Update: I ate dinner at the Carrabba’s located at 7620 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne, FL this past Thursday night. At first I thought it was fine—ridiculously salty, but passable. However, approximately four hours later, I experienced a pronounced case of diarrhea—something I never get. The symptoms continued throughout the night and into the next morning.

I would recommend that the management at this restaurant take the following steps to prevent this from happening to other customers: look at their chicken storage to make sure that old meat is being discarded; review the washing of vegetables to make sure that the staff is getting rid of bacteria; and make sure that employees are washing their hands after using the restroom.

It seems like Carrabba’s adds more and more salt to their meals with every passing year. It’s gotten to the point where it has become rather ridiculous. And now that they’re adding food poisoning and bacteria into things, I think it’s time to cross this place off the list.

—————————————————————————————————— The Carrabba's located at 7620 North Wickham Road, Melbourne, FL 32940 has declined over the years. The wait staff used to be one of the best in the area. They used to check on patrons frequently during the meal, offering free refills of beverages and asking if the patron needed anything. They were gregarious, always eager to please--really a top notch group. But those employees are apparently long gone. I find the current wait staff to be someone lazy and distant. They only check on you when you've nearly finished your meal.

The prices of the meals at Carrabba's have increased at a rapid rate, far exceeding the smaller rate hikes at local competitors. It's odd when you consider that most of their dinners are pasta and chicken, fairly cheap meals to prepare. Many of their meals simply are no longer worth the cost.

Presumably as part of their efforts to increase profit margins, the portion sizes have been getting smaller. It's a double insult in view of the price hikes. There is evidence of corner cutting everywhere you look. A salad that used to have 6-8 Kalamata olives now has one, and buried in the lettuce are chunks of the hard material at the core of the lettuce head. Chicken patties are sliced much more thinly now.

Finally, I noticed that they are adding large amounts of salt to the dipping oil that is served with the mini-loaf of warm Italian bread before the meal. The saltiness is very noticeable to a long time patron. I can only surmise that it's motivated by an old bartender's trick: make the snacks salty to force patrons into buying more beverages. It's one thing to do that at the bar; it's rather sleazy and unethical to do that at the dining tables.

For tourists and visitors unfamiliar with this area, I strongly recommend a hard pass on this restaurant. A far superior alternative is the Longhorn Steakhouse at the Avenue at Viera.