Carrabba's Italian Grill — Restaurant in Columbus

Studies show that customers return to restaurants first for the food, and second for the service.

Dishes in chain restaurants may fall short of menu descriptions in quality, flavor, presentation, or appearance. They can also differ between the restaurants in the chain.

Last night I dined with a friend at the Columbus, Georgia Carrabbas. It was one of the best dining experiences that I can remember:

--I loved being able to get on the wait list in advance (by phone, web, or app) to reduce wait time.

--I loved that everything on the menu sounded so good I wanted it all!

--I loved that the menu urged us to notify our server if anyone in our party has a food allergy. I told the server that I thought my friend had a nut allergy, and the manager on duty came to our table and discussed that with her.

--I loved that the menu provided calorie information for every option of every dish.

--I loved that we got our food before we had a chance to wonder where it was.

--I loved the presentation.

-- I loved that the huge scallops on my dinner salad were cooked perfectly.

--I loved the dressing, which was the best I've ever had on a seafood and lettuce salad.

--I loved that the salad was so good that I never got around to eating any of the freshly baked bread!

--I loved that the server, Danielle, handled everything efficiently and discreetly, from orders and customizations to bringing and removing dishes and other items. Inexperienced and inconsiderate servers interrupt their customers' conversations. I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but Danielle seemed to appear only when there was a lull in our conversation. That's pretty huge.

I think it's obvious that I highly recommend both this particular Carrabbas Restaurant and the staff members who contributive to our positive dining experience last night: the store manager, our host, the unseen but nevertheless very much appreciated chefs, and...

If food temperature warmth and seasoning had been better, I would have rated a higher. Also, I think "wiser management" was need. I love this restaurant and location but they really let us down this time.

I had the Tuscan grilled filet with Mama's chicken soup and garlic mash. My mom had Chicken Picatta with Mama's chicken soup and pasta.

Before getting to comments on food, let me point out the server was excellent and did a really good job.

The staff however were SLOW to clean tables. When we left there were four tables / booths in the bar (including ours) that were vacant and had dirt dishes and yet they had people waiting outside on a dismal day.

Another thing to point out was they were having cars drive up and wait on orders outside the main door preventing guests, especially elderly/ handicapped, from easily entering to enjoy a pleasant Valentines dinner inside.

OK to the food. Soup came out lukewarm but had a generous portion of chicken It was clear my steak came off the grill well before my mom's meal was finished. Here food was steaming hot while mine was almost cold My steak was cooked perfectly to the right temperature, medium rare, but had very light or no Tuscan seasoning My mom's pasta portion was very skimpy. It is sad when the amount of greated cheese is almost more substantial than the pasta!

As, I said above, we love this place so we will be back. I just hope management addresses these...

Not sure what happened here. Went in yesterday on a Sunday at 5 for a friends birthday. Figured I’d go in early in case they didn’t have a reservation, which they ended up not having one. Carrabas did excellent with seating all 13 of us on a short ten minute notice, I’m actually impressed with that part. The rest of the evening went downhill. From food not being hot, being told to wait to put in my Togo order (it was the same identical order) then after that infront of the birthday girl the waitress states because I want to get a Togo order she needs to go ahead and split up the checks (why are you passing blame on me, unnecessary to put me in a predicament, but anyways I stayed quiet no complaints. Then as time to go, (we had been there about an hour and a half and I put in my order for Togo within 30 minutes of sitting down and still ended up being one of the last people to leave. Just overall did not meet standards on a slow night. Which would explain why it’s slow on a Sunday

Edit: she left out the best part of why I (and I’m sure others) love going to an Italian restaurant and that’s when they do the parm cheese on the food at the table and I thought okay maybe they just got rid of it and nope every single other table had it done.

To top it all off the Togo Alfredo literally had no sauce on it.

I won’t single out the girls name but absolutely just not your night that night I...