We go there for birthdays. The food is always good and we like the family atmosphere. They always sing "Happy Birthday " we have fun there!

Located off Archer in the Enson plaza, this Carrabba's was a pleasant surprise for happy hour. Happy hour is daily from 4-7 and it says at the bar only but we were able to sit where we wanted. The happy hour drinks were tasty and strong and at $8 each that's a bargain. The fennel sausage arancini was fried crispy perfection. The Mezzaluna fritte was fried nicely but could use some more filling. Meatball sliders were tender and savory. Last the caprese with fresh burrata was so fresh and refreshing. Our server was friendly and attentive. Restaurant is large but can still seem intimate. Also side note, the music is such a vibe there!! Will definitely be back when in the area looking for Italian. read more

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Decidedbto switch upband try Carrabbas over one ofbour favorites. Gotbthere when they opened, sat down right away.Ordered drinks and appetizers. Had a very friendly server , she came by the table several times, but forgot one key service. Didnt refill my water glass once all meal. Food was average, my meatballs were smaller than other places, and pasta could of used more sauce. Wife said lobster ravioli were ok. Foods not bad just wasn't like some of my favorites. I did like their free bread with the oil. It was an ok change of pace, music playing in the restaurant was a nice touch. Kind of loud when in the bathroom though. read more

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I haven't been to Carrabba's in a good minute so I was expecting it to be just like when I had it the last time. I got the linguini Alfredo with peas and chicken and it was a heaping mountain of pasta so I had nothing to complain about. My parents ordered calamari as an appetizer and it was delicious. Crunchy and tender inside just perfect. It can with a red sauce and a white/yellow type sauce which was pretty good. I got the sausage and lentil soup and it was spicy but had good flavor . I wish it had more lentils though than tomatoes and a little more sausage too. It looked just tomato based with little bit of the star ingredients. To finish off we got the caramel cheesecake and that was surely the star of the meal. It was creamy, decadent and it sure beats cheesecake factory's without a doubt. The caramel and apples on it gave it a sweet touch without it being to overbearing. Our server wasn't as attentive and we had to track him down for cheese , bread and things and the restaurant wasn't busy so not sure what that was about but he was kind so overall it was ok but not superb serving. Not sure if I'll come back , I've realized alot of chain restaurants in Gainesville have gone down in quality and aren't the same as when you do to Tampa or Orlando. read more

Carrabba's Italian Grill - Italian Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

The best restaurant in Gainesville I always attend their wine pairing dinners and they are always amazing

Amazing service and love the wine dinner pairings! Sydney is always the best! Carrabbas never disappoints!

They have the most amazing chicken soup. Delicious! We almost order that every time. Their Caesar salad is good too but a little heavy on the dressing. The bread is yummy as well! read more

I got the sandwich with fries and a drink plus a cookie. It was a lot of food. I love sandwiches on Ciabatta bread. I ate most of my sandwich but I gave my fries to my dog since we always eat together. I order the chicken soup on the side. It looked delicious but I'm saving it for tomorrow. My cookie looks great too but I'll eat that later when my dog isn't around. Overall it was a lot of good for a very good price read more

Carrabba's Italian Grill - This is the dog I mentioned - Italian Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

Went to the wine dinner and was impressed by all of the options! Definitely will be back next month read more

Carrabba's Italian Grill - Italian Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

I love Carrabba's. I always get the past wheezy and shrimp scampi. Although a little on the pricey side, the service and food are worth the price. Everyone there is always professional. The ambiance is like any other "fancy" restaurant. Quiet, dimmed lights, the aromas from the kitchen is great and a very relaxed atmosphere. read more

I love Carrabbas. The cooks did their job. Great food. But as a server, if you want a good tip, do your job. Bus the table. Don't leave glasses stacked up and plates stacked up just to get me to leave. That's how you get no tip. So sad, to bad. You take the order and others bring it to me. What do you do. Keep the water glass full, make sure I don't go without a drink and BUS the table. read more

I came here on a weeknight with about nine coworkers to celebrate a birthday. The restaurant was busy but we had a reservation so we were seated immediately. Carrabba's is a national chain so I know they have had parties larger than nine people before, but for some reason our service was extremely slow. We sat down at 7 PM and did not get our food until 8:30 PM. Nothing against our waitresses (plural because we had one for one end of the table and one for the other), as they were attentive to drink orders, but our food took forever. Even when it did come out, it was poorly timed so that some members of the party got their food a full 30 minutes before other members did. Again, as a national chain, Carrabba's should have the food timing worked out so that everyone can get their meal at the same time. That's what eating together is about. I ordered one of the seasonal specials, the rigatoni al forno with sausage, which, for the price, wasn't bad. The flavor was good but it could've stood for a few more pieces of sausage mixed in. By the time we all finished our meals it was well past 9:30 PM and we were exhausted and ready to just go home. Everyone has an off day, so I'm not blaming the kitchen or wait staff here. It happens sometimes. This was my first time at Carrabba's and I just hope future experiences are better. read more

