Carrabba’s Italian Grill

I had an okay experience at the restaurant (food and service) and then a terrible one after due to food poisoning. I’ll eat anywhere but here from now on.

My boyfriend and I came here Tuesday night for an early Valentine’s Day dinner and everything was great from the service to the food. I had the lobster ravioli and he had the filet both of which were delicious. We will definitely be back.

Slow service. They said it had gotten real busy all of a sudden but the place was close to empty. As a plus they do have a large selection of gluten free items on the menu. Once ordered still took quite a while to get the food. Food received was good.

As far as chains go Carraba’s is pretty high up there. The décor is cozy yet modern, an interesting blend of warm and sleek. The food is consistent and also delicious. Servers go above and beyond, they are happy to split dishes and customize menu items. It’s comfort food with a slightly high end feel.

Just a good dining experience. Entrees are delicious. The menu is extensive and veritable. I must say, that the staff is on point every time. Very consistent.When in doubt, its a good go to restaurant if you want American/​Italian. Be prepared for a bit of a wait, its always busy. Enjoy!

I don’t love chain restaurants, but I LOVE Carrabba’s! Everytime I come here, I order the same thing– If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! I start my meal off with an entire loaf of their warm delicious bead dipped in the most magical mixture of oil and spices. Then I savor the flavors of their caesar salad. For my meal, I devour (like a lady) their Chicken Bryan. To me, this meal is perfection. I have never left Carrabba’s with any food left on my plate and I’m proud of that.

I have an Italian friend who raves about Carrabas and I thought, seriously? A chain restaurant? How good could it be?! Well I shouldn’t have judged so soon, because my husband and I stopped in here yesterday and had an amazing meal! The soups– lentil and sausage, and minestrone, were very hearty and homey, perfect for such a cold winters day. My pasta– a clam linguine, was perfect. My husbands’ lobster ravioli– to die for. Service was prompt (our meals came in 10 mins! Despite warning us that our meal may take longer to make since it’s made to order). Would come again next time we are here!

I usually don’t eat at chain restaurants in Buffalo because there are so many great restaurants, but I’ve been here a few times and their food is consistently very good. For starters, the bread and dipping oil is the best. The bread is warm and soft and oil with spices is so flavorful, I wanted to eat the whole basket of bread! I usually get some sort of pasta and sauce but the last time I was her I went with a salad with chicken, strawberries and some other fruits & veggies. It was so good. The chicken on top was delicious. Not the usual plain blah grilled chicken you would typically at on a salad, but it was really flavorful.

Carrabbas is a good Italian chain. Chains are chains but Carrabbas does make an effort to feel like it’s not. They have happy hour on Fridays which is also nice because it’s not typical everywhere.
I ordered the Peach Sangria to start. I was able to get a glass and a half for price of one. The price of one is a little hefty at $ 9 but it is good and I drank it like juice. However it was garnished with strawberry and lemon but it was a PEACH sangria. This was a little confusing.
My accompaniment and I ordered the calamari to start. Their calamari is very thin and small. You can hardly taste it which to me is a good and bad thing. I hate when it’s thick but when all you taste is breaking what’s the point? The breading is different from most typical. It’s a very crunchy peppery and light. It is almost hard to describe because it is really unlike any other breading I’ve ever had. It comes with a thick tomato chunky like sauce. Only complaint is that it’s hard to dip in this because it’s so chunky but it is good.
Every meal also comes with bread and some dipping oil which is very good.
We both and that Caesar salads. They were very garlicky but good.
We then both ordered the Pasta Carrabba. I ordered mine with spaghetti instead of fettuccine simply because I like spaghetti better. It is like a carbonara and Alfredo in one. It has peas, mushrooms and chicken. The chicken is very flavorful. The peas are sweet. And the mushrooms make it even more delicious. It’s a lot of food but not overwhelming. I took a small box home.
With one soda, one Peach Sangria, one appetizer (calamari) and two Pasta Carrabbas (they come with salads or soups), we left with a $ 57 bill. Not too bad.
Carrabbas just remodeled and it’s more open and clean looking. There are more tables and booths as well.

Excellent food as I expect from Carrabba’s! I got the grilled prosciutto and cheese wrapped asparagus. Incredible! Try it! Then Caesar salad and wood grilled salmon with broccoli. The salmon was good enough to eat without the lemon dill sauce! But the sauce was very good also! The only slightly negative comment was too much dressing on my salad. Great meal!

I actually really enjoy Carrabba’s for a low key, quick, but tasty dinner. Although it is a chain restaurant, I’ve never had a bad dining experience. Their blackberry sangria is one of the best sangrias I’ve ever had and if you go during happy hour, you get two for the price of one! I enjoy their fried zucchini appetizer which comes with an aioli dipping sauce. For my entrée, I always alternate between two different ones. I either get the prosciutto wrapped pork tenderloin which comes with port wine fig sauce for dipping… absolutely delish. OR I get the wood grilled sirloin with spicy Sicilian butter… also delicious. This is a newer menu item so I just started to get this. Every time my steak has been cooked perfectly. All entrees are served with your choice of soup or salad and another side. I usually get the Italian salad with a side of mashed potatoes or green beans. Can’t go wrong with either. Friendly staff, quick service, and tasty food!

