Carrabba's Italian Grill

I have always had a good meal at Carrabba's, and the meal I had there on New Year's Day was no exception. It is consistently good food done right in a pleasant atmosphere and with good service. Sure, it's a chain. And so sure, you expect a certain uniformity that comes from consisten recipes, some premade ingredients, etc. But good food it good food, no matter how it's prepared.

My friend and I arrive shortly before 5 PM, so certainly before the dinner rush. We were promptly greeted. When shown to a table, we asked for a booth and, after we returned with our waitress to the hostess station (I guess to check availability), we were promptly shown to a booth and told that Michael would take care of us. Menu promptly arrived, specials were recited, and a drink order taken, all in good time. 

My friend had soup and I had soup and a salad to start, all arrived at the same time. Always a bit of a conundrum for me--eat the salad first and let the soup get cold, or mix it up, hot and cold? A minor point, surely. The salad, a house salad, was very good, fresh and crisp. The tomato basil soup was excellent in every regard. I loved it a lot. We both agree that it was delicious.

For an entree my friend had the Chicken Parmesan with mashed potatoes. Both were very good. I had the Pollo Rosa Maria, chicken stuffed with fontina cheese and prosciutto, topped wiht mushrooms and a basil lemon butter sauce. Though I could not really see any prosciutto, the dish was nonetheless excellent. I did have the small portion, too. But it was very, very good, a nice sauce, good mushroom and cheese flavor. I'd say the chicken itself was just a tad bit dry, the the sauce and other flavors compensated well for that. For my side I had the broccoli. It was a bit mushy. I much prefer the broccoli at Red Lobster, just lightly blanched and crispy. Still it was not bad, just could have been better.

Overall, we had a very good meal here, once again. I like Carrabba's and I'll keep going back! One last comment, however. The exterior has got to be the plainest I've ever seen for a Carrabba's. Could be zoning or the plaza's rules, no doubt. But still, great food and always busy, a testament to good food.