Carrabba's Italian Grill

Last night I had the opportunity to try Carrabba's Italian Grill near where I live. It is a chain but I was very impressed with the quality of food and service. I would definitely go back again. What is the general consensus regarding this Italian restaurant?

I suppose my general concensus is that this belongs in the chains forum.

I agree with zataar. As much as I like Carrabba's, this thread needs to be in the "chains" forum.
I will make my comments there.

I do think there is already a thread about Carrabbas in the FFF.

Yeah, it needs to be moved to the FFF forum

Last night I had the opportunity to try Carrabba's Italian Grill near where I live. It is a chain but I was very impressed with the quality of food and service. I would definitely go back again. What is the general consensus regarding this Italian restaurant?

I agree, although their prices are a little steep I find Carrabbas worth the extra cost. It sure blows Olive Garden out of the water. and the Red Sangria is great. I'm not sure about the wait staff; they are friendly to the point of being condescending, I really don't want to know where they go to school or how their day went. Just take my order with a smile bring my food and drink and bring my check in a timely manner and I'll leave you no less then a 20% tip. No small talk please !

quote:

Originally posted by anselmo1

Last night I had the opportunity to try Carrabba's Italian Grill near where I live. It is a chain but I was very impressed with the quality of food and service. I would definitely go back again. What is the general consensus regarding this Italian restaurant?

My wife and I absolutely love Carrabba's. It is our favorite restaurant! The next time you eat there, try their Triple Chicken, if you've never had it. It's not on the menu- it's a combo dinner of each of their 3 chicken dinners: Chicken Bryan, Chicken Marsala, and Polla Rosa Maria.

Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to slam the food snobs again. (I just LOVE doing that.)

Johnny Carrabba and Damian Mandola opened a restaurant in Houston, TX a long time ago; I think it was sometime in the '80's. They are both of Italian descent, and they used their grandmother's recipes. It was wildly successful, and eventually they sold to a big conglomerate.

I'm no fan of big conglomerates, but the food served at the current Carrabba's isn't substantially different from the old recipes they used to serve.

Johnny and Damian are REAL ITALIANS, and their grandmother was a REAL ITALIAN. The fact that they grew up in Houstin instead of some place in the northeast has NO bearing on their ability to cook good food.

The Mandola family has been responsible for a number of good restaurants in Houston over the years and still run the original Carraba's on Kirby, I think. It used to be almost impossible to get into that place. I haven't been in years and have never been to one of the chain locations. The family members have closed or sold off a lot of their operations for some reason but still have several (go to our local restaurant website b4-u-eat.com and enter Mandola for the restaurant name and see how many there were. Tony Mandola's Blue Oyster Bars were great). Mandola's Deli on Leeland near UH is run by some cousins and is one of the best places in Houston to get poboys and inexpensive Italian fare. Damian's on Smith was another venture of Damian Mandola and is still in business, I think. Damian (the older one on the public TV cooking show) has relocated to Austin and opened an Italian speciality market and deli.

quote:

Originally posted by Bushie

Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to slam the food snobs again. (I just LOVE doing that.)

Johnny Carrabba and Damian Mandola opened a restaurant in Houston, TX a long time ago; I think it was sometime in the '80's. They are both of Italian descent, and they used their grandmother's recipes. It was wildly successful, and eventually they sold to a big conglomerate.

I'm no fan of big conglomerates, but the food served at the current Carrabba's isn't substantially different from the old recipes they used to serve.

Johnny and Damian are REAL ITALIANS, and their grandmother was a REAL ITALIAN. The fact that they grew up in Houstin instead of some place in the northeast has NO bearing on their ability to cook good food.

Hear! Hear! Bushie, I'm w/ you on both counts. I get tired of the food snobs constantly engaging in their verbal sneers at what other RF-ers like and I still think Carrabba's is one of the best Italian restaurant experiences around--even if it is run by the Outback folks. That just goes to show that you can run a chain right and provide respectable & consistent good eating.

QFan
Bonita Springs, FL

quote:

Originally posted by anselmo1

Last night I had the opportunity to try Carrabba's Italian Grill near where I live. It is a chain but I was very impressed with the quality of food and service. I would definitely go back again. What is the general consensus regarding this Italian restaurant?

I also had the opportunity to dine at Carrabba's for the first time this past week, in Reston, VA. Being a Bostonian, I'm not often dining at Italian "chain" restaurants, as we have an abundance of local eateries and Boston's North End too.

