Carrabba’s Italian Grill

I wanted some Italian food and I hadn’t been to this location in forever so, why not? And just FYI, this Carrabba’s along with the one on Kirby are not part of the Carraba’s chain. They have completely different websites and different menus. I personally prefer the originals than the chain restaurants.
Came in with my sister and the hostess asked if I wanted a table seating or booth seating. I asked for booth and was given a table right across from the bar. After seating a while, nobody came to greet us. It had gotten to the point where I actually looked at my Unilocal check in and it had been five minutes since I checked in (and I didn’t even check in right after I got seated). At this point, I told my sister that if nobody came within fifteen minutes, we would leave. Yes, I was THAT annoyed. I opened my clock app and started a stopwatch — finally our waiter came about seven minutes after I had started the stopwatch — a total of over twelve minutes after being seated without being acknowledged by anyone; and I’m seated right across the bar and in the hostess’s line of sight.
Now I’m not trying to be a jackass by counting how long after I’ve been seated until someone comes to greet us. But considering the fact that I’m in the hostess’ direct line of sight and she didn’t make any effort to notify whoever’s waiting our section, and the fact that there were a bunch of waitstaff by her just talking around, and added the fact that there were a few guests who came after me and seated in a different section and got approached almost immediately, I can’t help but feel that since I don’t look like the typical patron (older, in nice dresses, in button down shirts/​slacks) that nobody wanted to wait on our table (I was wearing t-​shirt, jeans, and sneakers).
After our waiter showed up, though, it was a different experience. He brought out the bread, and checked on us constantly. I ordered the fried calamari and shrimp to start and decided to get the chicken marsala for the main dish. The calamari came scorching hot — wait a while before you take a bite. Both the calamari and the shrimp were delicious. I enjoyed the marinara sauce, but not so much the pepperoncini sauce.
The chicken marinara was cooked almost to perfection, I thought. Why almost? I thought it was just a tad too salty, and the pasta was just a tad too heavy on the sauce. It was delicious, though. I can’t complaint too much about the chicken.
Will I be back? Yeah, sure. As I stated, I prefer the original Carrabba’s than the chain location, and this is the one closest to me. I’m hoping that the whole wait thing was just an isolated incident. I had come here a few times in the past and don’t remember the original reception to be that poor. The Kirby location, although much busier, didn’t annoy me this much when I had dined there.

Great restaurant. Pretty much anything you go with will be good. The free starter bread and salads that come with all the entrees are delicious. The reason I gave it 4 stars is because the recent price increase. They’ve gone up about 15% in the past year out of nowhere. I understand the beef increase, but for a pasta plate to increase that much is a bit steep.

Came here on a Monday night as it was about half full. I have to say the food and the service were just «ok». Really nothing remarkable about either. For the quality of food, it was definitely over priced. At the $ 20 – 35 price point for an entrée, there are exponentially better option within a 3 mile radius. The food quality was not terrible, I would say slightly below average.

Had dinner here tonight with my friend and even though it was a full house we were immediately seated and promptly greeted by our waiter. She had the Chicken Bryan and I the veal marsala needless to say both were excellent! Always impressive and we’ll definitely be back !!!

I was in Houston visiting family for the Christmas hols and had been to another Carraba’s during one of my past visits, but never this one. My mother lives in Houston and loves this place, and it seems she’s become really friendly with some of the servers and is now considered a regular. From what I’ve heard and read, this Rosie’s Carraba’s is the original family owned restaurant and is separate from the other chains by the same name.
This is quite a large restaurant which seemed to have a few different sections… one section of a more fine dining atmosphere and the other a more casual section, both separated by a bar area.
As many on here have already mentioned, the service here is superb and they aim to please. Our server was very nice and friendly and would bend over backwards to ensure our dining experience was a happy one. In fact, we were told that it’s management’s policy that the customer is always right and whatever we want we should get… for example, on substitutions or, my mother wanted two different sauces for her spaghetti with clams, and our server had absolutely no problems with that request. In fact, we were also told that they have a few regular customers who bring their own freshly (caught or bought) proteins and the kitchen would cook it to their liking… you definitely don’t see this very often.
We went ahead and ordered the crab cake and calamari appetizers. The calamari was quite good… nice and hot, crispy, and a good portion… with two types of dipping sauces. The crab cakes were a bit surprising as we expected the normal burger shaped croquettes, but they came as what looked like a plate of several hush puppies. They were ok, but I expected something more tasty.
As a main, my brother ordered the seafood salad and I ordered the Brick Chicken (brick oven roasted) which comes with a choice of two sides… I ordered broccoli and spinach. My brother mentioned that his scallops were a bit overcooked. My chicken was tender, juicy, and flavorful, but my spinach was quite salty. And, for $ 21 for my meal I expected a larger portion… it’s a bit pricy for what you get.
Overall, it was a decent dining experience. I’d give the food a 3 stars, but because the service was excellent… very friendly and attentive, I’m giving the extra star for this. I may give this place a second chance perhaps during my next trip to Houston, but next time I’ll definitely try something else on the menu.