Food has always satisfied even though it’s a chain restaurant. My only true complaint is the seating. I get the point that the more people you can cram into a place the more money one makes however there is no intimate dining in this establishment. I would not recommend this place for «Date night», or a quiet dinner.

As a belated Birthday gift my amazing daughter & her girlfriend took me out to this amazing Italian Restaurant yesterday (Sunday 10−4−15) during Happy Hour no less, & we were seated quickly & even when we asked to move to a different table (for comfort) they accommodated us. The Happy Hour special included $ 10 off a Bottle of Wine (very good selection) so of course we had to get a bottle (it was delicious by the way) & the Dinner MENU, had so many selections from Appetizers to Full Course meals, we had ssssssso many choices… (they even have a separate Gluten Free Menu)…i picked an Italian Dish that I couldn’t even pronounce it but it was Oh sssso DDDDDelicious… even right down to choosing the Salad or Soup, which also came w the meal, there were so many choices to select from. I choose Salad & even that portion was HHHHHuge, than the Entrée came (btw waitress timed our meals perfectly, so we had plenty of time to savor our salad & conversation & wine) & it too was HHHHHuge but oh ssssso DDDelicious. Additionally, they even gave us a Vanilla Caramel sundae for a Bday gift (with, thankfully, no embarrassing parade of wait staff singing the proverbial Happy Birthday song)
In closing, I have worked in & have been associated with people in the Restaurant industry for over 25 years, so believe me I am normally very critical of Restaurants. However, I was unable to find anything negative to say to my dinner mates or to my friends later on I had nothing but rave reviews (& no i didn’t drink too much wine)…I hope to dine there again in the near future & I would highly suggest everyone to try it… believe me they will NOT be disappointed, Therefore, I would highly recommend this restaurant to everyone. From the ambiance & décor, to the staff & most importantly the wine (just kidding) i meant the Food was A++.

I’m not normally a person who likes chain restaurants. This place is outstanding.
I have been here at least five times and not one time have I been disappointed.
The steaks are amazing. The garlic mash is great. The pizzas are fresh. The pasta… Well it’s pasta, not hard to mess up.
Had a waitress named Jessica who was an absolute delight. Seemed like the staff likes working here!
I whole heartedly believe that this chain is better than most of the local places in buffalo, and I’ve been to a ton.
They have this new steak with a spicy butter. Get it.
And the remodel looks great too.
I will keep coming back again and again!

Love Carrabba’s. As good as chain restaurant Italian can get (I mean that in the nicest way possible).
I appreciate how they make everything from scratch, which you can easily view from the kitchen with the bar stool seating. I love the atmosphere, while a little expensive as opposed to regular chain eating, but still a cheaper place to go to for date night.
I always have to get the red sangria, its awesome. I rarely stray from my go-​tos, the Polo Rosa Maria and the Chicken Bryan. I did however get the Chicken Bryan pizza once as it was on special, and it was amazing. I wish they had it year round.
The house salad is literally all I think about when I know I am going. I found a copycat recipe online for the parmesan garlic house dressing, God bless that person who posted it. Now they don’t stare at me strangely as I no longer ask for extra to take home.
The dipping oil and spices are to die for with the warm bread. UGH. The staff is SO nice, minus the hostesses who usually are not. Call ahead seating is a good addition to the place, convenient during holiday season and being such a great shopping area.

I’m freshly pregnant and all I want is MEAT. I did this when I was pregnant with my son too, as soon as I have a little parasite growing inside of me all I want is the flesh of yummy, tasty cows. And V-​8. I’m not one of those women who gets pregnant and starts puking, no… I get pregnant and I get HUNGRY. So if you see me around town chugging V-​8 while eating a burger and screaming, «ME WANT MEAT!» just stay out of Pregatron’s way.
So Carrabbas… today my parents were watching the toddler and my husband and I had time to go eat dinner sans child. My husband LOVES Carrabba’s so I suggested we come here. I checked their online menu first though to make sure they had steak because even though this is an Italian place all I want is MEAT.
We got seated, friendly service. My husband ordered some fettuccini thing and I ordered a filet, medium. We got some cesar salads to start, they were decent. We also got some nice warm bread with olive oil to dip it in. After 20 minutes or so after we ordered we were brought our entrees. I could tell as soon as mine was in front of me that it was the wrong thing. Filets are always tall and not very big around. I was brought a sirloin of some kind. And I ordered mine with mashed potatoes, the sirloin came with green beans. The waiter must have realized I was brought the wrong thing at the same time I did and asked me to cut in to it to see if it was cooked correctly. I ordered mine medium, this was well done. He said he would take it back and get it corrected.
So my husband didn’t want to eat his dinner in front of me, but I told him to go ahead. I had a bite and it was weird because it was cold. My husband was hungry and didn’t want to wait so he ate it anyhow, even though it was cold. 15 minutes go by and the manager brings me the right steak and the right side, potatoes. I cut in to it, it was cooked medium as requested.
I say this as a warning to other steak lovers or potential pregnant women who lust for meat, do not get the filet here. Even when they bring you the right steak, it is not a good one. It’s fatty and just a sub-​par cut of meat. I know, I know… what do I expect ordering steak at an Italian place? And the mashed potatoes were cold! What is with this place serving cold food?
I still give it three stars though because the service was good. The waiter and manager removed my item from the bill, which was nice because it was weird to watch my husband eat and then him have to sit there and watch me eat. I’d probably come back here but stick to the Italian basics.