One of the specials was the Triple Chicken dish that BBQJimBob mentioned. I didn't get that, but just got the Chicken Marsala, since their Marsala is apparently a special of the house, since you can get Chicken, Veal, Pork or Beef w/ their marsala sauce.

The fresh bread w/ olive oil & herbs was tasty enough. The spicy chicken soup hit the spot. And the Chicken Marsala w/ a side of spaghetti was actually very tasty. The chicken alone was grilled & very juicy & tasty. The marsala was good enough, not tremendous.

I also had the sangria as well and a decent glass of chianti for $6.

All in all, if I'm hungry and tired and there's a Carrabba's next door to my hotel, I'll be heading there for dinner.

John

Their meatballs are to die for!
I get the tagliarini Picchu pachu or something like that..
Fresh made marinara with garlic and basil and tomatoes.
I love Carrabbas.. I just might pick some up on my way to work, after reading this thread!

Maybe the family still has some say in the quility of things at Carrabba"s? Would be interesting to know. Oh, I love those PBS shows!
Joe

My favorite was the veal Piccata, but they don't seem to offer it anymore. And I love their fettucine Alfredo. Yummm. And the Dessert Rosa cake. And the bread and oil and herbs.

quote:

Originally posted by oltheimmer

Damian (the older one on the public TV cooking show) has relocated to Austin and opened an Italian speciality market and deli.

Damian lives in Driftwood west of Austin, and has recently opened a winery. That's near the original Salt Lick.

He opened a new place within the last year in Austin, Mandola's Italian Market. It's VERY good. http://www.whatsmandolas.com/

quote:

Originally posted by QFan



Hear! Hear! Bushie, I'm w/ you on both counts. I get tired of the food snobs constantly engaging in their verbal sneers at what other RF-ers like and I still think Carrabba's is one of the best Italian restaurant experiences around--even if it is run by the Outback folks. That just goes to show that you can run a chain right and provide respectable & consistent good eating.

QFan
Bonita Springs, FL

Ditto. Thanks.

Never heard of them.

Is their food salty? As much sodium as the Olive Garden?

And do they have any choices for those who can't eat meat anymore?

quote:

Originally posted by irisardor

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

Yeah, it needs to be moved to the FFF forum

oh c'mon Jackson, you really bore us with your "needs to be moved to the FFF forum" comments. Find a new pet peeve will ya?

Must be that you think rules were made to be broken? He is correct, by the way.

quote:

Originally posted by stricken_detective

Never heard of them.

Is their food salty? As much sodium as the Olive Garden?

And do they have any choices for those who can't eat meat anymore?

They have many classic Italian dishes there, and IMHO, I dont think their food is too salty.
I know their lasagna uses sausage and beef.

They are not everywhere in the US. Best to look up their website and see if there is one near you.

I only ate at a Carrabba's once while I was on vacation with my girlfriend in Florida. I would have preferred to go to a Roadfood type place, but after a long weekend of dragging her to diners and bbq shacks, this was her choice of where to go. Overall, we had a really good experience and both liked our food. Right now they are not in Pittsburgh. But, if they come here, I would go again.

There are lots of threads about chains scattered throughout the other forums still; you can always find a thread about a chain near the top of the hamburger forum and frequently several.

That being said, I think it would be better if those who object notified the moderators by e-mail rather than griping in the thread and waiting for the Bad Thread Fairy to come along and make things all better .

No one knows if the family still has a say about the quility of things? Hmmm, how could we find out? It is kinda strange that Carrabba's quility has stayed so high. If I were them, and my family name was at stake, I would keep some control.

Good idea Olth! That way the threads do not get clutterd up.
Joe

I like Carrabba's and yes, I'm a real Italian. My grandmother came over from Sicily in the very early 1900's.

John

I have been to Carrabba's many times and I have never had a bad meal there. The taste that they have maintained is very good.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

The mezzaluna is out of this world! Oh baby! The bread and oil/spices is delish. Can't go wrong, even if it's a chain!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by aprils0909

The mezzaluna is out of this world! Oh baby! The bread and oil/spices is delish. Can't go wrong, even if it's a chain!!!!!

You liked their chopping knives? Which did you prefer, the single-blae or the double-blade.

I agree, their bread and dipping oil are amazing. I've only had their capillini pomodoro but I really enjoyed it.

Their shrimp scampi appetizer with garlic toast is delicious.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

quote:

Originally posted by aprils0909

The mezzaluna is out of this world! Oh baby! The bread and oil/spices is delish. Can't go wrong, even if it's a chain!!!!!

You liked their chopping knives? Which did you prefer, the single-blae or the double-blade.

Yup! She thought that their mezzaluna was really sharp.