino's. You won't be disappointed!
Review Source:I'm Italian , i have a lot of family, and i have been to Italy plenty of times to see them, up north for my fathers side and Sicily for my mothers family. Carlino's is litteraly behind my parents  house, the end of the parking lot there are garages and houses.. well thats them, so if you see my pops workin on the garden to his tomatoes, or hot peppers giva a wave.. you'll probably get somthing out of it. So for a majority of my life i have been around Italian cooking, the freshness of the tomatoes and how they are truely made.
I remember this being a house that they bought and converted into a little shop. They continued to get bigger and this is now what you see through out the years.
I am not knocking Carlino's they found something that people like. I am happy for the Carlino family and how they use all parts of the family from first cousins to third and 4th.. even married into the family(lol sounds like mafia)... Its Italian cuisine and they are located in the main line so they already know people are gonna pay that astronomical price for a piece of chicken cutlet, meatballs, etc..
Myself and my family only come here for the breads, lunch meats (prosciutto, suprasatta, salami.and cheeses) sometimes we'd get the olives. Thats as far as we go into buying from them
We don't get the dishes they make, because its not that we don't like there cooking or the style, its because:
A) my mother cooks better, and they are  more for the general public who don't know basically.
B) If i could Yelp my moms kitchen than i would, my mom is from sicily and her cooking is out of this world. I am not saying this because she is my mother and everyone loves moms cooking. The clientele my mom does the cooking for are up there.
C) plus for that price its crazy...
They get those stars for the fresh semolina bread they make everyday.. and for the imports of lunch meats and cheeses.
Growing up in South Philly, a place like this in the burbs is awesome. Makes me feel home.
Great food and more reasonably priced then I anticipated.
THEY HAVE A ENTIRE SECTION DEVOTED TO OILS. Awesome. They sample one for dipping each day with their fresh bread.
If you live in the area, just go. You'll be happy you did.
If your looking specialty Italian food this is the place to go. Â I just found out about this place a few days ago, when I was out on a quest to find some pancetta for a carbonara dish I was making. Â I went to another deli and they recommend I go to this place. Â I did not know that they had this kind of food market around this area. Â I just went in to buy the pancetta so I barely did any browsing but everything here looks fantastic. Â Next time when I have the time I am gonna go and explore, and try their sandwiches. Can't wait to go back
Review Source:Parking is so bad during the holidays they hire police officers to direct traffic and the store itself is so crowded you can't move - its VERY expensive - $18 per pound for lasgana  - the desserts are brought in as is the hummus and dips etc... the bread they make is made in-house and its good
Review Source:Having only been here once and from New York City, I can honestly say the sandwiches are delicious---they do not skimp on meat or cheese, they're packed thick and filled with flavor!
A wide variety of different meats, sauces, cheeses, breads. The attentive services from the staff was very welcome.
Dried fruits, nuts, and a variety of gourmet prepackaged items, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables and frozen delicacies.
Highly recommended.
It doesn't matter if you're going grocery shopping or just looking to pick up lunch/dinner, this is the place for quality Italian specialty food! I usually don't do much shopping here and keep my visits to just picking up a roast pork sandwich or Italian hoagie, but when I do go for some meats, cheeses and pastas.... I'm always well fed for the days following. Since it is a specialty shop you will end up spending a decent amount more on their items, but you are definitely getting the added quality that justifies those prices. I wish I could shop her on a regular basis, but for now I'll enjoy my lunches when I find my way through their doors.
Review Source:If you are looking to save a nickel, or a dime, or a dollar, you are in the wrong place. Â This is a shop with gourmet quality foods at gourmet prices. Â You need to have that expectation when you walk in the door.
Now that we have the price out of the way this is an amazing place. Â Amazing pastas. Â Amazing cheese selection. Â Amazing specialty meats. Â Amazing prepared foods. Â
If you need to serve a great meal and don't want to cook, this is the place to grab what you need. Â It's tucked away on a side road in Ardmore but it's easy to get to from either Route 30 (Lancaster Ave.) or Wynnewood Road.
I know people rave about this place, but I don't get it. I live a few blocks away and when I first moved to the area I tried Carlino's several times. At best, the food is okay--but pricey. The pesto I tried was oily and had no flavor. Then i bought green tea ice cream--okay I was asking for it--and it was terrible. I threw it away. I avoid the place now. I prefer to go to a tiny Italian deli that has better quality food at lower prices. Sorry, Carlino fans.
