Carrabba’s Italian Grill

My family and I eat here every time I come home — I’m sure they sneak there without me sometimes, but I make sure to put this on the list for one of my favorites.
As far as franchises go, this one is great. Roanoke has a lot to offer in terms of independently owned restaurants, but the friendliness of staff and consistently good food is worth the visit.
I ordered scallops and shrimp in a creamy marinara sauce and it was delicious! I normally get the Alfredo Weesy so I was cautious of trying something new, but I was not disappointed. Everyone at my table seemed to enjoy their food as well ordering a variety of dishes from steak to pasta.
Ask for Megan if you go. She was a great server! Always had a refill for my sweet tea on the table before I even asked and kept a good eye on us. Thanks for the great experience!

Friendly service with typical Italian fare from a chain. The food came out fine and was very tasty. Service was friendly and attentive. Definitely will return if I am in the area again.

Owner Jason is great! Love the pizza and dessert. Great place to take a date or your family.

Very bad customer service. Did not honor our reservation! Why did you ask our name (2 times to confirm it!) if you were not going to write it down!

I believe most of these positive reviews must have been made by employees/​owners. We only went to this restaurant because we were given gift cards as an anniversary present. I am of Italian descent, so I know good Italian food. To begin with, the wait was incredibly long. I went to the bar to order a glass of wine to have while I waited, and watched as the bartender sloshed some of the wine out of the glass, and never added any more to make up for what she spilt. It was so crowded we decided to wait outside. It seemed like they had only a bunch of kids seating everyone, and even our waitress said she was 18. The food was awful, extremely small portions and highly overpriced. I had the chicken bryan and my husband had some pork medallions, which were actually puny. My daughter had the chicken marsala. Both my chicken and my daughter’s chicken had fat and gristle in it. It was disgusting. Then we ordered the cannoli for desert, another disappointment, as they gave us two but they were the smallest cannoli we ever had, probably only an inch and a half long. Overpriced, bad food and tiny portions. Save your money and go to one of the genuine Italian restaurants in Roanoke, not this sorry excuse for an Italian restaurant.

This is a chain, but the food is so good! Desserts are decadent and so yummy. I have never been disappointed.

Visited on a Sunday afternoon for a late lunch or an early dinner. There was no wait so we were able to get a table immediately. I ordered The Johnny which is steak Marsala and the chicken Bryan, I chose asparagus for the side and also the sausage soup. My son ordered the chicken tenders and the buttered penne. Bread was given to us immediately along with our drinks. The bread was fresh out of the oven. The sausage soup was ok… I felt like there was more broth to it than anything else. However the bread dipped in the broth was pretty tasty. Our entrees arrived pretty quickly. I loved the steak Marsala! It was absolutely great! The chicken Bryan was good however the steak Marsala was my favorite. The asparagus was just ok I think it would of been better had they put more seasoning or something on it. My son did not care for the penne noodles but he said the chicken tenders were ok. For dessert I ordered the seasonal special which was an apple crostata and my son ordered the mini cannoli. They came out pretty quickly. The apple crostata was just ok. The ice cream on it was good. I am a big fan of apple pie like desserts however this is not one of my favorites. My son said the cannoli were just ok… I tried them. And they were just ok. But I am not a good judge because I don’t think I like cannoli. We had good service throughout the meal and our waitress also offered to get us to go drinks which was nice. It was a pleasant experience! Will be back!

I went here for my birthday last night and it was fantastic as usual. Our server, Vanessa, gave us some of the best service that we have ever encountered in Roanoke. Her timing was perfect and she was extremely pleasant.
We had an appetizer, and both had an entrée with salads. All of the food was wonderfully seasoned, I can’t imagine how it could have been better. I had the blackberry sangria, it was so delicious.

Love this place! Amazing food. If you haven’t been, definitely check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Stopped in for lunch — good food, good service. Had our usual Carrabba’s favorites — Chicken Bryan and the steak marsala. Both were prepared to their usual good standard. Only nit was that they were cleaning the front entrance — could do that in the off hours instead of when people are trying to enter.

Gotta have the expresso rubbed ribeye and cavatapi amatriciano. The raspberry Italian soda is excellent too! Perfect for quenching your thirst!

Service is great and the environment is clean and classy. They make great salad and breadsticks, overall the food is very good but you get a little less food for your money than you may get at other places.

