Carrabba’s Italian Grill

Dad Says:
The day after eating pounds of turkey, stuffing and every dried meat, olive and cheese an Italian family has to offer for Thanksgiving, you would think a restaurant would be the furthest thing from our minds. But then again, it was Black Friday and we went to Rice’s Market and walked around so long we must have done at least 3 miles. So with a little room to cram something into our stomachs after shopping, we went to Carrabba’s Italian Grill.
At first I was kind of excited because this is a restaurant with a GF (Gluten Free) menu. This means my wife, and now my newly diagnosed daughter, would have choices and not have to second guess food ingredients. So we sat down with great anticipation and looked over the menu. Their choices on the GF menu were only a few basic Italian menu items, but even with only a handful of choices my daughter still takes forever deciding (as all kids do).
I had Shrimp Scampi and shared a Crab Cake with my Mother who was with us. The scampi was not bad, just a little too garlicky. But, the butter sauce they served it with was clogging my arteries just from its aroma. And while I do love butter, I don’t need an entire stick of it to go along with my 10 shrimp.
My Mom gave up half a Crab Cake for the sake of my appetite. It was different from what I am used to as I make these all the time for my wife (and they are also a recipe in my cookbook). They were spicy, which was actually a nice surprise. The only thing I did not care for was that they used regular crab meat and not jumbo lump crab meat. No I am not jaded, I just like my crab cakes to be loaded with crab and have less bread crumbs is all.
Next up, I ordered their Sirloin Marsala. This was a first for me as Marsala is something I typically have with veal or chicken. To be honest, I really enjoyed it and they actually cooked the steak right the first time.
The service here was a little too shaky for me. The waiter did not seem to know his way around the GF menu….and that is dangerous! If you are going to offer a menu of this type, your staff should be fully trained to answer any and all questions as well as being trained properly in food safety. After a bevy of questions we did get the right answers from him. The food came fast and was good for the most part. Let’s see what Gia has to say….
Website: http://www.carrabbas.com/menu.aspx
Gluten Free Menu: 2 out of 5
Food: 2 1/2 out of 5
Service: 2 out of 5
Price: a little on the high side for generic Italian food.

Gia says: Black Friday I went to Carrabba’s. I ordered Shrimp Scampi, Steak, and Mashed Potatoes. The shrimp scampi was delicious. My favorite part of the dish was a creamy butter sauce. The shrimp scampi did come with 6 pieces of garlic bread which I really wanted but could not have because of my “gluten intolerance”…whatever…
The mashed potatoes were so-so. I thought they might have come off of a hospital tray just because of the way they tasted.
The steak was TERRIBLE! It tasted a lot like fish, which does not seem right to me, because it was meat and NOT a crustacean.
I think the service was not so great because the waiter put bread on my dish when he knew my meal was off the Gluten Free Menu, which was wrong. I think if Carrabba’s have a Gluten Free Menu the staff should know more about gluten intolerances.
Gluten Free Menu: 1 out of 5
Food: 2 out of 5
Service: 2 out of 5
Price: see Dad’s comments

SIDE DISH
A Day In The Life of Gia:
The other day when I was in after care, one of the counselors brought in munchkins for the whole after care to have for snack. When I saw them on the table it popped into my head that it was just another good tasting food I realized I can never have again. Lately, when I see a food I haven’t seen since the time I was told I was gluten intolerant, a little voice pops into my head saying, “This is another thing I just can’t have.” Yeah it’s hard. But like Dad says, “It may be hard, but it’s not impossible”. As I keep blogging I want you to know this is my basic every day.