Carrabba’s Italian Grill

Carraba’s, as with most chain restaurants, is generally standard across the board, in my opinion. However, I do want to give recognition to outstanding service here.
My friend and I had the calamari, the lobster ravioli, the shrimp & scallop alla vodka, the spicy Sicilian chicken soup, and the cheesecake.
Everything came out quickly and more importantly, hot.
Daniel, my server, was on his second week and accidentally wrote down the clam linguine instead of the shrimp & scallop alla vodka that I had ordered. His manager, IJ, happened to be the one delivering the plate and when the mistake was caught, they were both very expedient and gracious in remediating the situation. IJ later came back and allowed us to use our coupons (one free entrée & one free appetizer during the Carraba’s million plate promotion) at a later date.
With everything being delivered hot and quickly as well as being accompanied by great service, this is definitely a location I’ll return to in the future.

So disappointed as we have gone there so many times in the past. I had to send back the veal Marsala twice. Over cooked mushrooms and sauce was so thick and not appetizing at all. What happened to seeing real chefs making good food? Now it’s a few line cooks who speak only in Spanish and I swear I heard the word puto from the kitchen. Classy. Never will I go back to this failing restaurant.

My husband and I went out to eat at Carrabba’s on 1÷5÷16 and we were shocked of the price increase we saw on the menu. Chicken Brian, normally $ 15.99 was now $ 18.99, every thing on the menu was increased $ 3.00 including your cheap house wine, which was $ 6.00 per glass, is now $ 9.00 per glass. It is time for us to stay local. These Italian restaurants offer better prices and very good food.

Excellent service by a waiter named Shawn. This food was absolutely perfect. My wife had the veal and it was super! Two thumbs up

GREAT chicken marsala! the fresh bread is also to die for.

Wine, appetizers, Italian food, and flavors everyone in our group enjoys…
I don’t eat here too often, but we came in for a birthday celebration and it could not have been a better choice.
I love the pasta and the bread/​oil/​seasonings most. I don’t drink wine as much as my friends, but I can assure you, they enjoyed that as well.

I stopped by Carrabba’s recently to talk with the manager about catering an upcoming event I agreed to take on for my family. We have always been fans of the chain and I was able to come to the meeting having tried several of the menu items in the very recent past. Well, short story long … we have found out caterer!
Not only are they giving us just the menu selections we requested but they also offered us dining credit which exceeded even what they advertised. They will be including ready-​to-​serve packaging, serving utensils, plates, silverware and napkins along with heated chafing dishes. I can taste those prosciutto wrapped shrimp now.
We know them to serve good, consistent food and we are looking forward to a highly successful partnership on the event. Thanks for taking the time to arrange things with me, you guys were great!

Unfortunately from the moment my wife and I stepped through the door we decided this place is going down hill. I felt unappreciated from the moment we opened the first set of doors and stepped into the entryway where we were met by the most putrid sour smell which seemed to permeate throughout the restaurant. It was as if the whole area had been wiped by a month old filthy dishrag. What owner or manager would not recognize this needs to be addressed. Then, we were greeted by a teenager who mumbled in a whisper and never looked up or smiled. Next, off to our table which was sticky with the same sour smell, and a chair filled with crumbs — people, this was 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon — it’s not like they were too busy to care!
It only got worse from there. My wife had get up to go find us our own silverware. The entrée I ordered was pictured on the menu with a side of asparagus, which I thought looked great. Oh, but the asparagus is an «up-​charge», and that’s on an entrée that’s already $ 25. Good thing I opted for that asparagus though because it ended up being the best part of my dinner. Stay away from the grilled veal chop — it’s too expensive and mine was tough, dry, over-​cooked, and had a flat bland flavor.
Luckily, my wife said her tilapia was great, but the salad was bad, as was mine.

We became fans of Carrabba’s when we first tried it out in Beaumont. The food and service there was fantastic. So, when we came to Austin, we just had to eat at Carrabba’s here. What a disappointment!!! The place is kind of dingy and not so clean looking. Plus, we waited about 10 minutes before a waiter came to our table. He took our drink orders and lay some napkins down. Some of the napkins flew off the table and fell on the floor. When he came back with the drinks order, he picked up the napkin from the floor and placed it on our table and proceeded to put the drink down. I stopped him and said, «don’t use that napkin from the floor on our table! that is so disgusting! He stopped and went away with the drinks and came back later with new napkins. I was already disgusted and thought to myself that if he can do that, how about him handling the food? Anyway, we had our soups which was ok and then our food came. Mine was chicken parmesan and my wife had the seafood spedini. It was horrible! My chicken was overcooked and too oily and my wife’s seafood was soaking in oil. We always order the same things when we come to Carrabba’s and always order the same items. We know how it is supposed to look like and taste and these dishes were below their regular standards. The dessert, panna cota was delicious but that’s about it. We will never go back to this Carrabba’s ever again. We will be living in Austin soon and it is just so sad that this particular Carrabba’s is so below standard, thus making it impossible for us to enjoy Carrabba’s here.