Carrabba's Italian Grill - Rigatoni al forno with sausage - Italian Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

Terrible! Although we were seated rather quickly, our food and service lacked. We ordered two lasagna, eggplant parm, and chicken with mashed potatoes. ALL came out BARELY WARM! Asked to heat up the lasagna, and it took about 10 minutes to bring back and STILL MEDIUM warm not hot, so we gave up and ate it anyway. Mistakes on entrees and just an all around slow. We won't return! read more

Love spending time with my friends there!!!! Delicious food and wine dinner experience!

Yes I agree with the Food, Service and Ambiance which is Excellent. Thank you. I only have 1 other Italian restaurant I go to which is GG's in North Lauderdale, FL. In Gainesville, FL Carrabba's Italian Grill is my best choice for Italian lasagna. read more

We did curbside pickup, great food and service tonight. Prices are average and worth food we received.

Recently went for the Wine Dinner. It was an excellent experience from the beginning. The serving staff was welcoming and the food and wine pairing were great! Can't wait to come back and try another one! read more

Busted... got carry out a meatballs and RISOTTO isn't ... just meatballs... and no plastic ware ... how do I enjoy the Caesar salad without a fork!!!! read more

The wine dinners are amazing!! Keep them coming! We have been to several and bring lots of friends.

The glasses and silverware was dirty. The food wasn't good at all. Got the Jonny's trio the chicken was undercooked. Steak was bland. I must say the fried calamari was good, the only thing that was good other than that this experience was a total waste of money and time. read more

Have a gift certificate, so decided to try it on a Saturday night. It was not that crowded so sit at the bar. It was happy hour and the bartender/waitress was great. Significant other had the with espresso cocktail and I had the beer on tap. The cocktail was great. We had the lobster ravioli and salmon both were good. read more

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No wait, very tasty dishes and excellent service! Will definitely come back when I am in town.

It's our first wine pairing event and we really enjoyed the Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc paired with spinach arancini that was outstanding!

Meh, mediocre at best. With today's prices there are MUCH better places to go spend your money at. Wine nights are probably the only best time to come eat here. Two dishes came with broccoli as a side and both were soggy, cold, and tasted like fish. Bartender was pretty cool to watch though. read more

Carrabba's Italian Grill - Italian Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

This place is one of my faves! Their service is awesome and the portions are very large.

I love the novelty dinners! We are at the cask and Harrell bourbon dinner. Menu is amazing and for a great deal! The service is always great and the environment is always so nicely decorated read more

Last time I went it was very small portions and very pricey not worth the money. Ambience was OK. Service was there...

Was excited the lobster ravioli was on the menu and the food was great. The service was a bit odd. The salads came first. A few minutes later came the bread and then a few minutes later our water. The waiter was quick to take our order but pretty much ignored us after bread. More bread was supposed to come, but never did. Our water glasses were empty a long time. A little disappointed since the service is usually better. read more

We love the Happy Hour drinks and menu. Wish it were earlier than at 4 PM for us old folks but the HH menu is great and we love the Red Sangria and wings. Some of the small plates are pretty good but we get the tomatoes with Birria cheese and glaze. Lunches are very good too but do love our pitcher of Sangria at HH. read more

Delivery was good. Food was outstanding! Steak temp was perfect. Salad was fresh. Highly recommend.

Passing through FL on our road trip we had a WONDERFUL dining experience at Carrabbas in Gainesville!!!!! TOP NOTCH service and food!!!! Maria the hostess greeted us and was super warm and friendly!!!! Mitch was our server and he was just GREAT; friendly, knowledgeable and efficient!!! Food was delicious; my filet with Bryan sauce was perfectly cooked! Husband had a pasta dish with seafood that he loved. We did notice a woman who might have been the manager checking on a few tables which we thought was a really nice touch too. We dine out a lot and at some higher end establishments; we can always count on any Carrara's to be consistently good. This time around we hit the jackpot with GREAT service too!!! read more

