Carrabba’s Italian Grill

Ironically, I went, literally, years thinking that I didn’t like this place all because a false point of comparison: I went to Carrabba’s anchoring my point of reference to The Olive Garden. Big mistake. In hindsight, Carrabba’s is more like Outback than it is like The Olive Garden. Take note of the word «Grill» in their name and don’t make the same mistake that I did.
While they have somewhat of a limited pasta menu (at least compared to The Olive Garden), the grilled meats here are awesome! The Chicken Bryan (wood-​grilled and topped with goat cheese, sun-​dried tomatoes, basil and lemon butter sauce), Pollo Rosa Maria (wood-​grilled chicken topped with fontina cheese, prosciutto, mushrooms, basil and lemon butter sauce) and Prosciutto-​Wrapped Pork Tenderloin (medallions wrapped in prosciutto, wood-​grilled and topped with port wine fig sauce) are all top-​notch!
On the appetizer front, all of their flatbread are delicious and are easily shareable amongst party of 4+. I really loved their Caramelized Onion & Bacon and Chicken & Zucchini, however, don’t fall too hard as they are seasonal offerings and change every few months.
YOU MUST GET THE MAMA MANDOLA’S SICILIAN CHICKEN SOUP. END OF STORY. Seriously, this soup eats like an entrée and tastes better than some other items on the entrée menu at the aforementioned other italian restaurant. Huge hunks of pulled chicken and tons of vegetables that will warm your soul.
We have tried several desserts, and the only noteworthy one that we really liked was the Limoncello Bread Pudding and… you guessed it… seasonal. If you happen to be there while they are offering it, I highly recommend it.
Some of their seasonal offerings are more miss than hit, so that is the primary detractor for me. If they had the stuff that I love year-​round, I’d bump them up to 5 Stars.

You know those times when you’re hungry, but you’ve been doing something that just makes you want to NOT sit in a restaurant? Well that was my daughter and I after a long day of field hockey… in the rain. We just wanted to grab and go and we KNEW we could do that at Carrabba’s…
Well, we THOUGHT we knew…
We arrived at Carrabba’s at 8:40 on Saturday night (the place was half full) and had our order placed by 8:43. The guy looked at us and said «You guys looked whooped, I will get this out to you ASAP so you can get it home to eat.» I thanked him and headed back out to my car, started it and listened to the radio as my daughter played some games on her phone. All we ordered was lasagna and an order of linguini with a lemon butter sauce. This meal should have taken 10 minutes… TOPS…to get out to us. And we waited… and we waited… and we changed the station… and we waited… and I tried a couple games… and we waited. We waited for over 30 minutes to get our food. The only reason I didn’t leave was because I KNEW that they’d come out at any second and I KNEW if we went somewhere else we’d end up waiting longer.
.Idiot.
The young lady who finally brought out our food was apologetic, but she wasn’t the one who promised to get it out ASAP either.
More than 30 minutes… unacceptable. The only reason they got two stars is the food was actually very good. However, regardless of the flavor of the food, I can’t imagine I will be back…

Delicious and always consistent. The food is fresh made and I find it a lot better than other chains.

This place used to be good. New menu is horrible. Food was mediocre at best. When did this place become Olive Garden?

Ate on a Saturday night with my husband. Shared zucchini frites. He had strawberry salad. I had Italian salad and prosciutto wrapped asparagus small plate
Positives:
Food was good. We enjoyed the dip with the zucchini frites. I really liked the reduction on my asparagus and they were generous with olives on Italian salad
Negatives:
Service was SLOW!!! Once we were seated it took almost 10 minutes for our waiter to greet us and take drink order. By then we were ready to order food too and it took almost an hour for it to arrive. By this point we needed to be going somewhere so we requested the check when he brought out food. We had finished the food and he had still not brought our check. I had to flag down the manager and ask for our check.

Minus the wait times (which was worth it) loved every bit of the experience. Food was great and the staff was amazing. My server was Will, he was on point the entire night even with being packed

Great meal!
I was in Richmond on business and passed this place on my way home, I’d never been to Carrabba’s before so I decided to try something new for dinner. I ordered the Chicken Bryan, and was pleasantly surprised to see that they offered a half, as well as full-​sized portion of the meal. I was in the mood for a light dinner (plus, my hotel had no fridge to store leftovers), so the half size was perfect for me. The chicken breast was succulent and flavorful, the sundried tomatoes were a nice touch and the lemon basil sauce was to DIE for! Even at half-​size, the portion was still plenty.
Two things I didn’t like:
1.) The bartender was aggressively talking politics at the bar. That’s the quickest way to make a congenial atmosphere turn nasty real quick. Further, that’s not the way to cultivate a positive guest atmosphere AT ALL. Regardless of your political leanings, do that on your own time.
2.) $ 8 for dessert? Uhhh… no. I considered it briefly, but thank goodness they were out of what I requested. I could not believe how outrageous that price was.
If I’m in the area, I will probably dine here again, but I think I’ll get a table next time.