Superb service and food. Customer satisfaction is there priority. Management deserves top pay. They are running that place very professional.

The food was good but I got the order to go and I think for 18.00 for CAPPELLETTI there should be a lot more than what I got or maybe a Salad or something

My boyfriend and I came in on Friday evening and told there would a 30 minute wait. We didn’t mind as we usually get a drink beforehand anyways. We sat down at at booth in the bar area just to wait for our table and a waiter came up and started serving us. We informed him we were waiting on a table and we’d move so other people could sit down and he shook his head and insisted waiting on us which was wonderful because he was great! Everything came out so quickly and it was so amazing. He packed up a full bread basket with about 5 rolls plus a container full of those herbs and 4 airplane bottles of their oil! I was in HEAVEN! Thank you so much!

I came for Halloween to have dinner with my boyfriend and child. The hostess told us their was a 15 minute wait so we understood and we waited.
I asked to be seated with a high chair we did not receive it. We blew it of perhaps they just were too busy and had simply forgotten.
It took 10 minutes for a waiter to come to our table to take our drink order and to tell us he will be right back with bread and our drinks.
10 minutes later we were drink less and bread less.
We decided to just get up and walk out.
Please note my rating was only on our hospitality experience we were unable to taste anything due to the lack of poor service.

This is the original Carrabba’s. We love coming here… especially for special events! Tonight we are celebrating my wife’s birthday and as usual… dinner is incredible. We love the Margarita pizza and cappelletti. The staff is incredible too… ask for Adon if you can… he is wonderful… and they sing Happy Birthday in Italian

My boyfriend and I had date night here! The food was so good, I got the Brick chicken, which came with asparagus and loaded mashed potatoes. He had the 14 oz steak, spinach, and loaded mashed potatoes. The bread was delicious, I ate so many pieces with the pesto they provided. The service was really fast, our food came out very quickly too. Im not sure if this had anything to do with the fact that they were closing in an hour, but nevertheless the food was hot too! This was our first time here and we will definitely be back!

Went on a Friday night and thought there would be a long wait, but we got a table right away. The service was outstanding; I wish I remember the waiter’s name. It has been quite a while since I dined at a Carrabba’s (I’m guessing like 7 or 8 years), and this location didn’t disappoint. The food was cooked perfectly and I always enjoy the olive oil and herb dip with the bread before the meal. Great place when wanting a bit of Italian.

This location is still family owned and not part of the chains… most things are the same, but they have some fancier specials and options. I haven’t dined here in a long time, but regularly pick up lunch for the office using the to go curbside carry out.
To go orders:
They have one designated «to go curbside carry out» parking space in the back of the restaurant. I wish they had two spots though… They give you a small loaf of bread, with olive oil and the seasoning to dip it, just like if you dine in!
The house salad and dressing is the same as the other Carrabbas, as is their chicken soup– which is the best chicken soup I’ve ever had! It has a lot of flavor. And when you get it to go, they put the pasta in a separate container to prevent it from continuing to cook in the hot soup.
The pizzas are cooked in the wood burning oven and are perfectly crispy. The primavera with no bell peppers is one of my faves.

You know, as much as I like to eat I’m embarrassed to confess my lack of knowledge of some places. This is one of those spots that I should have been exposed to a while ago. Let’s start with the warm, inviting host at the entrance of the restaurant. When the waiter asked me if I wanted soup or salad, I really didn’t expect the chicken soup I received. If I say it was good, you better believe it buddy!!! Then my entrée was the seafood ravioli!!! Yum yum!

Don’t confuse this location with other Carrabbas. This is still a family owned restaurant and provides far better food than corporately owned restaurants with the same name.
My linguine pesce was 3 stars. The pasta was prepared slightly aldente. But then marinara sauce was only average. The shrimp were crisp, the muscles were perfect and the sea scallops were perfectly done.
My wife ordered a Chicken dish and it came with real brick oven flavor. Very flavorful food. Three others ordered steak specials. A filet topped with crab and shrimp. All said it was the best steak they had ever eaten.
Service was attentative and timely. Dinners range from $ 22 to $ 45. Most items served alacarte. Some with choice of sides.
Carrabbas is pricey. But worth an occasional splurge.