First timer! Brandy l was our waitress and she was amazing … I would have gave 5 stars but the food I ordered (the Alfredo weezie) was bland. It was good but kinda tasteless. I took it home put some seasoning in it some extra cheese and I’m having it for lunch today and it is yummy

Service was ridiculously slow. It took a long time to even get drinks. Then it took even longer to get a gluten free menu. Got our shared appetizers and before they were eaten our salads came. Before salads were finished the entrees came. No room on the table for salads and entrees so we had to just stop on the salads and send them back. Took forever to her drink refills and to get empty glasses and dishes removed from the table. Dirty dishes on the table when we had dessert.
Very bad service all around.

Our waiter made the experience more pleasing along with great food. This place is by far better than any Italian chain restaurant and will never visit Olive Garden or Johnny Carrinos again. It was a Friday night and staff was extremely busy. Our waiter worked very hard to accommodate our table and did so with a patient and kind attitude. Wish I knew his name. Tall dark hair and wore a necklace with a ring attached to it. Thank you Mr. Waiter, you do your intense job with finesse and food was delicious!

This was such an awesome experience! They got us right in and we had a really amazing server. The pomegranate martini is the bees knees! Order it! In fact, order five!
I had the linguini a la vodka and it was to die for! The shrimp was perfectly cooked and the pasta was oh so good.
Did I mention to order a pomegranate martini? Do it. Right now. Put the phone down and order one from Anthony. Right now.
The lobster ravioli is what my girlfriend got and it was delicious. Very creamy and the sauce was amazing. Get yourself some fried zucchini while you’re at it.
And most importantly, order a pomegranate martini. Seriously.
Get your priorities straight.

Exceeded my expectations in the end.
Started off a bit iffy with a salad that had a filet of fish after taste. Then our food came. Wow. It was like a big old hug and a kiss from grandma. The wobbly table was the wrong place to seat a family with a bouncy 6 year old. It was stressful watching our drinks shake. That’s why the 3 stars. Our waiter was super friendly and very knowledgeable about the menu. Came by often enough but didn’t annoy me with his presence. I will be back. Soon.

Soooooooooo good! Seriously, everything on the menu is awesome. My faves are the calamari and the Pollo Rosa Maria. Get the lentil soup and the caesar salad too. Service is always excellent. I can’t say enough good things about Carrabbas.

The Tuscan screwers were onpoint made to perfection and the pasta was magnificent so was the bread I highly recommend Carrabba’s to everyone

NOTE: Real rating is more of a 2.5÷5.
The service was very good. Our waiter was very nice and informative but the food was just okay. Nothing special or spectacular.
My impression is that this is another basic chain-​restaurant and it’s evident in the food. I’m not saying it was bad, it just was not that good especially for the price. I didn’t feel it was a value when the food was mediocre yet the prices reflected something more upscale.
Now this was our first visit so it’s impossible to say the entire menu is the same, but I’m definitely not rushing to plan a next visit anytime soon. I guess Maggiano’s Little Italy has spoiled me!

