Carrabba's Italian Grill — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

We love Carrabba's so much so that my husband chose to go to Carrabba's to celebrate his birthday last night April 19, 2021.

We took advantage of “Call Ahead Seating” and called the day before. We arrived just at our reserved time only to be told that they couldn't seat us and asked us to wait. When I checked about 15 minutes later they told me they didn't have enough wait staff and were concerned we wouldn't have a good dining experience if they seated us right away. This should have been a red flag...

We were made to wait 30 minutes.

We were then seated and our server Nathan seemed to be friendly and on the ball. There were six of us and we ordered the Tomato Caprese with Burata to share as an appetizer, Shrimp Scampi appetizer as a main course, two 16 oz. ribeyes with different sides to be shared between two couples, and one 10 oz. sirloin.

The salads came out and the female server who was putting them down literally snatched a salad right out of the hands of one of our guests. When asked why she snapped at him saying the plate was too hot to touch. Salad plates should never be hot but it is simply unacceptable to snatch something away from a guest.

We were then served our main courses. The same female server brought them to the table. It was immediately apparent that they were incorrect. When we mentioned this she snapped she didn’t know what order Nathan had taken the orders in. She then dropped the plates where she thought they should go and snarled she'd get Nathan.

We waited 5-10 minutes for Nathan. When he finally came to the table we pointed out to him that my husband and I had ordered ribeye with mashed potatoes and our guest had ordered sirloin with spicy butter and broccoli. Our guest had received what appeared to be a ribeye with spicy butter and broccoli we'd obviously received the sirloin with mashed potatoes.

Nathan insisted that we'd just received a smaller cut of the ribeye. We pointed out that it most certainly was not a 16 oz. portion and looked nothing like the other ribeye that had been plated correctly and served. He walked away and came back a few minutes later saying he thought the steaks had accidentally been switched and asked us to switch our steaks back.

Our guest has already begun eating his steak. When we pointed this out Nathan asked us what we wanted to do and we politely asked to had what we ordered.

When Nathan finally brought our corrected order he set in down in front of us without a word. He didn't come back to the table to check on water or our meal. He barely spoke when clearing plates. However he was then suddenly very cheery when he dropped off the check because it was tip time.

Since the onset of COVID-19 everyone in our party has been tipping heavily. We've all worked in the restaurant industry. Some of us made a lifetime of it. So we are all aware of how difficult it has been for restaurant workers for the last year or so and we've done what we can to help.

I'm afraid Nathan's last minute cheeriness was too little too late and his tip reflected his lack of concern for the poor dining experience we'd initially waited an extra 30 minutes to avoid.

No one apologized. We never saw a manager. My sister and her husband said they'd never had a problem at this location before but they'd never go back. Because it was my husband's birthday he asked me not to make a fuss. Any other day I would have. We all should have.

We’ll choose a different location from now on. The extra 10 minutes of driving is not nearly as much of an inconvenience as waiting 30 minutes for a reserved table and extremely...

I’ve been regularly picking up food from the restaurant through delivery apps for over a year—sometimes weekly, even daily—so the staff knows me. However, last weekend, one staff member refused to hand over the food and demanded that I confirm in the app that I had already received it before giving it to me. I told him to place the food in my hand and I’d confirm immediately in front of him. He refused, insisting I first mark it as picked up. I told him that would be a lie and also a policy violation, and asked for a supervisor. Confidently, he said, “Sure, he’s coming.”

A man arrived and repeated the same demand: confirm pickup before he’d hand it over. He claimed this was their policy. He then took the food back and refused to give it to me. I contacted Uber Support, and the agent wrote: “Please let them know firstly you need to receive the order then only you can confirm it in the app.” With no resolution, Uber eventually canceled the delivery, causing me to lose the earnings—and because the customer had waited in vain and then canceled, I couldn’t deliver the food I had already picked up before either.

This Saturday, the same incident nearly repeated (on other days, including Saturdays, everything had gone smoothly with different staff). This time, the woman pre-warned the same man to be ready. I showed and even read aloud Uber’s policy message to both. The supervisor still repeated, “This is our policy. You need to cancel the delivery. And never come back here again.” He went inside, called Uber (very likely not reporting the real situation), and the delivery was forcibly canceled again making me lose income from a double delivery job.