The place was packed on a Saturday evening but we were seated promptly and service was fast and friendly. Our drink orders were promptly taken and delicious crusty bread with a wonderful herb-​olive oil dip. My wife and I both had the spicy sausage and lentil soup which was amazing, we enjoyed it a lot.
My wife had the Chicken Bryan with cavatappi amatriciana pasta. The chicken was simply superb, so tender, succulent and flavorful. The accompanying pasta was also delicious. I had the Tuscan grilled sirloin which is offered in 6 or 9 ounce portions. I wish there was an option for a larger cut but the steak was very tender and juicy and perfectly seasoned. It was absolutely delicious. My fettuccine alfredo was okay but nothing special, I would have like a tad more sauce. Our dinner companions had pizza and Italian chopped salads which they both enjoyed a lot.
Our friends were visiting from the Netherlands and we tried Carrabba’s since it was near their hotel but since it’s a two hour drive from our home we will probably not return to this location but certainly look forward to trying the location in our own city. I’ve heard plenty of people say good things about Carrabba’s, I’m glad I finally tried it for myself. I was really pleasantly surprised to find a national chain restaurant this good. Truthfully, I would rate them 4.5 stars but since we don’t have an option for fractions 5 stars it is.

I don’t give five stars often, however this Carrabba’s was Fantastic! From the greeting of the host at our arrival, to the excellent service from Justin our waiter. The smiles, atmosphere, music, and the company of my beautiful wife and mother I could not ask for a more pleasant lunch. I had the fettuccine Weesie SUPERB! Mom had the chicken parm sandwich with a tomato/​cucumber salad, OUTSTANDING! (I tasted her salad) My wife had the salmon with broccoli, DELICIOUS! Our over all total experience at this Carrabba’s was worth 5 stars… and we didn’t even eat dessert. #BONUS

Jackie was my waitress and she was awesome! The chicken Marsala was the best! Also the lettuce wraps were really good! Dessert was sogno di cioccolata Amazing!

Awesome food even better service. Our servers name was John and he was amazing. He went over what soups they had, recommended a great wine choice and made sure our drinks were always full. For my fiancé’s first experience here it couldn’t be any better. We can’t wait to come back!

The service was great. Attentive and friendly (shout out to Chiquita!). The food was tasty. It was packed so we sat by the pizza oven which was both warm (welcomed in a chilly restaurant) and entertaining watching the pizzas and salads being made. It was very busy so be prepared to wait on a weekend night. The food is not the quality of some of the West End Italian restaurants but, for the Southside, it’s a decent option.

Love coming to this location everyone is always so friendly and warm. I go there so often the staff knows my name and «my usual». Best time to go is between 3−7pm half priced apps and drinks!

Carrabbas or Carrabbays is a chain restaurant all about providing a meal that’s reasonably OK not good not bad and reminiscent of Italian cuisine, but it was not Italian cuisine, yet I think they hope you think it is or that’s the idea. But ha its better than the great noodle restaurant Olive Vol Garden lol.
Food cost and table turn over is clearly a primary concern. It’s a tight ship designed to gleen all your gold, a pirate like ship.
The anti pasta was three cheese sticks some squid, marinara sauce and toast. Cheese Sticks OMG
The soup was salty as brine, (sent it back), the veal scallopini was slightly over cooked (burnt), the steak was not cooked as ordered, the pasta tasted as it has been soaking in water, one dish that was ordered separately never showed up, but was paid for.
The high lights were one cocktail (good bartender), a half glass of wine, and the bread.
The cost for 3 people was 90 dollars. The dinner was slightly over priced, but primarily the food was an insult to real Italian food, which is the best food in the world.
But ha, its a restaurant in the middle of an asphalt parking lot at some kinda shopping center.
Oh yea, the coffee was Great! but darn only one refill, what did di say about it? :)

My wife and I have been coming to this Carrabba’s location for years. I consider myself to be somewhat of a foodie and feel that I know the difference between good, mediocre and bad food. To put this in the same class as Olive Garden and Maggiano’s is absurd in my opinion. Carrabba’s is by far the best chain restaurant I’ve ever gone to and I eat out multiple times a week. However, with that being said there has been a bit of a decline in the service over the last year. Always quickly seated but seemingly always waiting an excessive amount of time for the entrée, appetizer etc. But apologies are always abundant and if the wait time is excessive the manager adjust the bill or comps the meal. The decline in service is the reason for the 4 stars.

Everything on the menu is awesome best place for Italian in midlothian. I have been there atleast 45 times they are like family to us everytime we come in

Food was amazing and worth 5 stars. We were there from out of town. Unfortunately the service sucked. Front of the house was great, but our server Alex didn’t deserve a tip he was given. He was lazy and unattentive. Yes, I notified
management and she berated him and we could HEAR her. Very unprofessional. She offered to take 15% off the bill, which we took, but that was not the point of complaining. It was lunch time and they barely had customers, yet we could see him socializing all over the restaurant with the front of the house, other servers trying to work and even with kitchen staff. We had to wave over other servers to get his job done.

