Carrabba’s Italian Grill

We went to eat out as a family (7) Sunday night the place wasn’t busy at all yet they managed to mess up Two thirds of the order — we felt like we were at 2 different tables — half of the appetizers came out — then half of the food came out — seems like they were out of a lot of items on their regular menu — but they don’t notify the waitresses — then the waitress doesn’t bother to tell the customers till everyone’s order is suppose to come out !!! Sad really sad for such a nice LOOKIN place !

I love Carrabbas back home. When I first read the reviews for this location I was leary about eating here. We went here and lie food was cooked perfectly. Was not disappointed!!! Will be back!

I’ve been eating at Carrabbas four times this week! Don’t call me crazy, but I had this free entrée coupon so why not use them? So the four times I ate here, the waiter/​waitress were friendly, attentive & were willing to cater us. Whatever we asked for, they gave it to us. So we tipped them big. AND the food were AMAZING!

Third and last try here. Food was ice cold. From reading the other comments on here, it seems to be a very common complaint. I’m done with this place

I came here and was immediately bombarded with requests by our waiter to rate the experience online while we waited for our food. Asking us to do it once was okay. But asking us over an over again became annoying. I literally just got there and didn’t have a chance to experience anything yet besides a half-​assed appetizer. That just seemed pretty unprofessional to me.
I was in the mood for meatballs so that’s what I ordered here. The sauce seemed to be watered down and bland. The meatballs… bland. I definitely could have prepared that dish better at home. There are other dishes that are better, but I feel like meatballs and spaghetti shouldn’t too hard to mess up. In fact, I think it should have been phenomenal. Especially since they charge phenomenal prices. It’s an Italian restaurant, but they cannot seem to get meatballs and spaghetti right.
2 stars for the subpar food and harassment about surveys as soon as we walk through the freakin door. Just for kicks, I rated them poorly on the survey as well.

Before you get nervous about my 4 star rating: no, that was not a typo. I am giving Carrabba’s a «chain 4». I rank all of these places differently, so try to keep up.
After reading some of the reviews for this place, I was a little apprehensive when I stopped in here for lunch last week. However, when I walked in, everything seemed nice enough, so I just decided to go with it.
As I was looking over the menu, the waitress was nice enough to bring out a basket of bread and olive oil that I munched on while deciding what I was in the mood for. The bread was warm and fluffy and went perfectly with the oil. If you go for lunch, the menu is a bit limited, so keep that in mind if you are looking at the menu, ahead of time, online. I decided to start with an order of fried calamari. I’m a huge calamari fan and I try to order it whenever I see it on the menu. For my entrée I got the Mezzaluna, which was basically ravioli stuffed with cheese and topped with a tomato cream sauce.
The calamari was great! I won’t say that it’s the best that I have ever had, but the batter was nice and thin and the dish was good, and even though I ordered a «small», the portion was huge and plenty enough for two people. The Mezzaluna was amazing. The shells were a perfect size (not too fat) and the cream sauce was delectable. I liked that this was a «lunch» portion of food, so that I was able to finish it without feeling too full. As a treat, I decided to get an order of «mini» cannolis «to go» and I enjoyed them later with a bowl of ice cream– perfect!
My waitress, Kristi, was super sweet and attentive and made sure that I had everything I needed. She was fast, even though she had a lot of other tables to wait on. For lunch, all of the prices were spot on and this would be a perfect place for a mid week meal.
Yes, Carrabba’s is a chain, but I enjoyed my experience here. The food was good and the staff was friendly. I would return if I were in the area and in the mood for some quick pasta.

I grew up in an Italian household so maybe I expect more but I feel that there are a lot of better options in new Orleans than this place for the money. The service is good but the food is mediocre at best. The sauce is extremely watery and the food is rather bland and the pasta is over cooked. Came here to use a gift card but I don’t think that I would spend my money here.

My go to place. Host is ok. Services is good, super friendly and helpful! Caesar salad is fresh and good! They make their own sauce. It’s a bit salty but it’s ok. Linguini clam pasta is pretty good! It was so freshly hot and sauce is amazing! Black mussels was pretty decent. Come with a lot! I would love to come back!

OK, so I hadn’t really given up on this place. We headed back for Sunday lunch. For the first ever, we were greeted by the pleasant smell of something good being whipped up in the kitchen. The hostess table was not jampacked full of idle waiters. And the bar was clean, crumb-​free, and had an attentive bar staff. The food was yummy, prices reasonable, bar staff gregarious and knowledgeable.
A very nice Sunday dining experiencej. I think I might just have to come back more often. I wonder if they changed management.
By the way, they have some pretty sweet happy hour deals from 3 to 7 every day. It might be worth a visit.

