Carrabba’s Italian Grill

Very disappointing… atmosphere is still the same but we didn’t realize they had changed the menu and the quality of food and service noticeably declined. My first indication of change was that there was no waiting for a table on a Friday night at 7 o’clock that should have been my first clue. Appetizers were mediocre at best and had to send back the calamari which was overdone with a horrible sauce. The entrée was bland and tasteless the only highlight of the evening where the drinks and their Limoncello Bread pudding which was very good. Very unlikely I will ever go back.

Food is delicious, but that staff is very slow. We get to our table and it’s over five minutes for someone to come and greet us. We had to ask for our bread way after drinks and salad came. It seemed that the waiter may have been new. Aside from the slowness, he was very sweet and respectful. I’ll have to try this place again, because the food and deserts were great!

First I’d like to say that the service was fantastic. Called ahead and they had a table waiting for us. We were on a time frame as we were heading to the movies and they were very accommodating. Haven’t been in for years and had a free entrée coupon so decided to go back. They have a good variety of GF food on the menu and its marked. Soup or salad with each enter and a fresh vegetable. We chose minestrone soup (GF) and sausage soup, tilapia and salmon. Soups were very good but sausage is on spicy side so if you don’t like a little heat don’t order. The salmon had a lovely lemon sauce on it but it was so over cooked, so the sauce saved it. The place is very crowded and they have been here for years, so they are doing something right.

Update. Of course, different staff at this point, but still a good family restaurant. They were accommodating in that my husband needs to sit on his walker seat now. I enjoyed the boyous honesty of the hostess, and though she wore an apron, it was either a nice touch or she was a server filling in???
The server was okay, but I got the faint impression she was rushing, as they do right before the evening rush on a Saturday. Such is the way it is here.
Bad: My Caeser salad was inedible. It had absolutely no Garlic at All, and there was no Dressing evident. Basically, it was a dish of cut up Romaine. I asked for more dressing, and was given a ramekin of something that did not resemble??? the dressing. But once mixed in as they should have, it was passable. I prefer my bottled dressing and that’s saying very little about their quality.
I had the Fetuccini Weezy. The shrimp were cooked to perfection. I recommend if you like shrimp. But the sauce, a white cream butter fat fat fat sauce, Was extremely rich for me. However, it was a salty treat. Could have used more and better, fresher looking peas, Overall, good.
Good spot for kids; I should hope they aren’t so picky as me, an Italian. I will go back, but mostly for the Cosmo!

This place used to be pretty good, but the quality of the food and increased prices make it a place to avoid. Their chicken parm, for example, is usually quite thick and cooked tough. There have been some instances when it came out burnt and the cooks would try to pass it off with the burnt side down. The seafood dishes are pitiful. The only dish I can rave about is the veal marsala, which is cooked in an awesome sauce. However, sometimes the veal comes out tough and you always have to remind them to provide extra sauce, which isn’t really extra because they’re so stingy with it to begin with.

We love the amore Mondays Iove the new chicken Chianti and with the deals you get the entrée app or soup or dessert the stuffed mushrooms are out of this world good my wife likes the sausage and lentil soup most times I’ll get the app and she gets the soup but of course I have to get some cannoli’s to go
Beth the manager at the Middletown one is awesome

Overall a very decent place to have a family dinner. Most of the dishes are surprisingly good. We enjoy the Chicken Bryan, Mezzaluna, Lasagne, and Spaghetti Bolognese, as well as the wood-​fired chicken. They are ok with vegetable/​side substitutions and most things come with a choice of soup or one of two good salads. Kids get dough to play with as well. Look for the mini-​desserts which are a great idea. We’ve been here many times and had very few issues… one time it was a long wait although we called ahead and the mgr offered us some comp food which I thought was very generous. Service is mostly college kids so you do get fun personalities and quick service on drinks and requests.

Food was good I enjoyed it first time there better than olive garden lol. I just didn’t like lasagna because I don’t like parmigian cheese. It smells.

Waitress was the best part of the meal. I went on a Monday. Food was very very salty. The scallops were very rubbery. Reminds me why I hardly ever return to chains.

Love this place! Always do the car side to go. My order is always correct. Staff is so friendly. Food is great. Lobster ravioli is awesome! Even the Caesar salad is great.

Always great service. Food comes quickly and flavorful. Try their tasty cocktails too!

Carraba’s has a dish called Chicken Bryan which is fantastic.. it is not cheap. … but Far better than most other chains. Far better flavor than the Olive Garden..

Sooo lucky that sangria was really good, because the food and the service were horrible, very disappointed. My daughter’s chicken fingers and mashed potatoes were actually quite nice, and though my entrée-​linguine with scallops and shrimp sounded delicious-​pasta was dry, had like 3 shrimp and two tiny scallops and had to wait like 15 minutes for some sauce. By the time I got it, really didn’t need it anymore, watery and super peppery! Definitely not worth $ 15. May be due to upcoming holidays or the weekend, the atmosphere was hectic and the waiter had too much other stuff going on, so we barely got any attention. First time was great, second not so much. Is 3^rd time the charm?! Idk time will show …

