Carrabba's Italian Grill — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Came out tonight for a later dinner (8:00 ish) and as we walked in I joked with my husband that every time I come here the service gets increasingly worse with no manager interaction or involvement. Usually it takes at least 10 mins to be greeted then another 20 to even get drinks. Tonight was of course no different. Food was good. However it wasn’t busy at all, it took ten mins after we were sat for a server assistant to come get our drinks then another 7 for another assistant to bring our drinks (coke and a water, not even mixed drinks or bar drinks.) another 10 for the server to come over. Then they were out of the first two items I tried to order (the filet caprese special and the filet and shrimp pasta entree.) okay whatever I ordered my usual and my husband ordered his. Our salads came out quickly but the server didn’t come by again until after our entrees were brought out. My side order of parm truffle fries never came. But yet the entire staff was on the line, hanging out and talking and giggling and playing and while we sat with my side order nowhere to be seen, the server was using her phone to video record her friend (another server) in the kitchen while he screwed around. Which also seems like maybe not something you want to do when you have an OPEN KITCHEN Having fun and goofing off and being silly on a slow Friday isn’t what bothered us. What bothered us was we spent $70 to not get a single refill, our server to not check back on us, and for two other guys to do 90% of her job while she played around. We literally watched her standing on the line. Doing everything except the bare minimum of making sure we had at least half full drinks. It’s not like she had a full section and was running all around the place. If you’re going to work in a place with an open kitchen then be mindful of that and what your guests see. None of it would have been an issue had there been a slight hint of attentiveness and had I not sat with an empty drink and then was literally ignored when I tried to ask for one to go. Not going to be that person that says I’ll never return but if I want a sit down meal and I know I’m going to spend over $50 for two people with two entrees and one soft drink I will definitely be seeking other options to spend my...

The manager was very helpful with planning our surprise birthday dinner. For this reason, I felt very confident about choosing Carraba's for this special occasion UNTIL I got there.

Our party arrived a couple of minutes after 4 pm, and when we checked in, the host told us to give her a few minutes. We understood because we were a bit early. We watched her get our table ready and and by 4:20, our table was ready, to which the host came back to inform us that our server is taking another group's order and once he's done, then we'll be seated. I didn't understand why we couldn't at least sit down to wait... I've never experienced that at any restaurant. Long story shorter, I watched the server not only finish taking the other group's order but also served them their food . Around 4:33, we mentioned this to the host, and she went to ask someone about it, then she came back and finally seated us .

Now, when it was time to order, we didn't have the kid's menu that you prepared for us. I had to request one. Also, some interactions our guests had with our male server made them feel as though he was annoyed with them and/or racist. To which they mentioned to me "choosing this place was a terrible choice" it was quite embarrassing for me. Also, when it was time to sing Happy Birthday, the server brought out a mini slice of cake instead of our birthday cake to sing the song. I then had to remind him that "our cake has candles. That's the cake you were supposed to use." So then he went to grab our cake, light our candles and just sat this cake in front of the birthday girl. So our guests sang happy birthday again to her. It was a really awkward moment. Furthermore, we did not receive the mini canoly dessert per person that you said was included in the price. And by this point, many were so disappointed with the customer service that they just wanted to leave.

Again, I'm always hesitant to leave a bad review. I was really excited to come here. Jennifer, the manager, did a phenomenal job communicating with me this entire process, but the customer service experience made us feel unwanted and...

We went to this Carabbas because we had never visited this location on Youngerman Circle. We had a 25 - 30 min wait as it was around 6:30 or so. I never got her name but it was a manager that seated us. She was nice and promptly got what we needed and even brought by water and bread for us. I watched who I thought was our waitress, and was right as she hurried around getting other tables, even serving a couple first that had been seated around 15 mins after we were seated. Turned around and basically looked at us like we were inconveniencing her. It took another 15 mins after we ordered our drinks and appetizer to get our drinks. The appetizer was whisked out by one of the managers way before we got our drinks. Then we waited an hour. The couple that was helped before us got their food, ate it and put it in to go containers before we made the decision to just get our food to go. The server maybe passed by us once, I never got a refill on my drink. The manager that had brought us our appetizer came to give the food to us shortly after. It took another 10 minutes to get our check, another 10 to get cashed out. It kinda felt like we were being held hostage. All the while there weren’t that many customers to deal with. We watched the table over get their food before we got ours. I’ve managed a really successful restaurant in NC and never could even fathom the level of disappointment I got from here. Places like this are great places to come but are only out to rake in the money and really not care if you come back. In the end, I told the manager that seated us as we walked out we wouldn’t be back. I’m not looking to get anything from the deal as I didn’t ask for it to begin with. I just never asked to be treated with such disservice. I spent an Hour and 20 minutes waiting when I should have just went across the street to Olive Garden where I have never been treated like this. I guess I will eat my dinner for...