Carrabba's Italian Grill — Restaurant in Columbia

If you’re looking for a culinary experience that reminds you of your sad, microwaved leftovers at 2 AM, then Carrabba’s is the place for you. After years of avoiding this restaurant like it owed me money, I decided to give it another shot—and let me tell you, it boldly reaffirmed my decision to stay away.

Let’s give credit where it’s due: the server was delightful—truly a ray of sunshine navigating a dark storm of mediocrity. The ambiance was cozy, clean, and genuinely inviting. And oh, the bread! The bread was the golden child of this disaster dinner—fresh, warm, and paired with a dipping oil so good I briefly considered skipping the rest of the meal and asking for a second loaf to-go.

Unfortunately, that’s where the magic ended. The Caesar salad was a lesson in minimalism: barely any dressing, limp lettuce, and croutons that tasted like they’d been stolen from a 1998 airplane meal. It’s as if the kitchen made a bet on how little flavor they could cram into one dish.

The main courses took the disappointment to a whole new level. The chicken was greasy, tough, and had the kind of chewiness you’d expect from an old leather boot. Italian cuisine is supposed to sing with flavor; this chicken just whimpered quietly into the void. And the pasta—oh, the pasta! If you’ve ever wondered what a salt lick tastes like, order this. It was so oversalted that I left the restaurant wondering if I should schedule a check-up for my kidneys. The veal, meanwhile, was dry enough to qualify as jerky and tasted about as fresh as something you’d find in a gas station snack aisle.

And those sauces? I’m convinced they came straight from a jar that said, “Just Add Disappointment.” For a place claiming to serve authentic Italian food, the meal tasted about as Italian as a frozen pizza roll.

To top it all off, the bill was outrageous. If I’m paying those prices, I’d at least like to pretend I’m eating something worth the cost. Instead, I was stuck mentally itemizing every bite I took, trying to find where the money went. Spoiler: it wasn’t in the food.

In summary, Carrabba’s remains the master of empty promises. It’s the restaurant equivalent of a bad Tinder date: nice atmosphere, a charming smile (server), but zero substance. If you’re craving bread and self-reflection about your life choices, by all means, stop in. Otherwise, save your time, money, and sodium levels, and look elsewhere for a meal that doesn’t feel like an...

Probably one of the worst experiences of eating out ive had in quite some time. First we got there and when offered drinks. However, they had no carbination. So only wine, tea, lemonade and water. Ok, no big deal. When asking for appetizer we were told they were also out of cheese sticks and bread sticks. Ok, being as none of the other appetizers sounded good we skipped it.

Now becomes the real irritating part of the meal. My husband and mother in law orderd their meals and requested truffle fries. When they got their food they were over cooked fries with parmesan and no truffle at all. (They were charged extra for this!) My youngest son i ordered the chicken fingers with broccoli for him. What came was grilled chicken and broccoli. So that needed to be fixed.

When i ordered I told the waitress i wanted the Johnny Trio but if i could get the chicken bryan that came with it without the goat cheese. She said that was possible so I said i would order that. She told me there was a side, which confused me as they never stated a side came with it. I even pointed it out on the menu but went ahead and ordered the asparagus anyway. Now when my food came all i got was the chicken, but not the pasta or the steak. I asked if they were coming on another plate and they said it wasnt listed as that on the order and they brought my waitress back out who told me she was going to fix it. By this time everyone else was bassically done and getting boxes and im waiting for half my meal. I told her i was going to just box it up at this point, she returned with my food already boxed.

Overall for the price this was totally not worth it. The food was either over cooked or bland. Service was subpar and not interest in our group being satisfied. Place is not worth returning to. Sad that for a birthday dinner this was...

I had high expectations based off of previous experiences before covid . Kinda struck out on Father’s Day ordering a steak at another restaurant. Carrabbas was in the rotation of choices then and we left feeling like , damn should have went to Carrabbas . Fast forward to my birthday dinner . Carrabbas , super excited. Immediately got the calamari . Excellent. The marinara was the best . Went to order , no rib eye , waiter suggests sirloin. I go with it . It’s Saturday 6pm . It’s busy . Salads good . Kids soups were really good . We get our entrees and it was a mix . My steak was cold an a bit past medium.10 ounces before cooked very questionable. Fries cold . My sons lobster ravioli was cold . Basically room temp. He’s picky and was really all ready full so no big deal . Couldn’t help but send my plate back though . The waiter was awesome. Damien I believe. But I knew when he brought me a new plate that it was a done deal .The fresh fries and spinach were really good but you can’t reheat a steak , much less one already cooked past what you ordered . By then it was eat or don’t eat lol.positive side , my eldest sons pasta was steaming hot and really good. My girlfriends chicken with mushrooms made me jealous. The manager came to our table without being requested and was really sincere in taking care of us. She removed the steak from the bill . Offered desert which was really nice but we had plans later etc. ….. unfortunately after all of that , I kept eating my fries . I know I felt something weird in my mouth but it was too late . I moved my remaining fries around and found bits of plastic 😿. Being my birthday and my son and girlfriend were treating me to dinner , we just left it at what it was . Very...