Carrabba’s Italian Grill

Me and my boyfriend had bigger expectations for this place, and after tomorrow we are sure we are gonna stick for Olive Garden if we want some Italian food.
First of all, our waitress obviously forgot how to smile and be nice, didn’t tell us about happy hours going on.
Not happy with food at all, totally overpriced!
Next, in a menu, next to entrées it’s written how you are getting one side with it, and as specialty you can order grilled asparagus for $ 1 something. While I was ordering i said what i want and said how i want my mashed potatoes to be my side and asparagus as extra one from the specialty. She even repeated after me, but when we got check, she put asparagus for a side and my mashed potato was more than $ 3. Which I think was very rude and me and my boyfriend didnt even want to say anything, we just wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Big expectations but definitely not coming back!

Pretty disappointed in the experience i just had here. I used to come here all the time… loved the bread, great entrees, great bartenders! I just ordered togo and the food we picked up was not only wayyyy overpriced for what you receive, but the food was tough and dry. We also received no bread when we specifically asked for it on the phone as well as extra dressing for the salad. No utensils. No napkins. Just the absolute bare minimum all around. Even the dessert was terrible. Learned my lesson.

We live only blocks from this Carrabba’s and have been there probably 10 times over the past several years. Our experience has been all over the map… but for the most part, below average. You may wonder why we keep going back — partly it is because I love Italian food, the other main reason is convenience. (Reston Town Center can be crazy crowded and frustrating to park in – this place never has a wait.) Their wait staff is constantly changing, and for the most part — sadly lacking. The food is hit or miss. Parking can be challenging as they are located next to the YMCA and they get spillover cars from there.

The atmosphere is great, server Manny and manager Chris were really friendly, kind, and extremely helpful as well as understanding after my ordeal. I ordered their Monday 3course deal and it was one wrong thing after another. First, the calamari plate was too chewy and papery. Secondly, the house salad was cold to chew as though they took it out of the freezer and defrosted at room temp. Thirdly, after two tries at the lasagna plate, it was STILL cold! I appreciate the management taking care of the bill but I was really looking to having my dinner two hours before. Oh that right, did I not say that it took two and a half hours? Sigh…

The evening started out poorly but the managing partner on staff, Jeremy, turned things around for us and we had a very pleasant experience overall. We arrived and was advised that we had a 15 – 20 minute wait time with 2 small kids. After 30 minutes I approached the host asking about time and we still had 4 more guests in front of us. We ended up waiting over an hour to be seated. Additionally, it was even more frustrating because a lot of the tables were unattended. It appeared to be a serving staff issue that evening. When seated I requested to speak with manager on staff, which was Jeremy. He introduced himself and I explain our experience not expecting anything but to be heard. He quickly offered free appetizer and apologized. From that point on Jeremy placed an exceptional waiter on our table and he himself continued to check in on us. The experience was transformed into a VIP dining experience — all very unexpected. At end of the dining our bill was reduced and we were offered a certificate for future dining. It was a total WOW experience ! Food and service was good. The negative experience in the beginning was changed to we’ll definitely continue to dine there again… Thanks to Jeremy!!!

The food is good, I had the linguini with white clams, a new menue item.
The person I was dining with had the mahi-​mahi and realy liked it.
The service is abysmal. We were there at 6:30 on Saturday night and had to wait 30 minutes to get house salads that came with the meal. The main course arrived 30 seconds later. The waiter never refilled our water.

You know, some things just never change. This place is…, without a doubt, always very consistent with bad hostess, server, service, dirty tables and mediocre food.
Let me just share my most recent experience as an example. We went on a week night last week, this restaurant is pretty slow and you would agree if you’ve dined in once before. Hostess was rather interesting, looked confused & overwhelmed. Took a solid 5 minutes to decide where to seat us, maybe because they have way too many open tables or simply having the worst day I don’t know I am not even sure. He sat us in the very first booth by the hostess stand out of all places and booth was disgusting. Crumbs all over the bench, table didn’t look clean and bench & side wall was just gross. I asked to clean the bench and he gave me the dirtiest look as if I was asking for some money. He hesitated for a minute and just stared. I wasn’t going to ask for his cleaning supplies and wipe down the bench all by myself so I waited, finally cleaned, did a terrible job and I was a bit bitter about that.
So now we were finally seated, I took my phone out to checked in on Unilocal (yes, I am a proud Unilocaler) and after about 15 minutes, our server finally came to get us water. How considerate! I was dying of dehydration but that’s just my issue. Service was extremely slow the whole time, she was not attentive, and no where to be found. We wasted more time waiting for service than time spent eating which I find it to be ridiculous
Food, ugh, I had the chicken fettuccine pasta and my bf has his chicken Marsala. My slices of chicken tasted frozen and pasta wasn’t cook all the way & super blend. I only ate the chicken and mushrooms but didn’t touch the pasta. I just couldn’t.
The only good thing about this place is they open relatively late for «Reston» which is why we were there in the first place because many restaurants close early during week nights and didn’t want fast food.
We are done with your restaurant. Good bye.

