Carrabba's Italian Grill — Restaurant in Lexington

We love Carrabba’s and usually eat there about once/month, but we were disappointed with the last two visits. About 6 months ago, we ate at the Knoxville, TN. location. My Chicken Bryan dish came out extremely undercooked and I could not eat it or anything on the plate! They apologized and offered me something else. I did not eat. Totally took away my appetite which is why we had not ate there in 6 months.

Our experience at this location in Lexington, KY. was different. We decided to go there to celebrate a birthday. First, we had a pretty good wait time to be seated, yet it was not that busy. We were there a little after the dinner rush. We did not think that our server was ever showing up. Finally, got drinks and ordered appetizer. The calamari tasted very “fishy”. Not sure what that was about. Our food was just okay. The fettuccine is usually my favorite side dish, but it was flavorless and dry. Had to order more sauce. That really didn’t help much because the sauce itself was not very flavorful. The food came out warm. I have come to expect that from Carrabba’s because everywhere we have ate it seems that the food never comes out hot. That’s disappointing. We were there way longer than expected due to slow service. We have ate at this location before and were very pleased. Not sure what was off that Friday night, but it will be awhile before we visit Carrabba’s again.

I hope that they are not following the lead of some other former favorite restaurants and changing up or “cheapening” up the food. Cutting portions, raising price, not training staff well will lead to their demise. Everyone needs to train like Chick-fil-A! Best...

Went here for Father's Day lunch. This wasn't our first choice because of proximity, but there was a long wait for five (three adults and two kids) at 11:30 without a reservation at our first choice. I called ahead, and was surprised that there was no wait here. We arrived at around 12:15 to what was an almost deserted restaurant. And if our visit is indicative of others' in the span of time since we had last eaten here, I can understand why.

It's not that we had a terrible experience - within a couple of minutes, the hostess had pulled two four-tops together to accommodate our party of five, and our orders were accurate and the food was as good as I've had here before. But based on prior experience here, the table service was sub-par, as was, I dare say, the management. Our server was friendly and pleasant, but either wasn't on top of his game, or suffered a lapse in training or supervision. As an example, we were never offered bread, even through delivery of our entrées, at which point we had to ask for it.

Additionally, our server, along with others', seemingly with little to do given a light crowd, congregated in the expedite area of the kitchen to chat, and tended to linger there a little too long, engrossed in conversation, so we had to grab his attention a time or two. I never saw a manager shooing them off, nor did a manager check in at our table, as is, I think, usually standard procedure.

I don't go to Carrabba's for a "meh" experience, especially on Father's Day. So, four stars for the food, and take away one star for...

Haven’t eaten here in over a year as I generally choose to avoid corporate if local is available, but really happy that I ate there again! The best part of my meal was an outstanding young man, Daniel. Her served me as if I were a member of his family. He exhibited true warm hospitality and by his service, made it known that I and my wants were important to him. He modified my order spe office to me and never blinked an eye when I requested extra parm or bread. He kept my drink filled and gave me extra citrus to spritz. He didn’t hover yet I was never without. This is the type of service you don’t mind saying ‚hell yes, he deserves more than 15, 18, 20 or 25%. I’m sure this young man is in school and let’s hope his major is in the hospitality industry because he’s got this down!

As for the food, much better than I remember with crispy chilled salad freshly tossed in a creamy Italian dressing full of Italian peppers, thinly sliced carrots and sadly only one olive - although that one was wonderfully full flavored. The bread lovely, freshly baked and still warm from the oven. A lush bottle of EVOO and Italian spices complimentary at every table. Pasta w pomodoro was delicious. Pasta cooked absolutely perfect. Al dente plus I would say!! Meatballs on the side were golf ball sized, a bit dense but good flavor. I don’t give a five for the food because pomodoro is best w fresh not canned tomatoes. And the meatballs were not nonnas!

Overall a good meal for a decent price with stellar service....