Carrabba’s Italian Grill

My husband and I had dinner here to celebrate our 2^nd anniversary. When we walked in, the manger remembered us (it was our first time back since my husband had proposed to me) and he personally made sure everything was taking care of. They set a up a table with a white cloth and flowers just for us! The waiter was very friendly and professional, and our food was great! They made us feel special and it made our evening better than we could have expected!
THANK YOU CARRABBA’s!

I have not been to Carrabba’s in years and when I noticed there was one of Oracle I decided to go. My waiter was very helpful and attentive. I did give five stars, but my only complaint was my pasta was too salty at the time. I did get a doggy bag and took it home and later on it was perfect. I had a lot of questions about gluten free and again my waiter was very helpful. I will be returning thanks again for wonderful service and food.

I was surprised not to hate Carrabba’s, which is a chain restaurant of the type I typically avoid. However, it was the only thing open in the area, and we had a decent meal later in the evening. We were told that it was a «from scratch» kitchen and they could make any menu changes we wanted. I sort of object to the term «from scratch» though. I’m fairly certain they’re not making their pasta, bread, sauce, etc. from scratch.
Pasta doesn’t fit well in my diet, but I ordered two gluten-​free items off the appetizer menu: a caprese salad and a bowl of mussels. The salad was nice: a huge ball of mozzarella surrounded by tomatoes with some pickled onions (or some kind of processed onion). The mozzarella was excellent, but the server poured oil over it as he set it down and this dish did NOT need more oil. It was pretty greasy. The tomatoes were tasty but there were a lot of them. I finished the cheese but had to take the tomatoes home and put them in a stir fry. There was very little basil in this dish, chopped very fine. It didn’t add much to the flavor profile.
The mussels were edible. I’ve had much worse mussels, but I’ve also had much better. The garlicky lemony broth went a long way toward improving their taste, but they just weren’t great mussels.
I also tried the calamari, which was also adequate. Not rubbery, not soggy.
One of our party had a birthday, and they brought out some ice cream. The ice cream was very good.

Carrabba’s is my go to for Italian food. The prices are reasonable and the food is amazing. I have never had to wait more than 30 minutes to be sat (I do call ahead seating on the weekends). I always order the sirloin with marsala sauce (one of the best marsala sauces I have ever had) with the garlic mashed potatoes. The cesar salad is also the best I have ever had; I usually take home a small container of the dressing for myself. The bread service is also delicious and they are always accommodating when we ask for more. The bruchetta appetizer is also really good and plentiful. I always recommend this place to my friends and family because there is not better place to get delicious Italian food. We ALWAYS get the chocolate dream for dessert; it is like a little slice of chocolate heaven and even on the days where I feel that I can eat no more, I have to order this dessert.

For a chain Italian restaurant they do it right. We went in a group of 5 and nothing any of us ordered was bad. Their seafood was delightful as well (considering we are in the middle of the dessert)… you must try the new Copping dish!

This place was great last year. don’t know what happened but imagine they have a different distributor now. The steaks aren’t as good, they used to be fantastic every time. Now we get one good steak and one bad tough steak with each meal and the menu has changed too. I feel sorry for staff and management because they are great. Really great. It is just the food that’s no longer up to snuff. Too bad, I really liked this chain. All things must go I guess… one can dream… must have changed corporate hands

Great dinner and service. I had the Veal Marsalis that was delicious. My husband tried the lobster ravioli and loved it. Home made hot bread. Dessert chocolate specialty cake could be very addicting. Seating is very comfortable and there is a nice bar lounge where you can wait to be seated for dinner.

I came here because I had a coupon for a free appetizer and a free entrée. They were very accommodating to take both coupons and the waitstaff was friendly enough. My drinks were always filled and they promptly asked if we needed more bread as soon as it ran low.
However I probably wouldn’t come here unless I had a coupon or discount. The food is petty overpriced and the portion sizes don’t match the high cost.

This is my new favorite Italian restaurant, even though Macaroni Grill has the Penne Rustica plate, the Carrabbas Chicken Bryan beats it handily.
The staff are well trained and friendly, they give a decent military discount as well.

As chain Italian restaurants go, not bad. I find their pasta dishes are pretty good and their other entrees although I’m not really Italian are also pretty good. It does vary a little bit in quality it seems to depend on who the manager on duty is and how carefully there watching what comes out of the kitchen.