In terms of Italian food, this place is pretty far below the bar. Their marinara sauce tastes so watered down, and factory processed. I.E. it tastes like something from your local grocers frozen food isle. It’s simply not good.
The fried calamari we had was a rubbery /​chewy mess. We noticed that the table next to us ordered it as well, and sent it back for the same reason. Clearly whomever was in charge of preparing it had no clue what they were doing.
The blackberry Bellini drinks we ordered were pretty good. In fact, they were the best thing brought to the table that evening — With the exception of the bread. So I suppose if bread and drinks are your dining desires, then Carrabba’s may be the best spot for you. However, if you’re looking for «good» Italian cuisine, look elsewhere.

So when they first opened a few years ago, had dinner and really enjoyed it. Went back a couple of times and same result. Good to very good. Then about 4 years ago, went in for dinner and swore I would never go back. It was awful. So tonight, I picked up house guests from France and they wanted Italian and Pizza. At 9PM, I was left with little choice and this joint is on the way home. Stopped in the host who was Asian had a really shitty attitude. Took us to the table and dropped the menus on in the middle. Came back behind and dropped the silverware on the table. Mind you, anyone else who would have come up on my back like that would have been shot or got their ass kicked. If anyone deserved an ass kicking, it was the host tonight. The saving grace was our waitress from Venezuela. Great personality. The food was mediocre at best. They forgot to bring out the salad with the dinner. Would I go back there again in a pinch? Not a chance. This place needs a top to bottom make over starting with the pinhead host. #fail

This place has really gone down hill… haven’t been there in quite some time and the service was horrible. I think they are understaffed. After sitting at our table for 10 minutes nobody came by. The host comes by and says our waiter is busy with other tables and should be over soon. 5 more minutes and nothing. I wave down the host who takes our order and has no idea how to do so… have to repeat ourselves over and over. It then takes 15 to 20 minutes to get our food and the orders are screwed up. My soup was lukewarm. The wifes chicken dish was bland.
Bottom line is this place is now mismanaged. Nobody is providing oversight on the staff to ensure things are done correctly. It’s a shame as it used to be very good and we would go with a party of 10 – 12 and be very pleased.
Will not be returning…

The food is mediocre. I go for the bar. If you keep it simple with food and drink its OK. The food preparation is hit or miss. If you stick with straight liquor & beer you’ll enjoy. Mixed drinks are hit or miss also, depending on the bartender.

We visited Carrabba’s last night. We’ve been there several times and after this time we won’t be back. The waiter was very well meaning and seemed like he wanted to get things for us but it took him a very long time and we had to flag him down more than once rather than him checking on us. Also, my husband said that his fingernails were really dirty. Sort of a turnoff for someone who will be handling your food/​drinks.
Other waiters brought us the appetizers and practically dropped them on the table (their attitude) and never brought any appetizer plates. Also, they would bring the next item and not clear dishes from the previous items. When we asked them to clear they acted like it was an imposition.
With the change in their menu, the food was less than mediocre — with the exception of bread and the desserts which were good as always. And, the portions were less than what you would expect for those prices.
I think Macaroni Grill is a much better choice when going to an Italian chain restaurant. Heck, even Olive Garden is better.

Two Words: Fettuccine Weesie!
Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp sauteed in a garlic, lemon butter, white wine sauce with sauteed mushrooms and scallions.
OMG so flavorful, cooked perfectly… I had the lunch portion and I want to go back and get MORE. I wish I had known that they were opened for lunch now sooner because I am going back FOR SURE! They also gave a portion of their bread with olive oil and seasoning. SO DELICIOUS! Highly recommended!

Great food, good price!
We had Carrie as our waitress, she was really nice and accurate with all of our orders (we had a big group).
Service could of been a little faster considering there were only 4 parties there and it was 11:45AM.
Other than that; clean, efficient and good location.

