Carrabba's Italian Grill — Restaurant in Asheville

Rather than walking you through the entire story. Let me list out what went wrong. -Other parties who walked in after us were sat before us. I guess because we had five in our party and the party that came in after us was a party of one. Regardless it should be first come first serve when there’s no current wait list. -Waited entirely too long to be greeted by our server. -Drinks and bread were brought in portions. Not everyone’s drink at once. Odd. Not to mention one small loaf of bread for a party of five. That can’t be protocol. -Salads were brought over ten minutes after appetizers. I believe our server forgot to ring in our meal once the appetizers hit the table. -Bar drinks took much longer than they should to hit the table. Although most likely not the servers fault. -We ordered a side of fettuccine Alfredo for our two year old when we ordered the rest of our meal. We asked to receive this ASAP. We waited almost 30 minutes for the side of fettuccine. Had to ask for it three additional times. -Waited for the food for 40 minutes from the time it was rang in. -Waited an hour and half total from the time we entered the restaurant to the time we were served dinner. -Once the food finally came it was prepared incorrectly. Steaks missing toppings. Steaks overcooked. One steak came out almost well done. We ordered medium rare. -Manager was asked to come to the table. I observed the manager standing by the expo window for several minutes after she had been asked to visit out table. I had to go approach her myself. To her credit she was professional and apologetic. -Our two year old had lost all of his patience after 1.5 hours, and my husband had to take him out of the restaurant before we were served a proper steak. We asked for everything to be put in Togo boxes. To the managers credit she did ask me to check the temperature of the second steak. I said it was fine. I was ready to pay and leave. Got home and the steak was blue rare. After sitting in a Togo box for almost an hour. Still blue rare. I could only imagine if I had cut into it at the restaurant how rare it would’ve been. So still, we have not received a proper steak. -The manager did take 50% off of our total bill. At the time that seemed adequate, but after going home and having to cook my own steak it no longer feels adequate. Ultimately save yourself the trouble. Go to...

I started dining out at Carrabba's Italian Grill 20 years ago when I was a local student. I had the occasion then to quite regularly eat at the Carrabba’s location on Tunnel Road in Asheville. Sitting in the bar area, I would watch and marvel at the chefs making fresh pasta dishes with genuine culinary skills in a hectic working environment. At the time, I felt the food preparation at Carrabba’s, was genuinely a step ahead of what you might expect at other local restaurants such as the Olive Garden, etc. The above comments are a basis of comparison that I will use for a recent dining experience I had at Carrabba's Airport Road location. My dining companion and I elected to have the Chicken Martino entre, which came with a side Caesar salad. Not 2 minutes after the waitress took our order, a server arrived table-side with both of our food orders. The time that elapsed between our initial order, and the arrival of our food order, leads one to conclude that little if any personal attention was made towards actual food preparation. We were simply served something that had been pre-made, reheated, plated, and sent to our table. The food skills that I once experienced years ago, by trained culinary chefs at Carrabba's, have now been replaced by young inexperienced kids paid $15.00 per hour. Nothing that I ate suggests that the food quality was much better than what you might receive at your local fast-food restaurant. The food entre had a fair price of $19.00, and the Caesar salad and rolls were tasty. The service staff was cordial and attentive. Food, though adequate in portion-size, and passable in taste, was what you might expect based on the current preparation standards Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Having run my own business, I understand terms like profit margin. It is difficult for anyone to hold a restaurant to a standard I once experienced 20 years ago. Quality of ingredients, preparation of food, and other business constraints have been implemented to maintain corporate profit margins. In the end, only you can decide if the final food product represents the dining experience you deserve...

Cocktails were so syrupy it started to make my stomach hurt after a few sips, scallops on my salad came cold and chalky, broccoli on my partners plate was literally mushy. Service was slow, i felt bad for the server and was trying to be understanding because apparently they were having a tough time with the kitchen and he was young and obviously new but i couldnt help but be frustrated when after complaining of the drink and entree, not taking more than a couple bites/sips and ordering something different for legitimate reasons, then waiting over 15min for a replacement wine and 45min for a replacement chicken marsala to go, had to go find the server for our bread and herbs and soup to go, he then brought us connolis instead of the conoli cake we ordered, then was told the soup had been dumped, all to get the check with the items i had complained about and not consumed still on the check. I have been a server for a large portion of my life so i try to have empathy and understanding but i also have personal experience in knowing that the ball was dropped hard and it wasnt just us complaining. The couple next to us were complaining when we walked in and admittedly i judged them and thought they were being “boomers”. Turned out they ordered the broccoli and their entree came poorly as well. Another server overheard and actually said to us while cleaning the table next to us that they wouldnt order the broccoli either and that they were having a tough day with the kitchen. Noticed the sign on the table thay said you could order an entree to go for only $10. Was still charged full price for an entree when i ordered nothing but the chicken marsala with no sides. For the record the manager seemed very nice and doing the best she could. It seems shes just trying to put out the dumpster fire that is created with inexperienced new staff and a kitchen staff that needs to be completely reworked. Ive never tipped less than 20% in my life and typically tip 30% as a go to, this place had me debating walking out after being there for over an hour and a half....