Great service. I had the bowl of chicken soup for dinner. It’s definitely more than enough food for dinner for me. It was edible and good, just not out-​of-​this– world good. Then again, I’m comparing it to my own chicken soup recipe which is a twist on my grandmother’s. Hard to beat that. This is a chain or franchise, which is hard to make me really appreciate it as authentic. Some of the local competitors do it better.

When you see the Sysco food trucks drive by you know these chain restaurants are getting their food from them! Never fresh, always frozen.
Our service was hit and miss. The waiter took our order for two red wines. A few minutes later a young girl delivered two white wines — really?
We each ordered salads, one CAESAR and one HOUSE SALAD with CREAMY PARMESAN DRESSING. Mine was good but my husband’s — and I would agree — did not appear to have any creamy parmesan dressing. We tried to flag down the waiter which was no where to be found for 5 mins. or more only to find out it did have the right dressing but it was buried under the salad. It wasn’t even tossed!
I ordered the small plate CHICKEN PARMESAN — absolutely horrible! Being Italian myself I like a hearty thick spaghetti sauce. I’m so OVER THESE ITALIAN WANNABE RESTAURANTS that serve a bland chunky tomato — no stick-​to-​your-​pasta– MARINARA SAUCE!!! It was WAAAYY too spicy for Italian. Every bite was a sip of water in-​between. And the chicken was so thin and overcooked the edges were burnt and very dry with very little mozzarella on top. I could not even finish it.
My husband ordered the combination CHICKEN PARMESAN and LASAGNA and his was good. His chicken was much thicker and more tender.
If I had a choice, I would not return to Carrabba’s.

Had not been to Carrabbas in quite a while. It was my sister’s birthday and that’s where she wanted to go, so the whole family showed up to help her celebrate. I will state that I worked at Carrabbas for several years and always enjoy going in and seeing my former friends and regulars. Tonight was no exception. Glad to see that so many of them continue to patronize the place.
Our dinner overall was excellent. Emery, our sever, was excellent. She made certain glasses were full and made excellent suggestions. The food was up to the standards that I knew Carrabbas always held. We had a variety of everything off the menu and everyone in the party enjoyed their dinner. Anything with marsala was a big hit and my mom has always, and continues to love the lasagna. My favorite thing was my lentil and sausage soup. It was nicely spicy and well seasoned. It was nice to see and taste the Carrabbas that I knew when I worked there.
I am glad to see that Carrabbas has continued to succeed and still lives up to its standards of offering excellent food and excellent service.

Had the Mezzaluna and mamas chicken soup! Both were delicious. Also had cannolis and the sonjo chocolate cake for dessert. Waiter Michael was awesome, very attentive to our table.

We won’t return. I know opinions of food and restaurants are subjective. With that in mind, we used to love Carrabba’s, but not any more. Portions are small and waaaay over-​priced. Service has always been good for us, and the ambience is fine.
Yesterday, I ordered spaghetti and sausage. The pasta didn’t seem fresh, the sausage was horribly bland, and I didn’t care for the marinara sauce. My wife’s $ 16 salad was saturated with dressing, too much for her taste. Our waitress offered to remedy my dissatisfaction, but I didn’t think it was Carrabba’s fault that I had ordered something I didn’t care for. It wasn’t until after we had paid and left that my wife reminded me that I hadn’t liked what I ordered the last time we had dined there (months ago).
There are too many other excellent Italian restaurants in Tucson for us to ever return to Carrabba’s, places where you get larger portions and pay less.

Absolutely loved this place! My husband and I went here for the first time last weekend. We had such an excellent waiter and the food was sooo to die for. The fact that they are a scratch kitchen is pretty cool too :) We are definitely going again.

How people give this restaurant less than four stars is beyond me. The food is excellent and reasonably priced, and I’ve always had very good service. To be fair, though, I never go during the busiest hours. They have great salads, soups, and appetizers too. I recently had the Shrimp Diavalo appetizer, and it was very flavorful without being too spicy. Their wines are good and not overpriced, which is rare. They offer a «cortino», which is an 8-​ounce glass rather than the usual 5-​ounce, and it’s just the right size. Last time I had the Lobster Ravioli and it was outstanding. Next time I’ll try the Mezzaluna, which looked equally tempting. I wish they had more than one Tucson location.