Been a while since we were here. Updated menu with increased pricing…
We started with the prosciutto asparagus appitizer. Yummy but only 4 pieces. Do could have eaten more of these.
The Italian wings are fabulous… nice heat and seasoning. 5 stars on this. Although don’t like the dressing. Not sure why… maybe it’s cause I prefer blue cheese? Also would have liked celery garnish as I like that with the dressing.
A huge miss was the strawberry salad. Hubby opted for shrimp and at just under $ 16 we expected something amazing. Base salad was okay but 4 small shrimp? Although they were nicely grilled the dressing missed the mark. We had opted to have it on the side so our server got us the regular Italian. Much better after the dressing change… BUT Way over priced for what one received.
Our waiter (Manual W) was 5 stars but he can’t offset everything else.

Food was great, service even better. We both had steaks that were cooked perfectly. Salads were fresh and delicious. Ended the meal with a delicious dessert.

I have eaten here many times. The staff has always been friendly and knowledgeable. The best dishes are the various wod grilled chicken. Highly recommended.

What an awful experience.
My husband and I came here on a Saturday night at 8:45 PM. There was no wait and the restaurant was almost empty which I guess should’ve been a clue.
Our waiter came around and took our drink order with which I also asked him to bring house dressing for us to have with the bread. Some time goes by with no sign of our waiter. Then he comes by and says they had a meeting in the back (what manager has a meeting in the back allowing all the tables to be delayed) so he apologized for the delay and said he was going to put in our drink order. Finally our drinks come out, but had to remind him I had asked for house dressing. Then we placed our appetizer order. We told him we needed a few minutes before we decide on our entrees. 10 minutes go by and we’re ready for our entrée order. The waiter comes by and we give him our entrée order. Few minutes later, our salads come out. Ummm before the appetizer. So I tell our waiter we haven’t even gotten our appetizer yet. He says «hmm that’s unusual.» YA THINK? So he goes back and grabs the appetizer order. So now we’re having apps and salads simultaneously, so it’s no big surprise when we start our salads that our entrée comes out. Mine is wrong — I had ordered a Filet Bryan and they sent a Sirloin Marsala. I sent it back and within 30 seconds the waiter is back with my «corrected» entrée. How can you POSSIBLY make a new entrée that quickly? It appeared as if they just took the Marsala topping off of the Sirloin and replaced it with the Bryan topping — forgetting that I had ordered a Filet, not a Sirloin. I send it back again mentioning this is not a Filet, and the manager comes by and says that «I’m pretty sure it’s a filet, I can shape the meat so that it looks more like a filet if that’s what you want.» I was so insulted — do you SERIOUSLY think that I don’t know what a filet looks like and that you’re trying to play me for a fool? So unacceptable. She didn’t charge us for the Filet or the Appetizer but even at the discounted price, so not worth it.
Also — so many times when we needed our waiter we saw him chatting with his friends but never bothered to come by and check on us. Will NEVER be back.

The entrée portions are quite small, but with side and salad/​soup as well as complimentary bread, it’s enough to get full.
The side House Salad was pretty dry, not recommended. The Veal Marsala was good though.
It can get crowded, so I guess it’s a good chain restaurant with average quality of food.

I have been to other Carrabba’s at other locations all up and down the East Coast and they all were decent experiences. I will have to say that this is the WORST Carrabba’s that I have been to. Corporate seriously needs to come down to this location and do an overhaul. I mean just look at the other reviews.
I was visiting from out of town and figured that I’d eat here for lunch before heading to the airport to catch my flight home. Let’s start with the service. Now I was seated quickly and my waiter was ok. Not extremely friendly, but not rude either. I will say however I did notice a party of like 8 who called ahead, came in after me, and I still got my food and ate before they were seated.
Now on to the food. DISGUSTING. I ordered the Chicken Parmesan and a side Caesar salad. Mannn that was the most disgusting meal I’ve ever had. The lettuce had brown pieces in my Caesar salad and my chicken was tough and dry. Not to mention it didn’t come with noodles. Who the heck pays $ 12 for a single small piece of chicken!!! It’s supposed to come with noodles. I also ordered the Sangria. It as disgusting as well. Had like a chemical aftertaste, but it could have also been the blah olive oil that they brought out with the bread.
Avoid this restaurant at all costs! Spend your money somewhere else.