We’d not heard good things, mainly about service, but we decided to check it out anyway. Service was ok enough, but the food was mediocre at best. I had the lentil soup and wood-​grilled chicken. The soup was decent enough, but the chicken was kinda meh. It was seasoned and cooked ok, but nothing special. It was… seasoned chicken. My side veggies were, well, boiled veggies. No seasoning. I had to add salt, and I never add salt, ever.

I don’t know why this place has 2.5 stars so far, it was really really good, we got some sort of shrimp pasta with cream sauce and it was out of this world. The waiter made me a drink that wasn’t on the menu, Caesar salad was amazing, bread yum. Who could complain? Nice décor, never been to one before.

I will go on the record and state that there are very few chain restaurants that I really love. Perhaps that’s why they are a chain. Perhaps not, but I digress.
My 1^st visit to Carabba’s was mid August 2015. Since we had our little one with us, we decided to go early and beat the crowd and found the restaurant nearly empty at 5:30 PM on a weekday. I was immediately pleased with how clean the restaurant was and was equally impressed with the trendy décor.
Our hostess seated us immediately and our less than enthusiastic server came shortly thereafter and took our drink order. Our drinks arrived shortly along with some hot bread and dipping sauce; and we placed our son’s «kid’s grilled chicken» dinner order and also ordered a Tomatoes Caprese appetizer while we looked over the menu at the entrees. The bread was perfectly baked and piping hot, and the dipping sauce was their own twist of olive oil with a bit of pesto in the middle. Very good. The appetizer was also good as the thick sliced mozzarella was the perfect texture, as nothing is more unsatisfying than some «rubbery» mozzarella. Not the case here.
My little one’s «kid’s grilled chicken dinner» was the probably the best tasting chicken we’ve ever gotten as part of a kid’s meal. It was grilled and seasoned perfectly and the fresh green beans were also a big hit. My wife’s Taglierini with chicken (extra charge), asparagus, tomato and basil was a solid dish, and quite filling. Kudos for the shaved parmesan on top. Trying to eat light, I got the Johnny Rocco Salad, which featured grilled shrimp and scallops on a bed of greens; also with shaved parmesan on top. Also very good.
Kudos to Carrabba’s for offering a gluten free options as well as entrees and appetizers with 600 calories or less. And although we didn’t sit at the bar since we had our little one, the bar is worth mentioning as it is very inviting and I could see myself eating here while I enjoyed a game on one of the big screen televisions.
So with all the good things I have to say, you may be wondering why I didn’t give them a 4-​star rating. The reason I gave a 3-​star rating (A-​Ok), is because of my server. Although she was not impolite, she was far from friendly. She went through all the motions but could have been a little more attentive, especially since she only had 1 other table. And to me, it looked as if her other table was getting pretty good /​courteous service from her. Perhaps she was having a bad day, a bad vibe, or didn’t like kids. I just know that if she had been really friendly, I may have delved out my 1^st 4-​star rating to a chain restaurant.
There is no need to mention her by name, but I hope that management sees this and emphasizes that a positive attitude goes a long way in the service industry. However, the food was pretty decent and I can see myself going back here; just not with the same server.

We went again 7 months later and still had a good experience! The waitress was nice and the food was brought out in a timely manner. Only thing was that I ordered my side salad without croutons. I’m trying to find out if I am gluten intolerant. They left the croutons out of my bfs salad but still put them on mine. No big deal, I just picked them off and put them on his. If I actually had celiac diease though this would have been a big deal. For my entrée I ordered the rosa maria chicken and it is delicious! I was trying my best not to lick the plate. I got the seasonal vegetable which was green beans. I don’t even like green beans, but I liked these!

The original lure… a picture of the Chicken Trio. After deciding to cook dinner myself but entertained the thought of getting something, once I saw the dish which looked lite, I was immediately sold.
The looks of the place was clean and modern so I give it that. I ate at the bar which had a couple of tv’s and seemed like a good atmosphere.
Bentley was the Bartender who was cool as hell and definitely seemed like a perfect host.
The mixed drink menu seemed pretty small but there was a full bar so you can request you’re usual. I chose 2 different sangria’s in which the Summer Sangria seemed like the best option and can drink it for days.
The chicken trio looked nice and the taste was a plus. The price was a bit high for the dish though, especially it being small portions but they were just the simple put sauce on it type chicken so I give them that credit also to mention, the salt on them was a bit high. Also to mention the fettuccine fell short of taste unfortunately, not a fan.
Overall, the experience was cool but not great but it deserves a revisit.