I tried their take out for the first time since I was rushing back to the office and I was highly impressed. They had my food taken cared of super quick! I was able to literally just walk in pay and leave! The only thing that I was unhappy was, their bread they give with the oil was hard. Not very pleasing to me. But the lobster ravioli was great as usual!

My girlfriend & I stopped in for dinner last night after seeing Magic Mike… we needed a nice cool beverage and some good food! They are remodeling this location, expanding to make more seating in the dining areas. Since there was a 15 minute wait we decided to sit at the bar area in front of the pizza oven. That’s where we met David! He welcomed us right away with a smile on his face! He truly made our dining experience great! When the waitress came over we had wanted to order one of their special summer sangria drinks but we were quickly informed they were out of them both and only had the special summer margarita drink or we could get a regular sangria from their everyday menu, I ordered the peach sangria and my girlfriend ordered the red wine sangria. They were both tasty although I would have preferred the special summer sangria punch from their menu. On a positive note, it was still happy hour so we were happy about that! For our entrees we had thoughts of chicken and pasta but he changed our minds into ordering a fresh oven baked pizza after talking to David. We decided to split a pizza and the Mezzaluna raviolis which are one of my favorites!
Both dinners came with a side salad. I didn’t care for the house dressing so I requested the homemade Italian which was delish! Homemade bread with their dipping oil is always good! We watched our pizza being made and couldn’t wait for it to be done! The raviolis and hot pizza were delivered a short time later :) We were not disappointed! Both items had so much flavor and were awesome!
We were so full that we didn’t have room for dessert although they looked delicious too! We will have to go back again and soon!

Carrabas is carrabas, a national chain restaurant I normally don’t find myself venturing into all but once in a blue moon.
This place I guess is normally rather busy and at any given time you could be waiting for a table.
I do like the fact happy hour is half priced on draft beers and signature drinks, but the beer selection is as about as slim as they get! Four or maybe five beers to choose from with four of those being that cheapo chain stuff!
As for dinner, I had the chicken trio which is chicken marsala, chicken bryan and chicken Rosa maria with an option of soup or salad to choose from. I did try the Italian salad and it was rather bland in my opinion and this was served with fresh warm bread and oil to dip it in which was rather good. The dinner was meh, I did enjoy the chicken Rosa maria which I thought was very tasty but the other 2 pieces I found too much goat cheese on the one that ruined the flavor and the other piece of chicken was too thick and chewy! The fettuccine Alfredo which was a $ 2.00 up charge was super thick and not to my likings and I thought the dish overall was rather small in size considering the price tag you pay for this.
Yes carrabas once again made me realize why I prefer to do local over chain restaurants! It’s probably going to be awhile before I come back, if this was anything other than a family get together, I’d of definitely of passed.

Came here for lunch on a week when I was eating no dairy. How do you survive at an Italian restaurant when you have a dairy restriction? Well first, you quit staring at other peoples’ plates (OPP) or you’ll rapidly be sucked down into a black hole to remembering when you could eat copious amounts of cheese, and suffer an emotional breakdown as a result. A life without cheese just isn’t one worth living! Second, you take an honest look at the very cheesy (literally) menu list. And breathe…
In the midst of mourning cheese and cream, I ordered a cup of the lentil and sausage soup, and the Mediterranean salad, no pepperoncini. They also have Arnold Palmers on the drink menu, which made me happy. And hell, they’re dairy-​free, so I ordered one!
The AP was well balanced, just the way I like it. Unsweetened tea and pink lemonade, so it wasn’t TOO sweet, yet still totally delish. Mmmm!
The soup, which happened to be the Soup of the Day, was SUPER SALTY, but really good! I’m definitely going to look up the copy cat recipe online and make that at home sometime. My table mates ordered minestrone and that looked REALLY good too!
The Mediterranean salad was good, though the grape tomatoes (the skins) were a little chewy. The dressing was okay. Since it was pesto vinaigrette it probably had a trace amount of parmesan in it, but I didn’t really taste it. The star of that salad though was the perfectly prepared salmon! It was cooked medium, something to keep in mind if you like everything dry and well done. I like my salmon medium, so I thought it was AMAZING!
There are no dairy-​free desserts on the menu so I sadly passed on it. But when I can eat dairy again, I’m coming back to devour the creamiest, cheesiest, most dairy-​laden items on the menu. And that’s basically everything on that menu. You poor unfortunate lactose intolerants. I wouldn’t even bother ever going to an Italian restaurant if I couldn’t eat dairy. It’s in like all the best stuff!
Service was okay. Ambiance the same. I’ve never been able to get in here for a meal on a weekend because it’s so damn busy, but I will try again soon. Weekday lunch, there was plenty of vacancy.