Carrabba's Italian Grill — Restaurant in East Brunswick Township

Carrabba’s has been one of my favorite restaurants since childhood. I have fond memories of the servers bringing us dough to play with, then baking it and returning it for us to enjoy. It was a place that always felt warm and welcoming—a little piece of home whenever I missed it. But after today, I don’t think I’ll ever be back.

My husband and I came in for happy hour and were seated at the bar, where we were met with immediate hostility from the bartender—a blonde woman who made it clear we weren’t welcome. When my husband ordered a half-sweet, half-unsweet tea, she acted completely confused, then annoyed when we clarified. I asked for an unsweet tea with simple syrup on the side and a cup of ice. She walked away without acknowledging me. My husband immediately asked if it was just him or if she seemed unwelcoming. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt—big mistake.

She never checked on us once. When my husband asked for more bread, lemons, and a refill, she cut him off mid-sentence, walked away, and later scoffed, “You already told me that.” It only got worse.

I had planned to order the meatball appetizer from the happy hour menu but was confused by the description. When I asked if they were the same as the regular ones, she smirked, looked at the other bartender and a couple next to us, and sarcastically said, “Uh, yes, meatballs are meatballs.” It was obvious she was mocking me. The couple next to us kindly answered my question, confirming they were the same but a smaller portion. The bartender rolled her eyes and rudely asked if I was going to order them or not.

That was the final straw. I asked her outright why she had been passive-aggressive toward us the entire time. She laughed and turned to the other bartender, saying, “You’re taking them,” before walking away.

The male bartender who took over was professional and tried to de-escalate, but by then, the damage was done. When we spoke to the manager, he apologized, but as we talked, the bartender stood near the kitchen, laughing with other staff, all of whom looked in our direction.

The manager comped our bill, but this was never about the money. We were made to feel unwelcome, dismissed, and, most of all, discriminated against. While she was warm and attentive to other couples, she treated us as if we didn’t belong. The only difference? We’re Mexican.

I grew up loving Carrabba’s—it was a place that felt like home. Today, it became the site of one of the most humiliating and degrading experiences I’ve ever had at a restaurant. I never imagined that a place filled with so many good memories would be the same place that made me feel so unwelcome. We will not...

Our waiter was pretty bad and inattentive. Had to ask for lemons for ice tea twice. He put the salad plate in front of me ,but just before he set it down took it back , knew he made a mistake. It wasn't crowded but they were in the process of breaking down, so we had the pleasure of listening to the post and pans slamming and banging as well as the carpet sweeper going on around us. Even if a place tells you they are open I think maybe it's not good to go in the last hour. My husband's pizza was disgusting, there was a big hole in it then they pushed the cheese over it to disguise it. The bottom was totally soggy and wet. ( the brick pizza oven was already closed down.) They have sausage on the menu but tonite it was not a pizza topping option?? My husband will usually eat whatever is put in front of him even if it's not the best. He hates to send anything back. The pizza went back so fast I couldn't even take a photo. The mushrooms were mostly pesto tasting herbs not sausage and 3 cheese. My Tuscany lemonade had some kind of strange floating particles in it, that was NOT lemon pulp, and there was zero taste of basil. And I needed to order something else fast because it was last call. Scallops were mushy. They no longer have my favorite fusilli so I got overcooked, undersauced angel hair. And the caprese tomato salad was a huge plate of cut up cherry tomatoes with a ball of burrata on top. Had to ask for bread, and grated cheese. And then wait forever for him to come. The calamari and shrimp were fried very nicely, and they included a nice amount of the tentacles, not just rings. ( the only good part of this abysmal meal) The lemon butter pepper sauce was ok, would have been better if it had been hotter...... should have stuck with marinara. The the last straw was the $5.00 overcharge on the check for a salad we didn't order. Just another act of inattentiveness overall. Luckily, I always look at the final check. It unfortunate, because we loved Carrabba's and we don't have one local to us anymore. Maybe they should shut this one down and reopen the one closer...

Was looking forward to having dinner with my daughter at Carrabba's haven't been there in quite awhile. To get right to it the waitress was very uninterested and unresponsive towards us our salad appetizer and food was brought to us by a young guy who actually looked lost and homeless his hand shook uncontrollably, when offering to grate cheese on our pasta enough wasn't coming out so he proceeded to open the grater and flip the block of cheese with his bare hand, I also witnessed him adjust the food with his fingers on a plate he was serving to another person seated at a table near by. The Cesar salad was watery and had a strange taste the calamari didn’t taste freshly made both our pasta dishes were Extremely Salty and unable to be eaten after two bites, while trying to get the attention of the waitress she continued to ignore us and proceeded with her conversation at the bar area I tried to get someone else but no one responded to our request for service . Shortly after two young boys were cleaning the table next to ours one of them assisted in bringing us containers for the uneaten food the waitress finally came over to give us the bill and never gave us a customer copy. Once we got home myself and my daughter were extremely sick throughout the entire night nauseous severe abdominal pain diarrhea every half hour I was literally peeing out of my you know what, unable to sleep until around five a.m. my daughter had to call out sick from work we both remained sick throughout the next day and considered going to the hospital. I would not recommend this place to anyone and after checking reviews it's obvious we were not the only customer to experience this problem. Literally about a hundred dollars flushed down the toilet and both pasta dinners trashed I will be contacting the corporate office representatives and possibly legal advice if I continue feeling ill. This place obviously needs to be...