Very small portion for the prices. The tastes are hit and miss among items. Nothing special. Their closest competitor, Olive Garden, beats this place hands down in terms of taste, value and variety.
The tomato basil soup was good as was the steak flatbread appetizer but nothing to go out your way for. Side of pasta lacked flavor and was bland. Our waitresses asked if we wanted bread after 25 minutes of us being seated and after ordering an appetizer already.

We have visited this Italian chain of Outback in several cities and states and have been impressed. We looked forward to the day it would come to Metairie/​New Orleans. However, this particular restaurant cannot get it right. It is consistently inconsistent. We have been there 5 times since it opened a few weeks ago hoping it was just opening pains.
Pasta with sauce is served so dry that you wonder if the kitchen knows that Italian food is dependent upon its classic sauces. Soups are served cold and pasta stuffed, with cold pasta at that. Chicken is dry, as are the overdone meats and fish… over cooked. It seems as though management, if there is any, doesn’t get that quality makes a restaurant a success.
The other day I observed management worry more about someone complaining that a cheap wine wasn’t right than our spending 45 minutes waiting on our entre which came out cold.
Bravo down the street is far superior and Vincent’s is real Italian. This restaurant is fast food at its worst and lies on its laurels as one of Outback’s. Better get serious knowledgeable management or this place is down the tubes in a food city like New Orleans that actually knows about food.

We were very happy with this place. The service was good, she stayed on top of drink refills and checked on us regularly. The fettuccine weesie was outstanding, the sauce was among the best I’ve ever had and the Shrimp were huge. My wife had the chicken Parmesan sandwich which she also enjoyed.

So, the most I can really say about Carrabba’s is that I can check them off my list. I went on Lundi Gras night. We waited for well over 30 minutes for a table after being told it was a 10 – 15 minute wait. Which, wouldn’t be such a big deal if there hadn’t been at least six empty tables in the dining room when we did finally get seated.
Our server was very friendly, kept our drinks full, and was quick with the check. She was pretty much the only redeeming part of the meal. We ordered an appetizer and two entrees, which both came with salads. Our appetizer was slow coming out and our salads appeared just a few minutes later. Then, we waited a good while for the entrees to come out. When they finally arrived, they were both lukewarm to flat out cold. I had the lobster mac and cheese and was hugely let down by it. The sauce was very loose, almost soupy. I will say that it did have a lot of lobster in it. But, did I mention that it was cold?
Like I said, I can check this one off the list. I very seriously doubt I will be going back.

We went there tonight because we always eat at this restaurant every time we are in Destin, FL. We really enjoy the great food. Tonight we went and was very disappointed in the Wait Staff (service was SUPER SLOW)
Food of course was delicious!!!
Took them over 1 hour for our food to come after I finally went to the HOSTESS to complain. Mind you I already asked the 2 server/​wait staff that was handling our table… but never got an answer… The main guy never really did anything… Asked for refill on tea. Never got it… we didn’t get our soup until after 30 minutes. Finally after speaking to the wonderful hostess they called the manager and the wonderful manager name John Thomas… Rushed our meals n took care of us! Awesome management!
I think after a few more weeks they will be better.
I would definitely go back but maybe wait a few weeks for them to get settle into the swing of things.
Had the lobster ravioli –awesome! Lobster Mac n cheese and chicken Marsala was delicious too!

I happened wander in the restaurant on the day of the grand opening. Somehow I didn’t know it was grand opening day and I normally try to stay away from brand new restaurants, but as they say… the rest is history. I went around 5PM and it was already busy, so I sat at the bar. I’m really glad I did because there is a happy hour at the bar from 3−7PM with drink specials and half price appetizers. I ordered a Pomegranate Martini and a shrimp appetizer, both were excellent. I will happily order these items again. For the entrée I ordered a Chicken Bryan Pizza which is wood-​grilled chicken, sundried tomatoes, goat cheese, fresh basil, drizzled with a lemon butter sauce. The pizza was thin, crispy, fresh, and perfect.
Here is my hope for this restaurant. I hope the level of service does not diminish once the training days have passed. Yesterday they were over staffed because of it being opening day, and they have experienced workers in from other restaurants around the state training the new workers. It was really nice to see the training in action, and I received excellent service. I’ll definitely be going back to try some of the other drink and menu options.