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“WE LOVE THE VENUE BUT WHAT ABOUT VEGETARIANS ?”

Carrabba's Italian Grill
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Ranked #263 of 1,063 Restaurants in Sarasota
Price range: C$3 - C$20
Cuisines: Italian
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Restaurant details
Good for: Groups, Child-friendly, Romantic
Dining options: Reservations
Description: Enjoy authentic Italian for dine-in, carryout, delivery or catering.
Reviewed June 16, 2016

We make a point of going to Carrabba's on University Parkway when we are in Sarasota and always enjoy our time there. They generally have a selection of vegetarian options on the menu but now they have removed all of them but for Fettucine Alfredo which is a very rich dish not to everyone's taste.

That was the dish offered to wife with a choice of Alfredo, marinara or a blend of the two sauces. Not much choice really. After we completed our order the same server offered four cheese ravioli to the four young ladies at the adjoining booth. We mentioned this to him and he said that the cheese ravioli is always available even if it is not shown on the menu. He apologised for not mentioning this to us and he had our order changed so no harm done.

If you have vegetarian options available why are they not all on the menu or a specials board. Have Carrabba's created a secret menu ? If so maybe tell your servers about it. Please can you bring back some of the other vegetarian favourites like Manicotti.

We ate there twice and the Tuscan chicken and steak that I had were both excellent. Put more veggie options on the menu and the fifth star will return.

Date of visit: May 2016
    • Value
    • Service
    • Food
Thank Churchbridge
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviews (265)
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121 - 125 of 265 reviews

Reviewed June 6, 2016 via mobile

Very disappointed. When we walked in there was trash on the floor by the hostess stand and the two hostesses were chatting. There was no wait and we only saw 5 or 6 tables of diners.
Jason had a large party and another table but asked right away if we had been greeted. It took a few minutes for Thesla to come over and she was obviously no longer interested in serving and was only an "order taker".
When she brought our appetizer she just plunked it down in the middle of the table and said, "do you know what you want yet".
The menu has really changed....from the flimsy paper it is on now to the elimination of many items.
We ordered after asking a couple of questions and getting a little information that spoken with a bit of gruffness. We said that we were stepping outside and we came back in (trash still around the hostess stand) to find our salads sitting on the table, sodas still empty, empty appetizer dish still on the edge of the table where I put it.
I had asked one of the servers who was setting a table to speak to a manager about the trash on the way back to our table. Lydia game over and I was surprised to see her wearing a kitchen apron. She was attentive to our concerns and regarding the trash she said, "we were just talking about that in the back". Lydia removed the appetizer dish.
Thesla came back with drink refills but didn't remove the empty glasses.
She returned with our entrees and we hadn't finished our salads. The salads were bland...not zesty and delicious as we had come to expect.
She came back to ask how our dinner was. Mine was good...I selected one of the entrees that was kept from the original menu. When my boyfriend said that he asked for mashed potatoes not broccoli Thesla said, "oh, that must have been my fault" (somewhat sarcastically). She came back to say that they had run out of mashed potatoes. She obviously didn't recall what was ordered nor did she check when she brought it out. She said she would see if the kitchen could make some. (We found out when we were walking out that Lydia made them...she said the cook who makes the potatoes had gone home).
When Thesla came back with the potatoes we asked for more bread.
We had to ask a second time for bread and what we got was more like croutons.
When she came back when we were done with our entrees she asked, "do you want anything sweet to end your night?"....order taker.
She put down the check (and again with sarcasm) she said, "you got 25% off your check".
I just can't say strongly enough how extremely disappointed we were.
I wrote this long review in hopes that the Proprietor will see it.
We called corporate and instead of a call back from them we received a call back from a manager at the same level as Lydia.
Maybe it is just this location??
Have never had a bad experience at the Stickney Point Carrabba's.

Date of visit: June 2016
Thank ShannanM558
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed May 26, 2016 via mobile

To get good home made Italian dishes you have to find small Ma and Pa spaghetti and meatball joints. Sadly, there are more chains than individually owned restaurants these days but one of the best is Carraba's. Starting with fresh thick bread, then either homemade tasting soups or a great house salad, you can then dig into one of the tasty generous portioned entree's. Whether it is pasta chicken beef or veal they do an excellent job. Is it better than Papa Luigi with Mama in the kitchen? Certainly not, but it's the next best thing. Service is always excellent.

Date of visit: May 2016
Thank JordanS8
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed May 18, 2016

We dine here a lot but also like the Monday night dinner specials they have. Choice of app or dessert, soup or salad, and an entree for $12.99, $15.99 and $18.99 (I think that's correct). 3 entree choices on each price range. I think it's a pretty good deal. The portions are a nice size, perfect for me. I especially like the calamari app and chicken soup. We always seem to get the same waitress and she's very good. Nice Monday night meal.

Date of visit: May 2016
    • Value
    • Service
    • Food
Thank Patsytav
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed May 18, 2016

I have a dairy allergy and carrabba'si the only place that serves chicken brian which is so good. the menu has many choices including eggplant parm. the service was excellent with many callbacks.

Date of visit: May 2016
Thank CaroleB71
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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