A Visit to Carrabba's Italian Grill
By Michele Blandino
Folks looking for moderately-priced yet tasty good Italian food in a relaxed atmosphere need look no further than Carrabba's Italian Grill.
A Little Background Information
The first Carrabba's Italian Grill was opened 1986 by Houston restaurateurs Johnny Carrabba and Damian Mandola. Relying on a repertoire of family recipes, the restaurant features authentic Italian cooking.
After the formation of a joint-venture partnership with Australian-based Outback Steakhouse in 1993, Carrabba's went nationwide. Today, there are over 100 Carrabba's Italian Gill locations in operation throughout the United States. However, because their emphasis is on gathering the freshest ingredients for their meals, the menu offered may vary from one location to the next.
The location we visited is in Green Brook, New Jersey. While the restaurant does not take reservations, they do have a "call ahead" service which cut our wait time from 45 minutes to about 20 minutes.
The restaurant features tiled floors and textured walls all done in a variety of muted browns, oranges and gold tones. The restaurant isn't very big - it probably seats less than 200 people - and features a mix of tables and spacious booths. Overall, the decor is not overdone; although the vintage photographs of "old-world" family members were somewhat curious.
Waiting to be Seated
As in most chain restaurants, we were given a beeper when we checked in and were ushered to a waiting area. While we are waiting for our table, my husband and his friend went to the bar to get us drinks. They were gone quite awhile - nearly 15 minutes - because the bar staff had run out of clean wine glasses and they had to wait for the dishwasher to complete its cycle.
At the Table
Our waitress was very courteous, but she didn't seem to have a good understanding of the menu. For instance, when my friend asked if the Alfredo sauce used in one of the dishes was heavy or light, she replied that the sauce was pretty well mixed through the pasta.
Noticing we already had our drinks, she moved right on to presenting the bread which was served warm and accompanied by a mixture of herbs and olive oil. She didn't go into great detail about the specials, opting instead to ask if we had any questions about the specials that were listed in the menu.
The Meal
While the menu had a number of attractive appetizer options, we decided to forego the starters in anticipation of having room for dessert. Our meals came with a choice of soup or a choice of salad: Caesar, an Italian Salad or a traditional Garden Salad. When the salads arrived, they were entirely wrong - I believe we ordered three traditional and one Caesar, but received 3 Caesars and one traditional. The food is not actually served by the waitress, so our questions about what we received were met with puzzlement. Fortunately, our dinners arrived as ordered.
The food was hot, plentiful and tasty. My husband commented that the veal he ordered was as tender as he had had in quite some time. The meals came with a choice or pasta or garlic mashed potatoes and both were plentiful.
By the time the dessert tray was presented, I was too stuffed to even look; however, my husband managed to find room for Tiramisu while our friends shared a Creme Brule. After dessert and coffee, we were finished.
The Check
The bill for 4 adults - which included entrees, a round of wine, 2 desserts, 2 coffees and one cappuccino - including tax and tip, was $120.00 - roughly $30 per person. Given the quality and quantity of the food presented, I feel this was a good value.
One word of caution: if you are not particular about your wine, opt for the house wine over the name-brand. While the house brand was a little pricey - $4.79 per glass, some of the label brands were $8 and more per glass.