Review Source:I moved into Ardmore last May, and drove past Carlino's weekly before finally stopping in late July. Â As soon as I stepped inside, I realized what a huge mistake I had made not coming sooner. Â Carlino's has everything a small italian grocery store should have, plus more. Â And the best part? Absolutely everything in the store is delicious. Â
Their tomato pie is the best I've ever had. Â The garlic knots are absolutely amazing (and sometimes they have free samples!). Â The sandwiches are killer... and not that expensive. Â I really could go on like this about everything they sell, but I'd run out of adjectives. Â I think I've visited Carlino's about twice a week since July, and simply typing this review makes me want to go again.
There's only a couple caveats. Â It is relatively expensive, but at least in this case you get what you pay for. Â Also, the hours are kind of limited (9-6 most days, 9-3 Sundays, closed Monday). Â I embarrassed to say that many times I've made the short drive there on a Monday, only to turn back hungry. Â And one time, inexplicably, their computer system lost track of the balance of my gift card (but they gave me a new card for the full amount). Â Honestly though, these are just small quibbles in an otherwise otherworldly culinary delight.
THE PLACE TO GO FOR SPECIALTY ITALIAN FOOD!
If you've never been and you're from the are you should really go and take an hour or two to look around. Â
What they sell: Â My fave, homemade pasta's (fresh), great produce, specialty cheese, sausage, bread, hot food to go, great pasta salads, deserts to die for, made to order cannoli's and everything else under the sun. Â
I have had several pasta salads from them and they are all fabulous. Â Tirimisu for the heavens - and what a slice! Â My all time favorite had to be their Bourbon Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding - something they didn't make all the time but absolutely rich and decadent, with the taste of bourbon running throughout. Â
This is a neighborhood cornerstone and should be known to everyone for their excellent quality products. Â I agree with most everyone else, the prices can be high, but you get great product for the price (very gourmet)!
I gave Carlino's 3 stars not for selection and food quality (both superb) but for customer service and price.
I ordered a mac & cheese tray for a party the same size as the one I was going to buy at Whole Foods, and it came to over $70 vs. the Whole Foods tray at $35. I also picked up a package of 8 cookies for $12!! I should have checked the price before I hit the checkout, but you live and learn.
When I ordered the tray over the phone, the woman asked if I wanted it hot or cold when I picked it up. I said hot and she repeated that back to me. When I picked it up it was ice cold. I explained it should have come hot as I was headed right to the party, they offered to throw it in the oven for me. I was already running late, so that didn't work for me (plus they were 10 min. from closing). I expected a discount or something for getting the order wrong, but instead I got nothing - not even an apology.
This place is the jam.
Because I'm not close by, Carlino's will be a rare treat for me. Â But the sandwiches are just as awesome as described. Â Last week, I tried the Big Louie (roast pork, sharp provolone, broccoli rabe, and long hots) and it was out-of-control good. Â The tender, moist pork balanced perfectly with the bitter of the greens. Â The provolone is melted by the meat so that when you pull apart the halves of the sandwich, you get these beautiful, gooey cheese strands. Â The bread was the exactly what it needed to be: strong enough to maintain under the weight of a huge, not-quite-dripping-but-definitely-super-moist cylinder of hot pork, but delicate enough to not distract. Â
Aside from the sandwiches, Carlino's has a huge selection of prepared foods, pizza, sauces, and all the typical deli fare. Â I was happy to pick up a bag of Blair's Habanero kettle chips, which I don't really see very often.
So add Carlino's to the list beside John's and DiNic's. Â It's worth the drive to Ardmore.
Yummy yummy yummy.
So nice to have this lovely establishment in my backyard. Â Lots of great prepared food, gourmet items, etc. Â It is pricey, however, which is why I don't do my weekly grocery shopping here; we just stop in for special treats. Â And we do order here quite a bit for parties. Â The tomato pie is top-notch. Â Everyone that works at Carlino's is very friendly. Â You should visit!
Carlino's is very customer-service oriented and has a huge selection of delicacies from prepared salads to cheeses to sandwiches to gourmet delights to breads to oils and pastas and vinegars. Â
I'm a huge fan of their lasagna (pricey but enough for two or even three), breads (as good as Sarcone's), chicken tortellini salad, hoagies, tomato pie and cheeses. Â They carry a wonderful cream of balsamic that I've bought for so many people I've lost count. Â Deserts are marvelous too.
Closed on Monday. Â Don't go close to 6:00 - their doors close at 6 - no ifs ands or buts.