The service was good for a change. The bread and salads were as expected and good. The issue was my lobster ravioli that comes with a brandy cream sauce was dry. There was barely any sauce on the dish and for 26.00 was unacceptable. The waiter offered to bring more sauce. When the sauce arrived it was bland and tasted like milky water. I asked for the manager. She came out and didn't offer her name, no smile. just asking about the issue. She saw I had a to-go container with the leftover ravioli and said, " You're bringing them home and what doctoring them up " as to imply I was trying to get a free meal. She even questioned me about what was wrong with the sauce. I've had this dish like 30 times and it's been the same everytime before today. This place smacks of TGI Fridays, Outback, and Chilis all relics of the past that are on their way out. It's a shame because the service and food used to be top notch for a chain restaurant but these days Olive Garden is a better value and often times better service. read more

This place is great. Our waiter Jordan was wonderful. The amount of food you get is unbelievable. I have been able to make 3 meals out of one dinner plate. You can't beat it. The restaurant is always clean and neat including the restrooms. read more

My wife and I went to dinner last night with another couple to Carrabba's in Ocala (on 200/College Road). If you haven't been there in a while, it may be time to give them another look. I found out afterward that the location has a brand new owner (since June, I think) and they are really focusing on food quality and customer service/experience. We arrived earlier than our friends, so we polished off an appetizer of calamari before they arrived. Excellent. The basket(s) of bread with the spices and olive oil and fried cheese sticks were perfectly flavored and wonderfully complimented to the Pinot Grigio, Pomegranate Martini, Blue Moon and Stella Artois we had before the entrees arrived. Our friends ordered the penne pasta and the Fettuccine Alfredo while my wife and I each ordered the Brian's chicken, hers with garlic mashed potatoes and mine with the steamed broccoli. The chicken was perfect, the goat cheese was nicely tangy, combined with the sun-dried tomatoes. We had take home boxes for the two ladies because the appetizers and bread filled us up so much. For dessert, because we had more room? There was an order of vanilla ice cream with extra chocolate sauce and what had to be the largest piece of cheesecake, slathered with strawberry purée. Delicious! I should give a little disclaimer here. Carrabba's has long been our "date night" place to go. In years past, we would sit up at the pasta/dessert bar seating areas and quite frankly be entertained by the staff cooking dinner (it's a foodie thing, I think). So we kinda changed it up a little for this dinner-we brought another couple along and sat at a table (seating is currently not allowed at the pasta/dessert bars due to pandemic/Covid concerns). Disclaimer out of the way, I can honestly say our dinner was absolutely perfect. Camille, our server did an absolutely OUTSTANDING job taking care of us. All of our special modifications to the meals were not only received without hesitation, they were delivered exactly as requested. That young lady deserves a raise! I regret not getting any pictures, but the plating was excellent and each meal could have been a menu picture. read more

I LOVE THIS PLACE. AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT The wine was great the server was Knowledgeable and offered menu suggestions that were spot on for our taste. read more

Nothing on our order was correct, waiter double charged us for salads, even thought they were included with our meals. Took a LONG time, never got fixed. We gave up, paid, and won't be going back. read more

This was in Gainesville Florida. So pleased with the service, quality of food and drinks.

I have never eaten at 1 of these restaurants before today. And OMG it was awesome!!! I had the Mahi Wulfe with sautéed spinach and the Caesar salad on the side. It was all amazing. Plus I ordered to go a cannoli cake for two to share with my boyfriend. He loved his meal as well. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants awesome food with awesome service. read more

Carrabba's Italian Grill - My Mahi Wulfe with Sauteed Spinach. - Italian Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

In the past, I was a frequent flyer for longer than I care to think about. When on the US, Carrabba's was always a business I sought out. Very good food at competitive prices made it easy to have a good meal and stay within budget guidelines. No longer that traveller, Carrabba's is still a favorite. The chicken Bryan is always terrific. The location in St Petersburg is right in line with the quality of food and service I demanded as a business person. Highly recommended! read more

So I gave it 4 stars because I was happy with my overall experience but there were certainly a few issues. We came in on a busy Friday night. Hoping to sit at the bar and hungry. I walked in and no room at the bar so I went to hostess. I told her I was hoping for the bar and she tells me they don't have enough servers..??? Why she would offer such info I have no clue. I put my name on the list and notice a couple on the end of the bar getting takeout and likely leaving so I move in to snag the chairs as they move out -and I'm happy. Only one bartender. Joe.. he's clearly over busy so I patiently wait. I watched one kid stand there like a dummy. Joe asked him to get him 6 sets of flatware. The kid stood there way too long in bewilderment.. ?? When joe got a breather ha takes care of us. Food was great but slow coming. No worries.. we had bread and drinks. Not sure what's going on w the lack of staff but otherwise all was well. Manager needs to hire more/pay more. If you offer a decent wage you will get good help. And.. please!! Hire a second bartender on the weekends. It's just too much for any one person!! read more