Carrabba’s We love it, we always ordered «chicken marsalla,» delicious, and the desert is always chocolate cake so delicious, the service is perfect, our waiter or waitress is always friendly, nice, and treat us like important people, we ordered a sangria, so fresh, and taste delicious.

Stopped in here last Wednesday when we found out that Buba’s Grub was closed for all you can eat ribs and chicken night, due to a power outage. We went into the El Charro café first, but it took 10 minutes to get chips and salsa, and after another 5 minutes we still hadn’t seen a waitress yet. Since their prices seemed very high for simple mexican food, we walked out.
I’m glad we moved over to Carrabba’s! I had the pork chops marsala, which was delicious! My friend had the 3 chicken dish combo, with grilled asparagus that was AMAZING! It had a smoky flavor to it that was great. It’s worth the extra $ 1.50 upcharge!
As corporate restaurants go, these guys do a great job of remaining consistently good. The prices were reasonable for the quality of the food you get. The service was great.

So far service not good. Had to get up and get our silverware The sling provided for the baby was totally unsafe and dirty. Unraveled at both ends! Our appetizers had been served but we had nothing to eat them with!!! Waitress is extremely busy. Has served us food reaching over my husband sitting next to me. Brought out a wine that tasted like pure alcohol. Served me a glass and asked that I pass the other one to my husband! Very classy! House salad? Please see picture and let me know what you think! Some iceberg lettuce, a few strand of carrots and two olives!!! The lentil soup was ok. Everything else was … just ok. Nothing special about the food and service … Well I don’t think there is anything about this restaurant that would entice me to come back. Koodos to manager for not charging us for the awful wine!

Food is great for a chain restaurant. My boyfriend ordered a ribeye and received a fillet. Took forever to get the order straight and I was finished eating by the time he received his correct meal.
The kids meals are absolutely worth it and the bread is outstanding.

Italian food options in Tucson can tend to be found all over the quality radar from poor to great — and can be so inconsistent. I waited until my 3^rd visit to Carrabba’s to write this review for that exact reason.
It’s safe to say that management and staff take pride at Carrabba’s. Carrabba’s is ALWAYS busy. But if you call ahead, it will only take you a few minutes to be seated from when you enter. The restaurant is always clean, from the tables and the silverware to the walls and floors.
The service is consistently spot on — the moment you need a refill, it’s there. The timing is almost perfect between courses. I’ve had to wait maybe an extra minute or two for my entrée after my salad is cleared, but that’s really nothing to quibble over for how busy they are. The 3 different servers I had were all genuinely pleasant and modern, and the teamwork there is remarkable.
The food is LIGHTYEARS better than Olive Garden (and unfortunately better than Vivace as well). The noodles taste freshly made and the Alfredo sauce is always perfect (not too creamy/​thick/​runny, just right). The salad dressings also taste homemade and are rich in flavor — I usually get the Parmesan dressing. The mussels appetizer is fantastic — you will want an extra helping of bread to dip in the broth and at happy hour they are ½ off!
I order the Johnny, which is sirloin marsala with Chricken Bryan (chicken with goat cheese, basil, sun dried tomato and lemon butter) and I add a breast of Chicken Rosa Maria (stuffed with fontina and prosciutto, then topped with mushrooms and lemon butter). This is absolutely awesome — the steak has a great wood flavor and was cooked perfectly and was LEAN! And the chicken is just the right texture and also wood flavor, with those fabulous toppings…
THE PRICE: We had Zucchini Sticks and Mussels, 2 cocktails, 2 entrees with an add-​on, the most wonderful Dessert Trio, and 2 after dinner drinks for a total, with tax, of $ 80 — so we ate like royalty and it was reasonably priced. I think you need to give them a try and see for yourself!

I absolutely love this restaurant.
Their take-​out service is just as great as their in-​house service.
Today my family was served by a wonderful waitress (her name was Katie B.) and she was quite an attentive and kind person. The hostess also was very welcoming and she knew right away who I was. She led us to our table and our waitress took our orders almost immediately. I have to say, the daiquiri that I decided to get was quite delicious and I had a wonderful salad and entrée. I highly recommend the Lobster Ravioli or the Lobster Mac-​and-​Cheese. In addition, we had a to go order and the waitress timed it perfectly so that the to-​go order was ready by the time we finished our meals. Overall, 5 stars for the great customer service and great food! :)