Carrabba's Italian Grill — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Fantastic service and food. We went to Carrabba’s to celebrate my wife’s birthday. We have a lot of family that lives in town so our group is rather large. 16 to be exact, and that not including any friends that may come along. Anyhow, I called about a week in advance to request a reservation as many places do not do them. Carrabba’s is one that does not do them however, because of our party size they made an exception. Finally a restaurant using its head. I will post pictures of everyone’s food but the description of food will be of my own. We started with Calamari and an order of their wings. The Calamari tasted fresh rather than frozen. It was flavorful with its fresh cracked black pepper infused light breading. The marinara sauce that accompanied it was mildly sweet with hints of basil and thyme. The wings were fantastic. A sort of mildly spicy Tuscan herb rub went pleasantly with the house made blue cheese dressing. They were crispy, moist, and tender. Our only complaint was when there were none left. Your meal comes with a choice of a salad or a soup. Both of which there are 3-5 options. I chose the sausage and lentil soup. I loved it. It was creamy, spicy, and robust. The sausage was a Italian sage sausage making for a very good savory flavor with just a hint of sweetness. I was sad that I only got one bowl and was very close to skipping dinner for a couple more bowls of soup. I ordered the lasagna as my main course. I was really quite surprised by it’s lack luster. It was a decent enough lasagna but truthfully I would put it slightly lower than frozen from the store. It was all pasta. What I mean by that is there was little to no meat, sauce (except on top, and the sauce tasted great, needed more garlic), and CHEESE. I mean you gotta have cheese guys. I suppose there may be those out there that would like this version but I did not. I asked my family about there meals and everything else was very good to great. I will be coming back to this Carrabba’s, but it will be for the soup, not for...

So I have been working in restaurants for 20+ years so I can be very understanding and forgiving…but we came out to eat last night here and it had to be one of the worst experiences I have ever had! The service was so poor and I feel like there was no excuse for it! I never even saw saw a manager on the floor. I’m pretty sure there was 3 bartenders with 5 bar guests and 2-3 tables on 2 tops by the bar area with he bartenders/servers just standing around or disappearing. It was so slow there was no excuse for it. We were offered bread that was never brought and asked for it 2 more times. I didn’t get everything bc I ordered, our server never checked on us after our food was dropped off. Finally one of the other bartenders was walking past and checked on us 15 minutes later and I was at least able to tell him my steak was way undercooked (normally I would let it go but I’m pregnant and can’t eat rare meat) FINALLY got the steak 30 min later. Had to wave him down to place a to go order. The other 2 tables I could tell weren’t happy had to wave them down to pay their check and the other single man at a table I watched walked to the host stand and request another table bc he was super irritated about his food being wrong and nobody coming to check on him…then we waited another 20 minutes to get our check. The food was great so at least there was that. I love Carrabba’s but seriously management dropped the ball on this one…or maybe the servers/bartenders need some more training. Of course I tipped but he could’ve gotten another $30 out of us had he cared enough to make our trip...

So typically I dine in, today however I ordered uber eats for lunch. I got the Chicken Pollo Rosa Maria with a side salad. I did have a couple of issues with my food, which is a first time I've ever had an issue in the 18 years I've been dining at this specific Carrabbas location. As a server, I typically don't complain, and when I do it's to either have my food remade correctly, or to just notify the management of my feedback because in my eyes if you don't know when somethings wrong how can you correct it moving forward? Well I couldn't have my food remade, because again uber eats. I did call though just to give my feedback on my experience. The young lady who answered the phone was very polite and helpful, she transferred me to a manager within 30 seconds. The manager I had the pleasure of speaking with, Alexis, was top notch. You could tell she genuinely cared about what was negative about my experience, she listened with patience and compassion. She did try to offer to resolve the issue, but I explained that was not necessary in any shape or form. She did say she insisted, she really did show she wants to go above and beyond for their guests. I politely again declined and explained I have worked in restraints for 18+ years, I wasn't complaining to get something, but just simply wanted to share feedback. She has an attitude that is exemplary and I can guarantee not only are guests impressed by her, but her staff respects her and enjoy working with and for her. Thank you again Alexis, the restaurant world needs more managers of your...