*****
Whoa. Â If you haven't been to Carlino's since they upgraded, do yourself a favor and go now. Â The store is (or seems to be) almost twice the size! Â Fabulous selection of oils and flavored balsamics. Â Lots of sampling. Â An enjoyable store to actually BE IN now. Â These folks know customer service. Â Sign up for their emails -- you won't be sorry!
(EDIT: This review is concerning the Carlino's in West Chester) My local gourmet joint puts others to shame. I couldn't imagine my life without Carlino's. I live literally around the corner, and part of my daily ritual includes a stop. Sometimes two or three, although I'm ashamed enough to wait until the majority of the staff changes shift. They know me and my eatin' habits so well that my preferred loaf of delicious, fresh baked bread is in the bag and delivered with a wink the moment I walk up to the counter.
I am addicted to their Italian bread. And to their fresh-squeezed orange juice. I am addicted to their pastries, tomato pie, red velvet cupcakes...really, everything. And the CHEEEESE selection is to DIE for. Another 5-star plus: the staff is fantastic. Â All friendly, gregarious people who love food and know what to do with it.
As mentioned in other reviews, be prepared to drop a pretty penny, but your stomach will thank you for it.
It took me awhile to stumble upon Carlino's, but now that I have, I feel like my eyes have been opened to an institution that everyone else but me knew about. Â We've been back a dozen times - and everything we have gotten has been fantastic - from the freshly made sandwiches, to the best tomato pie & margherita pie I've ever had, to prepared foods that we've served at dinner parties, to the best sfogliatelle around. Â
You really can't go wrong with anything they sell. Â
I have to take off one star for the prices - it is very pricey - I always seem to do a double take when they ring me up at the register. Â Even the tomato pie gets expensive, as they price it by the pound, not the slice. Â
But... I will continue to go back often, as the food really is that good.
Carlino's is the mecca of Italian specialty foods on the Main Line. Â I love it.
It's located in a completely residential neighborhood, and it's definitely not a place that you would stumble across in your travels (unless you were really, really lost). Â They have absolutely everything from roasted red peppers to antipasto dishes to their own homemade Gelato (although I wouldn't recommend pistachio here - get amaretto or vanilla). Â
The only reason they don't get 5 stars in my book is the limited parking and the high prices. Â I picked up an Italian cookie tray for a party once that was $60! Â They definitely charge a premium, but their quality backs it up.
Watching Carlino's grow from a single storefront selling their home made pasta, some olive oil and a couple of cheeses into the Balducci like specialty center it has become shows what a family with a vision can do. Â Vision and an unspeakable amount of hard work. Â And given a choice between DiBruno's, great store, and Carlino's at this point there is no reason why I would have to travel downtown. Â That couldn't have been said a year ago, but not a month goes by that the Carlino's don't make their store better. Â Unique items that you need to buy here; their tomato pie, their egg white pasta, their house made extruded pastas, their house recipe chicken wings, liver sausage, one of their growing list of seldom seen Italian cheeses, their sfogliatelle and their breads. Â Their salumi selection is outstanding with the "wet" soppresata a treat rarely seen outside of southern Italy,and their prosciutto cotta the best versions of the "boiled ham" most of us had for school lunch you are likely to find. Â Like DiBruno's it is a store that feels good but in a less glitzy way. Â Go there for one item and leave with ten. Â The mark of a great store. Â New store in West Chester bigger and busy from opening day as many of the Ardmore regulars are Chester County people. Â I don't miss a Saturday. I love this store!
Review Source:Having a party and need some tasty desserts? Â
Don't have time to make dinner?
Just want to grab some great Italian food for lunch? Â
Need fresh fruits and veggies? Â
Have a craving for homemade pizza?
Carlino's has it all...chicken, homemade pasta, sausage, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, olives, mouth watering desserts, cannolis, pizza, sauces and gravies...mmmmmm
Sound a little good to be true? Â Well it is...the three downsides to Carlino's:
1. A little pricey.
2. Hours are not extensive.
3. Parking is limited.
You're going to pay a little more for quality. Â Now that you're prepared, go visit this gem of a gourmet store and drop some coin on homemade pasta, sauce, meats and pastries. Â I live around the corner and love stopping in to pick up lunch or a prepared meal for dinner. Â As a cook who loves how quick and simple Italian meals can be, Carlino's has a fabulous selection of cooking ingredients.
If you visit on a weekend, be patient, relax and take it all in. Â It gets packed.
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