Signed in online at 515 for wait list at 630 on a Thursday, got in at 615 waited at bar until 715 no table. Left without eating, we were sitting at a high table none of the wait staff asked if we wanted/​needed anything. We went to the bar for our drinks. I always enjoyed the food at Carrabba’s on previous visits. The other two with me never ate here before and will most likely won’t ever.

They had Rodney Strong wine for a great price. Appetizer caprese was ok, lots of basil. Pizza margareta was quite good but crust was a bit thick. Chicken Ceasar salad was very good. All in all an enjoyable meal with excellent service.

I always enjoy meals at Carrabba’s and this was no exception. Friday night was super busy and the hostess told us it was a 45 minute wait, which was more like 30. We didn’t do call ahead seating but I would advise you to, if you are going at peak hours. They don’t take reservations. Our waitress was friendly and we thoroughly enjoyed our meals. The arancini was good they are fried risotto balls with fennel sausage. Carrabba’s has always been consistent with their meals and service whether we have dined in this location or at Myrtle Beach.

The mussel appetizer is the absolute BEST! It is our benchmark for any others we try. I only gave it a 2 because our entrees were so disappointing. In both the lobster Mac & cheese and lobster ravioli the sauce weak, thin, and watery; not too flavorful. The lobster filling in the ravioli was weak: scimpy amount, could bearly taste any of the lobster. The wait staff was excellent. The mini cannoli duo is a great idea — just the little bit of sweetness that is needed to round out a meal.

I love this place! It’s my new fav here in Roanoke. This place is very good for a chain restaurant. Within 5 minutes of getting our drinks, our waitress gave us piping hot and steaming fresh bread with seasoned olive oil to dip it in. Very tasty.
They had a special going on with smaller entrées paired together with a soup or salad and your choice of a side. I got the chicken Parmesan with baked fried cheese raviolis, Caesar salad, and the vegetable of the day (seasoned green beans tonight). I had a piece of my friend’s chicken with goat cheese, and a piece of her husband’s sirloin marsala. It was all soo good.
We ended up getting dessert as well and I got the mini cannoli with crushed up pistachios. I tried a bit of my friend’s panna cotta with a raspberry sauce. It was so silky and smooth.
I highly recommend this place.

We have been to this Carraba’s twice, late June and tonight. On both occasions service has been fantastic, which is appreciated these days.
Now for the food. Last visit we had the espresso ribeye, potato crusted haddock (specials) and a dish with shells with meat sauce that was part of the get seconds for the table promotion. All of the food was very good, excellent. The promotion is over and the shells are not on the regular menu but our server told us we could get it, just ask.
Tonight we tried 2 of the new promotion entrees. I had sirloin Marsala and mahi. The sirloin I’ve had before. It was good. The mahi, which was new to me was excellent and I would order it again as it’s own full meal. My husband liked it too. y husband had combination chicken obrien and pork tenderloin medallions. I warned him about the chicken as I had it before and did not like it, well neither did he and it was dry to boot. The pork medallions (tiny) had good flavor but were a little over cooked. He would not order either as a full meal again.
Knowing what to order is key. Service at this Carraba’s rocks. We will be back next summer.

I am giving this place 4 stars mainly because the drinks at the bar are strong, and the waiters are friendly, attentive and attractive! lol The place was packed, but they sat us relatively quickly.
i wasn’t totally happy with the Tuscan skewers I got. they were cooked to perfection, but something in the seasoning tasted off. too salty, maybe?
I’m usually not a big fan of chains, but I had a good time at this place.

Not a bad location at all, but still waiting for that Carrabbas in Lynchburg or even Charlottesville!

We have a short list of Roanoke restaurants my wife and I both love and this one is definitely on that list. For a chain, this is as «good as it gets!»
Every time we’re here (most recently Monday September 30), the service is very prompt and very friendly. The food is also very good. It is located among many other restaurants, but this is one of the good ones!

The service at this location is very attentive — almost too attentive! I went here with a girlfriend and our waitress checked up on us almost every 5 minutes (it seemed). We ordered the fried zucchini to share as a starter. It was good, but a little on the oily side. My friend ordered a salad with grilled eggplant and a hazelnut crusted goat cheese medallion which we both thought was delicious. I ordered a Cobb salad with sirloin and wasn’t as impressed. The sirloin was overcooked and the dressing didn’t seem to go well with the salad. Overall it’s just alright, I’ll probably stick with ordering a pasta dish next time!