I come to Carrabbas all of the time and this is one of my favorite spots. The food is good and the staff is great. I enjoy bringing my friends and family for the experience of coming here.
The management is always on point and comes around to make sure that the experiences is great. If there is ever a problem, they are attentive and will do anything they need to make things better.
The general manager Donnel (sp) is amazing. He will work in the kitchen and cook of the cooks are running behind. He will come to front and expedite as well. He likes to make sure everyone gets hot, freshly made food.
I will keep coming back as long as the food and service remain top notch.

Today was our 3^rd visit and we enjoyed ourselves. Our kids’ pizza was burned but, our server intercepted it before it reached our table. He got the cooks to remake the pizzas and the manager absorbed the costs. The Scampi Damien was awesome and so was the salad that my husband ordered.

It’s Carrabba’s. It’s a chain. Service was okay. Not much atmosphere to speak of. Food isn’t amazing. It’ll do if you order the right thing. Definitely overpriced, though.

Our server, Nat, demonstrated a Master class in the art of food service. From quirky jokes to clever quips, his attitude was professional while still retaining the family-​style feel of a true Italian place. He exhibited a command of the menu, knowing about everything on it, as well as making suggestions that made my meal better (suggesting adding baked mozzarella to my spaghetti was a little tip only someone who cared would have suggested, and it paid off for my taste buds). A nice touch? Nat knew how to properly present wine, which is something you wouldn’t expect from a chain place. I got service tonight I would expect at a fine steakhouse. Truly a wonderful experience.
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My boyfriend got the Tag Pic Pac, a pasta dish with a light tomato sauce with sauteed veggies. He usually gets this dish, and according to him, always delivers.
I went basic and got the Spaghetti with meat sauce, and added some sausage. With Nat’s suggestion, the baked mozzarella added a perfect finish and made this taste just like I imagine a classic spaghetti tastes like.
Calamari was light, well seasoned, and came with the perfect dipping sauces. No complaints.
Panna Cotta was wonderful. Wonderful. Not too too heavy, but dense enough to provide a hearty finish to a wonderful meal.
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I will now and forever more shun anyone who puts Olive Garden and Carrabba’s in the same group; they are not and have never been in the same class of eateries. I love this place, I will return to this place, and I will bring people to this place. And I will request Nat.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill continues to be the default for tasty, fresh, and the big one here… CONSISTENT Italian cuisine. Their Sirloin Marsala is a hit for me as well as the «safe» traditional selections such as lasagna, chicken parm., etc. there are a couple better choices in the Richmond area, but they can be HIT and MISS.

I use to love this Carrabbas, but it’s gone downhill I guess. Myself and two friends came in November for a birthday dinner. The waiter made small talk with us, and asked us how we were. We responded and asked him how he was (like you normally would… just being polite) and we were bombarded with pretty much his life story and his physical ailments. It was painfully awkward. Aside from that, there was a group of 4 – 6 old people next to us, and even though we got there first, they received everything much sooner than us. Our appetizers were greasy, and we only got bread half way through after we requested it. During our meal, an employee a table over dropped a tray of drinks and ice bounced around everywhere. Some landed in my bag, and on my coat there were no audible apologies.
Shout out to the waiter Tyler for being great the other times we’ve been here.

I love this place… I always get the Pasta Weesie and I am never disappointed. Although I usually leave smelling like garlic it is all worth it. The restaurant is dimly lit but once your eyes adjust its not too bad. Most of the servers are pretty nice and knowledgeable about the food. I have never had a long wait time for my food.

Great service, made me scratch fries because they weren’t on the menu. So good.
The jack and cokes were $ 3. Something, yummy.
Nothing special, watered down chicken pretty flavorless, but some of the best fries is town.

I’ve been to this Carrabba’s a few times over the past few years but am just getting around to writing a review. I had a gift card from the recent holidays that I wanted to use so dropped in one night, which prompted this review. The service has always been fast and friendly, and the food has generally been very good.
My first visit, I ordered the Chicken Bryan and was floored with how good the flavors are! It’s a wood-​grilled chicken breast topped with goat cheese, sun-​dried tomatoes and a basil lemon butter sauce. I dream about it. Yes, it’s that good. My second visit I ordered something with salmon and, sadly, the the fish was bad. They were apologetic and quick about replacing it, and even comp’d my entrée so I was OK. It shouldn’t happen in a high-​volume restaurant but I understand it sometimes does. I appreciated the way they handled it so I returned another time. This recent visit I ordered the Chicken Trio… it’s a combo of their three prime chicken entrees. I knew I couldn’t survive without some Chicken Bryan so it quenched that craving as well as letting me taste a portion of their Marsala and Rosa Maria. All three were outstanding.
This location gets busy. It seems every time I drive by the parking lot is packed. I know that doesn’t always equate to good food (i.e. the OG is always busy too) but this place is genuinely good food and good service. I’m not usually drawn to chain restaurants but Carrabba’s is worth a visit.