I used to eat at the Carraba’s when it was near Highland Mall and it was delicious. It’s been years though, since I’ve been to one and I was really looking forward to it. We went to the one on Research Blvd.
Alas, methinks it has fallen the way of the overpriced chain restaurant.
We ordered the crab cakes appetizer. The photo in the menu looked delicious, with big chunks of what looked like fresh crab. Oh my, what a letdown. The crab tasted like it came from a can, there were no large chunks, and the entire inside looked grey; nothing white or pink, just grey. Although that roasted red pepper sauce that came with it was delicious, there wasn’t enough of it on the plate to flavor the bland tasting and drab looking crab.
The house salad, which came with the meals we ordered, was abysmal. Romaine lettuce and shredded carrots (I’m sure from a bag) smothered in a house Caesar dressing and three small olives. OMG, what is wrong with restaurants nowadays? If we had ordered the salads without the meal they’d have charged us $ 5 apiece, and they weren’t worth $ 1.50.
We each ordered a dish with shrimp and scallops. One was the Champagne Shrimp and Scallop Linguine and the other was Spiedino de Mare. The Speidino de Mare was better than the linguine, but neither was very good. We think the Spiedino had four scallops and two shrimp, but it was really hard to tell. The linguine came with lots of scallops and shrimp, but I’d rather have one or two really large fresh scallops, than 12 or more tiny ones that were each smaller than 4 nickels stacked on top of each other.
Once again, the red flags were going off when we walked in the door but we ignored them. (Oprah would tell me to pay attention to my gut! I say once again because it has happened to me on more than one occasion). It was a little after 12 on a Sunday and no one was there. Where was the church crowd? Lots of people go out for a good meal after church, but I guess they’d all figured out that the food at Carraba’s was overpriced and not worth the effort.
Or maybe they just went up the street to Macaroni Grill. Chain or not, it’s better than Carraba’s.

I had never been to a Carrabba’s before and I would say it was pretty much what I expected. Imagine Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill made a baby and you would have Carrabba’s. We had a gift card to burn and thought it would be nice to continue our lazy Sunday by letting someone else cook dinner.
I’m a coupon whore so I first went online and joined their free Amici club (rewards program) since most places will send you a goodie via email when you do that. Here they send you a coupon for a free appetizer, very nice.
We couldn’t agree on one (aka I wanted the meatball and ricotta flatbread, he didn’t) so we settled on the arancini balls made with sausage, bell peppers, and served with marinara for dipping. If you’ve ever had the frozen ones from Trader Joe’s they reminded me a lot of those. Good, not great.
I also ordered their Toast of Tuscany cocktail which is described as: ‘Housemade Limoncello, Bocelli Sparkling Prosecco and cranberry juice, with a hint of fresh lemon’. I am a sucker for limoncello but sadly was unimpressed. To me, it tasted a lot like country-​time pink lemonade. At $ 5 it felt like a steal until they brought it out filled to the rim with ice. Nothing chaps my ass more than skimpin on the liquor. Feel free to stitch that onto a pillow.
The prices here are steep. My tag pic pac pasta dish was the cheapest one I saw on the menu at $ 11 but I was craving something simple. It is a meatless pasta dish in a tomato, basil, olive oil, and garlic sauce. Again good, not great. The pasta was the same texture as Ramen noodles which is a little off putting at first, but the flavors are nice.
The service was stellar, so that deserves a shout out. I wish I liked the food itself more but i don’t see it being the first place that pops into my head next time my pasta craving hits.

I have always been a fan of Carrabba’s for multiple reasons. Consistently good food, great service from entering the door to paying your check. I love being greeted by a smiling face and I always opt to sit at the bar if there is space!
This location is equally as good as I remember every location being! Sometimes you just want something familiar and delicious!
I always order the same things when I come here and this day was no different. I ordered the mussels appetizer, calamari appetizer, baked ravioli, Italian salad and an espresso for dessert. I wasn’t eating alone so, don’t worry!
The calamari is probably my favorite appetizer that they have and the baked ravioli is pretty close to homemade. The mussels are in a white wine sauce but, I wish they would add some garlic to it for that little extra it needs! I do appreciate they use Prince Edward Island mussels because I think they have the best flavor. The Ravioli is enough to share between two people because they serve it in two stoneware dishes with 4 ravioli in each and they are small by any means. Something else I really like is their marinara sauce/​red sauce has really good flavor. It isn’t sweet or too tomatoey (made up word lol) like you get at most «Italian» restaurants.
Of course, how could you not love the bread with the dipping oil! The bartenders were very attentive and made great wine recommendations on my visit!
This is my go to Italian place!

Friday night dinner with the wifey. Surprisingly got seated right away at 700. And was greeted by our waitress very soon after even with a packed restaurant. We started with an order of calimari with 2dipping sauce option of the traditional marinara and a lemon pepper spicy butter sauce. I rec you get both sauces,
I ordered the shrimp and scallop linguine in vodka sauce and took the soup option of sausage lentils with fennel. Loved the soup, the main dish was kinda sad with small shrimp and extra small scallops. It was just ok.
Wife got the chicken masala with half order of mash potatoes and half vegetables with the chicken soup option. Wow. Very good.
For a large chain this location looked well run and food did look great for what they had too work with. The staff actually looked happy and our waitress was awesome. I’m sure the management here is exceptional.