Carrabba's Italian Grill — Restaurant in Land O' Lakes

Of all the Italian-inspired franchise concept restaurants that started to spring up in the late 1980s-early 1990s (Maggiano's, Romano's Macaroni Grill, Buca di Beppo, Olive Garden, et al.), Bloomin' Brands Carrabba's is far and away the best of them, so much so that there is no distant second for me.

This brand new Carrabba's location in Wesley Chapel, across SR56 from the Tampa Premium Outlets, is nestled comfortably between two other Bloomin' concepts: Bonefish Grill and Aussie Grill (to whom I owe a review for the many sinful Bacon Bomb burgers I have enjoyed much to the chagrin of my cardiologist).

I ordered delivery from Carrabba's two days ago, not realizing it was their first day in business. The quality of the food, the timeliness of the delivery, and the professionalism of the staff impressed my wife and me so much that we returned the following day!

As a former chef and hospitality-lifer, we rarely go out to eat–much less order delivery–because the experience is usually subpar, and the food often ranges from mediocre to inedible. No one wants to spend hard-earned money in this economic climate only to feel regret. Still, we work hard, she is in her 38th week of pregnancy and after multiple jobs, school, and caring for our other three toddlers, once in a while it's nice to have a break from planning, shopping, prepping, cooking, and cleaning.

Enter Carrabba's, a place my wife of almost ten years has never even eaten at. I assured her that, if memory serves, she would be surprised at the high level of food quality, to which she initially looked at me skeptically, adding, "you're never happy with any food that is delivered." That is a fair point.

Long story longer: The food was excellent. We both had Johnny's Trio: we substituted the 9-ounce filet mignon for the sirloin, medium rare, topped with caramelized mushrooms in their Lombardo Marsala sauce, wood-grilled chicken 'Bryan' topped with goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, and a lemon sauce, mezzaluna (half-moon) shaped ravioli stuffed with chicken, spinach, and three types of Italian cheese served in a tomato-cream sauce, sides of garlic mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach with garlic, and a tiramisú, and all the food was packaged beautifully, delivered in a timely fashion with appropriate temperatures, and with the same presentation as you would expect dining in. And to think if I had tried to place an order one day earlier, they would not have been open yet. That is serendipitous timing.

General Manager Miguel and his staff are firing on all cylinders in a way that should make corporate recognize them as a paradigm of hospitality excellence. A shift manager, I believe her name was Bella, took time out of her schedule to personally deliver food to us on opening night just before closing when their delivery partner at DoorDash failed to show up, and she would not even accept a gratuity. That is over and beyond! Lylyana, another Carrabba's "MICO" provided exemplary service the following day when I returned.

Congratulations and BRAVO on your first two days, Carrabba's Wesley Chapel. The food and service were nothing short of...

My husband and I are regulars at this Carrabba’s. We usually sit at the bar if it is available and we always spend at least $150. We’ve been served by bartenders Chris, Crystal, & Claire on several occasions. Last night was a special occasion as it was my closest friend from TN’s 50th Birthday & My husband and I took him out to dinner as he was only in town for a couple of days. Clare was bartending. This will be our 3rd time Receiving terrible service from her along with a terrible attitude. When we arrived, She was a little busy & we were patient as I used to tend bar & I know how busy they are. Once we were finally greeted, Clare came over and put menus in front of us. She never said a word & Always looks like she’s in a Bad mood. I tried to lighten the mood & Greeted her instead. I said hi, how are you?

Everything was fine at first, We were catching up & When over 40 mins past & Clare had still not offered to take our dinner order, My friend asked if we can order as he was pretty hungry so I advised Claire that we are ready to order whenever she is.

By this time, the bar had almost completely cleared out. We received our food, As always, it was amazing, but we started to notice that Clare would only offer our friend a beer & Continue walking by mine and my husband’s empty drinks.

My husband waited on a drink for almost 45 minutes, He had ordered a round for both of us & still didn’t receive any drinks. By this time, all of our drinks were empty & Clare comes over and offers our friend a beer & Ignores mine and my husband’s empty drink drinks again.

Finally, she makes a drink for my husband and a beer for my friend and leaves me sitting there for an additional 30 minutes with an empty drink.

We specifically came to Carrabba‘s because of the atmosphere an amazing service that we have received in the past from Chris and Crystal. The experience was awful last night, We left upset, & Even expressed to Chris, who is managing that we sure do miss Crystal’s amazing service, but he just smiled and walked away.

The first time Clare bartended for us I just assumed she was having a bad night and let it go, The second time it happened, we told each other we will definitely sit in the dining room the next time If she’s bartending again, But last night, our friend wanted to sit at the bar & I was hoping and praying for a better experience from Clare but again, She seemed angry, aggravated, & Made us feel like we were nothing more than a hassle.

Pretty disappointing when you spend over $200 on dinner & Leave never...

Carrabba's is the story of 2 Texan brothers whose origins are Silician and whose main preoccupation is FOOD Y'all! They have a chain of restaurants which organises (fun) events. The one we attended tonight took place in Carrabba's Westley Chapel. Thanks to dear friends, we were the lucky participants of a memorable Dau wines dinner event! In effect, we had a vey special and wonderful menu tonight at Carrabba's Westley Chapel that consisted in 4 dishes all accompanied by delicious wines. I posted a picture of the menu, but go on the Carrabba's site to find out the next experimential dinner party! I really liked the wine-entree combination ( a Dau red blend wine served with the filet asparagus and cauliflower). I did not know about Dau wines before going to this restaurant. I read that Dau was founded by two Lebanese guys, one making wine at an early age in his garage, which is weird to me, but after all, Dau is the result of a passion for wine making! To sum up, I enjoyed the salad, the mushroom risotto, the filet and the brownnie with its cream and I am really grateful our friends connoisseurs invited us to this interesting place in Westley Chapel. If I had to define our dinner apart from the good company, great ambiance, fun raffle, tasty food and exquisite wines, I would mention 2 words: quality and quantity! The staff was really really nice and professional, anticipating any customer's need. Great people, great food, great ambiance, thumbs...