Carrabba's Italian Grill — Restaurant in Gainesville

I came in at 9:24pm on 7/26 and asked for a table for 1. The host acted like she was questioning why I came in and asked to dine in. She immediately said “uhhhh well we close in 30 minutes?” And I immediately felt her mood shift to that of me bothering her for doing her job. So of course I feel bad now since I’m clearly such a hassle for her, so I ask if I can place a Togo order then, and she has to leave to go ask a server?? And of course the servers tell her it’s fine for me to do so. I am a restaurant manager myself and pride my employees on their customer service no matter the time of day. A customer walks in at 9:59pm and we close at 10pm? You best believe we are seating them and giving them the same service we would give to someone coming in during peak business hours. I have a feeling this girl is new because right at 9:45 a group of three others walk in (A father with two children in tow), and sure enough she says the same thing to them and is incredibly hesitant to speak with them. The father was also immediately ticked off like I was and questioned the girl about it, to which a clearly veteran sever walked over to see what was going on. The server told her to of course seat them since they were still open. Imagine my frustration to watch someone get sat at 9:45 and I walked in at 9:24 to be almost turned away. I really hope this reaches the management of this location so you know the service your host is putting out, the servers were all wonderful and the food is as well. If someone is coming in to dine later in the day, I always am the person to tip at least 20% for my server that is needing to stay later than usual to wait on me, it’s a shame this host hasn’t been trained well enough to know dine in guests are where a server makes their money, not Togo and certainly not turning away a guest all together. Especially if my check is over 60 dollars. Please train your employees better or hire people who actually want...

For a decent price, Carabba's has always been a high quality restaurant in Gainesville where you can get a delicious meal. There was only about a 15 minute wait here on a Friday night when all around the restaurant, wait times were over 40 minutes to an hour or more. Upon sitting down, we were offered a wide array of beverages as well as bread for every member of our party.

Taking a look at what we ordered, there were two appetizers: for the first, we ordered the tomato capresse with buratta cheese, and it was superb. A typical restaurant version of this dish consists of some slices of beefsteak tomatoes and a thin slice of fresh mozzarella cheese; it never feels like enough to share with big groups of people, but here at Carabba's, they prepare it with some delicious cherry tomatoes and a chunk of burratta cheese, making it incredibly easy to share and delicious. They maintain the spirit of the dish throughout. There was also a meatball appetizer, which while advertised as a large meatball, wasn't really a very large meatball, but it was very good, and they did give us two servings of it.

I find the kids' macaroni portion size is a bit small, but don't worry, it's not your regular Kraft macaroni, it's homemade cheese noodles and it's just as good as any adult meal I've ever had. I got the Pollo Rosa Maria, and it is really hard to find a chicken like that in Gainesville, it is cheesy, soft, tender, it contains multiple proteins, and it is a great meal for someone who is watching their calories. I had fettucine alfredo as part of my meal, and although it wasn't low in calories, it was very well prepared and was the perfect compliment to my meal.

I would definitely return here again, and I have done so numerous times, this is definitely a hidden gem in Gainesville that should...

I've NEVER left bad review before cuz 90% of problems aren't bad enough to warrant it, but this was one of worst dining experiences I've EVER had ... followed by the worst response by a Carrabas or Outback Proprietor ever . Not manager, but Proprietor of Gainesville Carrabas .... and I'm ex Outback bartender & Key ... and sold wholesale food to restaurants, and even owned restaurants . I've gone to Outback & Carrabas combined probly over 100 times . Partly because of their consistent quality & flavors throughout the country . I've always recommended both . So I'm a big fan . The salad came out perfect, cold, and in 3 mins . Then I waited over 35mins for my only order, my 1 entree. I made sure that my server understood that I don't blame them for kitchen issues . I even told my server that I was impressed that a Propietor rolled up her sleeves and put on an apron . When i asked to speak to the Proprietor, i was told she refused . 10mins later after I got my food and cashed out, she came out. I first complimented her on the food quality . Then I started to discuss the food time. Her first words were "do you know I was the one who made that?" . No accountability at all . Not even a sorry ... about anything . So I said but that doesn't mean much who made it, when it takes 35mins . She turned to the server and said take everything off his bill and WALKED AWAY . I refused that and said don't touch any part of my charge . Actually tipped my server $20 but after I left she refunded the whole charge, thus taking away servers money 😡 😤 then tried to accuse me of raising my voice at my server, which i DO NOT as evidenced by server standing right there denying it . She made it...