One can always count on a good, solid Italian meal. The staff are very friendly and accommodating. My husband loves one of the pasta dishes (sounds like Pasta Weese sp?) and I love the shrimp and scallops. The broccoli is always well prepared and the olive oil with spices for dipping bread is very good.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill DoTubes Pick Of The Week Video Food Review
I pretty much had everything in my back pocket in a 90 mile radius
Atlantic City for fun and entetrtainment New York City for great food and shopping and Philadelphia for family and friends.
I had no need for any long distance traveling so taking a plane never crossed my mind. But I recently watched a movie called Under The Tuscan Sun starring Diane Lane and I must admit the movie was not an academy award winner but I did fall in love with Tuscany Italy! and since I’m only 43 and not planning to take a plane till I’m 50 I had to look for the best next thing.
That’s why I’m Glad that Johnny Carrabba and his uncle, Damian Mandola Founded Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Now I know what your thinking (Carrabba’s is a franchise Restaurant and it’s not authentic Tuscany cuisine). Yes, I understand that there is many Restaurants that could represent Tuscan cuisine in a more authentic way BUT not everyone can afford such a Restaurant especially when it’s family night out.
That’s why Carrabba’s Italian Grill is the perfect place because it not only has amazing food but also very family friendly as far as hospitality and price’s. The Restaurant is very spacious and comfortable and what I love the most is the kitchen and brick ovens act as a backdrop for the Restaurant. (And of course it’s always good to see how your food is being handled)
But that’s not why my wife wanted to spend her 42 birthday at Carrabba’s Italian Grill. She made us reservations for 6 because of the great Italian food Carrabba’s has to offer and because pasta is her favorite dish!
The table looked festive with amazing food like Mussels in a white wine basil and lemon butter sauce, Calamari in a spicy Italian pepper and lemon butter dipping sauce (And I’m glad the brick oven was not just for decoration) because The Margarita Pizza was delicious!
For our main course my wife went with The Shrimp Scampi over Linguine with toasted garlic bread I went with The Ravioli in a creamy lobster sauce and stuffed with real with real Maine Lobster sooo good! Our kids went with the Chicken Parmesan with a side of Rigatoni’s which they absolutely loved.
Like I said my wife is a pasta fan and since it was her birthday we order a side of traditional Spaghetti’s with a chunky meat sauce like grandma would make. Now for dessert my wife asked for little kisses which made me blush in front of the kids till I realized that Carrabba’s has miniature Desserts served in a shot glass called little kisses.
And since were doing Italian we figured might as well go all the way and ordered the Italian Cannoli! Now a big guy like me can never be satisfied with a Dessert served in a shot glass so I went with The Chocolate Dream which is a Chocolate Mousse on top of a Chocolate Brownie and fresh whip cream brushed with Kauai and chocolate sauce.
I guess you can see why Carrabba’s Italian Grill is my DoTube’s Pick Of The Week. So me and my family invite you to my wife’s birthday dinner for family fun and good food. Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Go Watch Now Before The Food Get’s Cold!

I haven’t been to a Carrbabb’as since I was in high school. I was pleasantly surprised about the meals here. They are standard Italian pasta dishes, nothing spectacular but nothing horrible. Service was friendly and prompt. As a general rule, I would recommend steering clear from the fish dishes. I got a fish dish and it was sub-​par. This is something I noticed at big Italian chain restaurants, bad seafood.

I was taken out to dinner by my family and I was impressed with everything! I was expecting the food to be «typical chain restaurant» food, but that was not the case. The kitchen is open to the customers and you can see the chefs making everything fresh and hot. We had the shrimp diavlo as one of the appetizers… it was RIDICULOUS. Everyone at my table fought for it, because it tasted so good. But, the staff here was excellent in seating all of us!
I had the lobster ravioli entrée and it was okay. I’ll definitely not be going back to the Middletown one. I’ll go to the one in Brick since it is larger and WAY closer to my house.

Love this place! My family and I frequent this location. Carrabba’s Middletown is superior to all of the other locations in this part of Jersey. The manager is one of the best I’ve seen. The service is consistently great, as well as the food.

First of all the staff and manager here are great, friendly, outgoing, professional!!! refreshing to see.
There aren’t many places to eat in Middletown, Red Bank, Highlands, Atlantic Highlands so for what you pay here the food is great I never had a bad meal ever!
I am here so much that I know everyone by name :) Ok maybe I am here too much :)
The menu is always the same I do wish they switch it up but I am guessing its a corporate thing. I love the beef braise yummy, the desserts are really good, the pasta is nice and I love the Marsala too
Really good food and in the summer they let you eat outside!!! always a bonus :)

Ok food especially since there’s not many good Italian places in Middletown.
Service is always better than average.
«I’ll be back»

To me, this is comparable to olive garden with a little higher quality. In my opinion, olive garden is catered more for larger parties though. This is the place that my family and I usually come to when we go out. The service is great and we have never had a bad experience. The pasta weesie is my go to dish. The chicken marsala is good as well. I would recommend one of the pastas over anything else.

Food just okay. Service was quite possibly the worst I’ve ever experienced. Our waitress would take half of our order and then walk away before we were finished ordering. She also decided to bring us another round of drinks without us even ordering them. The kids portions are so small, that we had to order a second helping for both our kids who are not big eaters. When dessert finally came around, the waitress took the dessert order, and before we could ask for coffee she scurried off again. She finally asked if we wanted coffee after she delivered the dessert, but of course none was ready so we ended up waiting for that too. Terrible experience.

Calamari appetizer was crisp and fresh and sauce ample. My wife has a caesar salad and tilapia nocciola with carrots and mine was the cobb salad with salmon, with shredded mozzarella instead of bleu cheese. Both were expertly prepared. I had a pinot noir that went well with my salad. The wait service was prompt and efficient and the atmosphere relaxed yet professional.