This is more of a review of their food via take out. Voss Location
My boss was in need of a Small buffet and good enough for a Native Italian. We chose the FILET MARSALA 8 oz. Filet grilled over oak & pecan, seasoned with Carrabba’s special grill baste and finished in a Marsala wine sauce with mushrooms & prosciutto, served with homemade spinach fettuccine alfredo.
I picked it up before 4 PM and it Included salad, Nice Touch, and a lot of wonderful fresh bread!
Anthony (AM take out person) was Very Helpful and understood the urgency and importance of this particular meal, he made sure to communicate to his manager and Joey who would be there when I picked up. They had everything ready and included all utensils I could possibly need (one of the ladies even commented on the prettiness of the plates!). The food traveled very well and my car smelled of beautifully prepared Italian home cooking!
When I checked with my boss on how everything went he said «the food was delicious» and it was appreciated by all!
Thank you to Anthony, Joey and the Carrabbas Staff for helping us make a good impression on a very important client who Knew how classic Italian food should taste!
I look forward to visiting Carrabbas again soon!

For a family-​owned location and the previous reviews posted, I expected a lot more from the Voss location. We were in town for the Houston Marathon and looking for a good Italian [read: carb-​heavy] meal on Saturday night. We saw a restaurant downtown but figured it would be more expensive than we were looking to spend for a pasta dinner. After running a few errands in the area, we came across Carrabba’s at 4pm and decided to check it out for dinner.
Our server seemed visibly irritated when we each ordered a glass of water. He asked us three times if water was «all we were having». Three times seemed a bit excessive to push the bar options on us. I would have loved a cold beer or glass of wine but was trying to be properly hydrated for the race.
We ordered the Scotty Thompson [goat cheese in pomodoro sauce with oven-​baked bread] for an appetizer. It came out very quick and was delicious. Our dinner [spaghetti with meatballs + chicken parm] came out even quicker, before we had even finished our app. It definitely felt like we were being pushed through the meal, as if the server was trying to ‘turn and burn’ before the more important dinner rush arrived.
Our bill was $ 60, which in my opinion is a little high for what we ordered. It’s worth noting that since this is a family-​owned location you’ll be paying a premium for the items you order. For example, the Margherita Pizza is $ 16 at Voss and $ 10.9 at a regular location. Pasta Weesie $ 22 vs $ 16. Chicken Bryan $ 20 vs $ 16. Lentil and Sausage Soup $ 10 vs $ 4. There is a small selection of items from the grill [veal, ribeye, filet] which are in the $ 25 – 45 range and these are the only items which come with the soup/​salad option. Otherwise soup/​salad must be purchased a la carte.
We definitely weren’t the server’s biggest ticket table of the night, but regardless of how much the tab is at your guest’s table, shouldn’t you provide the same level of service?

Never want to veer too far away from the Shrimp Mandola, perfect stuffing and the size of pasta perfect. The grilled chicken with asparagus and spinach a perfect healthy dish. Dined here at least 20 times in the last 24 months, never disappointed. Mimosa $ 8.25 was a big rip off, should have asked how much that 4 oz drink was going to gost, bad act.
This is a consisent dining experience, wait staff are superior. Clean and upscale.
Only down side was a gift card we were given was told it could not be used at the Kirby or this location as they don’t subscribe to the gift card unless it leaves off the othr locations, interesting Lunch for 2 a pricey $ 75.00.

Whenever we do movie date nights we’re great about planning which movie to see, but terrible about picking the restaurant and checking the hours. We finished a movie around 10:30 on a Saturday night and were both craving Italian. They close at 11 and while I really hated being ‘that person’ that shows up right before closing, we were just really hungry and there were still several groups eating in the restaurant. Some of which hadn’t even placed their orders. With cutting it so close to closing hours, I was really expecting rude service — not the case at all! We received a friendly greeting by the hostess and our waiter was very warm as well. He quickly brought us bread and our menus.
I tried to keep it simple and limit any cooking, so I ordered a bowl of minestrone and a small house salad. The salad was a good sized serving for a side salad… and the bowl was really more like a POT of soup! I couldn’t get over the size of the serving! I had enough leftovers for two more bowls of soup at home. And the it was definitely the best minestrone I’ve ever had. The flavor was so satisfying and filling, but I’m a good way because you’re not saying a huge plate of pasta or empty calories.
I was very impressed with the service and the food. We’ll definitely keep this place on rotation for date night!

I love going back to the Voss location to visit mama Rose and staff. She gives you a hug like you are at her house visiting. The servers and cooks do a great job and the food is too notch. Also probably the cleanest restaurant I have ever been too. Everything sparkles. Usually busy restaurants do not shine like that. For appetizers i start off with the sausage and peppers or the misto. I always enjoy the quail which is wrapped in prosciutto and served over polenta and served with a side of roasted rosemary potatoes and asparagus. And I have to end the day with a café Damian and Italian cream cake. Stephen the manager and mama rose are the example of hospitality and inspires me to improve my restaurant. The motto of Carrabbas is «yes is the answer, what is the question ?»