Well. We went apparently 6 months ago. Didn’t have a great experience. And the manager felt so bad he sent us a gift card to try them out again. We really weren’t motivated to use it. Thankfully, my husband kept it. We went back tonight. And again had such a blah to mediocre experience this time. (It wasn’t nearly as bad as last time but it certainly wasn’t good either.)
And we won’t be returning. Too bad. This place is only 10 minutes from our house.
We had a fairly grouchy server who barely spoke to us. The food was blah. The kid ravioli is so small. The bread was blah. The oil for it was blah. I piled on salt and pepper and somehow even the salt was blah. (Sea salt! Who ever heard of blah sea salt?) and my Caesar salad was pale colored lettuce and it was blah. And the spaghetti sauces were blah. Everything.
Even my husband’s drink was made wrong. A very basic call drink like 007 would order. And he had to send it back. And it took a while for that to come back.
Yeah. We’re done. Sorry. We wanted to like you. We really did.
The spaghetti portions were a good size. We ate it all. No left overs. Not too little, not too much. Wish it had more basil or something. Onions would have been nice. Something to give it flavor. At least it wasn’t overly garlicky though. I don’t like that sort of thing either.

I’m quite surprised at the reviews for this place. I always remember Carrabbas being pretty good and was nervous to go back, considering the low ratings. But I’m appalled to hear it in the same breath as Olive Garden, as some folks on here have uttered.
Its MUCH better quality and freshness than Olive Garden. OG has gotten down right disgusting with their pasta bowls unlimited microwaved nonsense.
I ordered the crispy chicken salad and the salad was extremely fresh, the chicken was properly crispy and not to greasy, and the dressing was light but flavorful. The restuarant has a good aura, and the place was very clean.
Perhaps the reviews are more about the service? I came during lunch hour and we were fine in terms of waiting time for food, etc.

I think that when it comes to Carrabba’s, the trick is to not go there with high expectations. Do that and you won’t be disappointed. In fact, you may be pleasantly surprised.
We hadn’t been to Carrabba’s in years. When it first opened, we went a few times and liked it. Then one day, we went after a short absence and it had gone downhill. The food was not good at all.
So…we hesitated but in the end decided to give it another try. We were here on a Sunday around 5 p.m. There was a couple in front of us at the host stand. We heard the hostess telling them that booths won’t be available until 5:30. Yet, despite the restaurant being less than half full, there were plenty of tables and booths available. She told them they could eat at the bar. Then the phone at the host stand rang. I couldn’t hear what she was saying but after she got off the phone, she seated the couple in a booth! Maybe the call was to let her know that more wait staff was on the way? Who knows?
After she seated them, she told us that she needed to clean up the booth where we would be seated. When she was through, she seated us and told us that our server was busy and could she bring us some drinks? My husband asked about non-​alcoholic beer and she told him they had root beer! I had to explain to her what non-​alcoholic beer is. Anyway, it turns out that they don’t have any. So my husband had a soda while I had some water.
Our server ended up being the one who brought the drinks to the table. He was friendly and very familiar with the menu. We both ordered pasta dishes and they come with either a side salad or soup. Minestrone soup is always on the menu and the soup of the day was lentil with sausage. They offer up 3 different side salads — caesar, house and Italian. I asked what the difference was between house and Italian salad. Turns out that the Italian salad has tomatoes and onions in it, while the house salad does not. We both got the Italian one which is dressed with an Italian vinaigrette. The portion was generous and the dressing had some cheese in it but fortunately, it didn’t overpower the salad.
We have to say that, while not authentic Italian bread, the bread was tasty. It had a nice yeasty flavor with a crisp crust and soft interior and came to the table hot. You are given a small dish with olive oil and what appeared to be fresh oregano. We found the dipping sauce to be on the bitter side. Still, what we got was way better than the Olive Garden bread sticks!
For my main course, I had lobster ravioli. The portion was reasonable. It comes with a «white wine cream sauce» and the portion was stingy. Still, it was a good sauce and the wine didn’t overpower it. Supposedly there is some romano cheese in the ravioli. If there was, I didn’t taste it — and that was fine with me. What I tasted was the lobster as it was a generous amount.
My husband got spaghetti and meatballs. He was surprised that he enjoyed it. He found the sauce to not be acidic nor was it sweet. In fact, he said that he would eat it again.
When the pasta is brought to your table, the runner asks if you want some grated romano cheese on your entrée. If you do, then it is freshly grated on to your food. I was surprised to see that they offer up romano as most Italian restaurants (in my experience) offer up parmesan. I declined the offer while my husband added a little to his dish.
Overall, a decent meal and a good dining experience. Not to mention reasonably priced. Dinner cost $ 34 + change before the tip.