If it is indeed Carrabba’s or Bloomin’ Brands policy that restaurant staff must force delivery drivers to lie and mark food as received before actually receiving it, then the franchise was simply enforcing that policy.

But if no such policy exists in the brand or franchise agreement, then this supervisor acted in a way that violates the image of the brand and breaches franchise terms. If he can do this over such a minor issue, he may treat other guests or partners similarly. His behavior could reflect a systemic misuse of authority, posing serious risk to the brand.

There are two ways this matter can be resolved: The named supervisor and the woman personally apologize. Carrabba’s management contacts Uber, acknowledges that its staff made a mistake, and arranges to reset my cancellation rating. I lost $19 in the first incident, $21 plus tip in the second (the tip amount is unknown since tips are visible one hour after delivery). Altogether I lost around $40–$50, which should be compensated Beyond the money, these conflicts caused emotional distress, sleep disruption, and made me start deliveries with fear of what incidents might come next.

If none of this happens, the matter will escalate and receive media attention. If the manager continues with threats or hostility—such as the statement “don’t ever come back here”—the issue will move toward legal action. Not because I want that, but because this behavior leaves me no other choice.

I’ve emailed Carrabba’s corporate management to request the preservation of vehicle camera footage from the handoff area, since the current store manager’s email is not public. Incident times: – July 12, 2025 at 9:00 PM – July 19, 2025 at 9:05 PM Dates and times when delivery went smoothly with other staff: – July 13, 2025 at 8:24 PM – July 18, 2025 at 6:42 PM – July 18, 2025 at 7:18 PM – July 19,...

I have visited this Carrabba's for years and years, so much that many of the people there have gotten to know me. Great conversations with the old manager, Matt some of the servers even the head cook Dylan. Often I sit at the bar. I have some regulars that I usually go to. The other day was just another day like any other. There was a little chubby man behind the bar took my order brought me my food. Everything was fine. A girl showed up a little later to help him behind the bar and she gave us OK service as well up until the point where I paid my bill . My bill was $70. I handed her $100 bill and she asked me the stupid question that servers do nowadays "do I want change? " My answer was simply " of course " You don't have to be Einstein to figure out your 20% tip is in the $15 range not $30 , but there was no condescension in my voice, just simply of course. I guess she felt stupid at this point and came back with. I'm just asking. So I replied, and I'm just answering Being a server working in the hospitality industry you don't have to like everybody you serve it should've died there But she came back with another comment, and I countered with whatever needed to be said. i'm in my 50s and I eat out often. I don't need to be rude. I don't need to be teaching a girl who should know this already a lesson. I just answered the questions but the more she drew it out I think it was like four back-and-forth the more she felt stupid She gave me my change and walked away from the bar, took a little break for a minute But it was at that moment that the little chubby guy voiced his opinion that I was rude and I should never come back here again . This is where the problem is !!! when staff believe that they have the right to tell somebody who's been coming there longer than they've even worked there not to come back again. He's not the manager. He's not the owner. He doesn't speak for this corporation. His comments were unacceptable and not needed , i'm a mature man and address the situation in such if this girl did not keep the questioning going it would not have been anything at all, but when I'm asked a question and I answer it you're gonna get a direct answer. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, and there was no insult or rudeness involved But let's pretend for a minute it was .... where in this man's job description should he be telling me that I'm rude as a customer and should never come back again I've been coming for many years dropping money on this restaurant and the customer is always right if there was a problem with me, which there wasn't, you should go get the manager, not voice out your opinion like you own the place. all that happened here is this Restaurant lost a customer because of the rude and boldness of the staff member who was young and immature thinking he was the manager of the place . we all know Carrabba's is not high on the list of fine dining. I think it's a good place to have a Italian meal, but there are many other choices out there. I'll take my business down to De Sesto's where I don't get a harassment like this from minimum wage staff . I always tip 20% and don't expect the world of my staff taking care of me, but I certainly don't put up with rudeness in the middle of the bar by some 5 foot three roly-poly server who couldn't fight his way out of a plastic bag , do yourself a favor find a different Carrabba's to attend this one has problems. it was much better when Matt was...