Sorry folks, but this place is not very good. I compare it to its sister restaurant, Macaroni Grill. It's all generic Italian food for the masses, but I can always depend on Mac Grill to serve up some real tasty pasta, great sauces, and killer bread. This place? Bland, generic bread, and a much smaller menu with few choices, and the pasta is just not that good, and the salads lack any character or taste. This area lacks a decent choice of restaurants anyway, especially Italian food, so if you need something in a quick fix for take out, or have company in town, it will be the job done, otherwise, don't expect the taste buds to be firing.
(2)
Ellen W.
It's hard to decide how to rate our experience tonight. So I'm rating based on our last interaction. The night started as usual. Drinks at the bar then our buzzer went off for our table. From there the next hour and a half was an experience out of the twilight zone. Our drinks took FOREVER! Almost 45 minutes and even then they were wrong. The waitress explained that that computer went down....okay so if our drinks are taking this long because of no computer then how long is our dinner going to take? Hah! Never ask what you don't want to know. Our dinner ended up being a series of comical errors. They were bringing trays of food out but playing Russian roulette with the entrees from table to table. Then our server ended up snapping at us because half of our order was correct. There were no hand towels in the restrooms out drinks were empty yet again. Dirty dishes piling up on our table with no one to clear them. We asked for the manager and later we found out he was the proprietor. He came to speak with us but we felt like we were encountered with the same attitude as the server (we get the issues with the computer but it doesn't stop us from being hungry, especially after 2 hours). It wasn't until the manager Sam came to our table and spoke with us that calmed us down. Sam was confident and tool charge of the situation. She owned up to the errors of the night and went out of her way to make sure that everything was perfect from that point on. And she did it with a smile! Because of her and her only we will come back. Because of her and her only is Carrabba's getting 4 stars from me. We were on the verge of walking out. Thank you Sam for making our experience bearable. You are the only reason Carrabba's is getting 4 stars.
(4)
C T.
It very well may not be as "authentic" as my Grandmother's Italian cooking, but this chain still has tasty dishes with great portion sizes. The Fried Mozzarella is a great app and the Alfredo sauce (def homemade) is good to dip your bread in. I usually get either the Lobster Ravioli or Veal Marsala. To be honest, the Marsala sauce is some of the best I've ever tasted. Anywhere. The wife always enjoys the spinach stuffed cannelloni and can never finish her dish as the serving sizes are large for a mere mortal. This, I am not, so I'll devour hers too. The service is usually pretty prompt and attentive but the place can get crowded on Friday or Saturday night after 6pm-so go early or be prepared to wait a few minutes. Overall, good spot...
(4)
Andrew H.
Everything is made from scratch! I've seen them tossing salads and cooking pasta! It's just like eating at home! Carrabba's is the best place in the world to eat with the Avents and I wouldn't trade it for the world! God bless this establishment!
(5)
Maria T.
Italian explosion of so much garlic and salt I could have ate a horse lick. The methods of meat prep such as mussels being nicely prepared but everything, down to the salad, everything was sooooo overdone with garlic and butter the meal was lost after a few bites. Heavy, pungent and gastro-death.
(2)
Bill B.
You know it's not authentic Italian but you can still get some great food there. Stick with the recommendations and you will not be disappointed. spacious place so you will not be waiting for a table for long. Great deal on the wine at happy hour so take advantage.
(3)
Steven P.
This is definitely one of the better chain restaurants: 3-star worthy food and a 4th for quality service. Our server, Tom, was very friendly and offered good menu advice. His recommendations for the shrimp diavolo, goat cheese bruschetta, and meatball flatbread made for a very nice series of appetizers. We took advantage of the Wine Wednesday special on a bottle of Rodney Strong Cabernet and enjoyed sharing the dessert trio to finish the meal.
(4)
Marissa F.
Unexpectedly good for a chain restaurant. I highly recommend the Mahi Wulf with mashed potatoes. Much better than average casual chain dining with excellent service. This location has been consistent. It is a little pricey and with all of the the options in Charleston, a reasonably priced menu for a cookie cutter restaurant would be in line with dining expectations for this city. However, if you want a decent meal that is not going to be a trial and error situation, Carrabbas has it. If you are a vegetarian or only eat fish, do be on the look out. They use meat stock in some of the soups and sauces that you would not expect, such as the tomato basil soup.
(4)
Charles O.
Unfortunately, our experience was not good. My ravioli was burned. The portions were small. The Alfredo sauce had virtually no taste. The food was much better in The North Charleston location.
(2)
Francis C.
Love Carrabbas! Dine in - nice atmosphere. Take out service is great. Love the food, especially from the wood fired grill.
(5)
Flash F.
The food was good, service marginal, the bar failed. It took 15 minutes for server to make it to table, another 12 minutes before cocktails (failed in the portion of alcohol) made it to table - all this on a Monday night. Was not that busy. Terrible disappointment.
(2)
Brandon H.
First time in a Carrabba's in years. For a chain the food was decent, but the portions were small and lacked the "authentic" flare that used to separate Carrabba's from other Italian places. The bread was generic and dull. The Caesar and house salads were better than boxed, but not by much. My friend ordered spaghetti and meatballs and asked for garlic bread. He was informed that the item didn't exist at Carrabba's.. An ITIALIAN place with no GARLIC BREAD on the menu! I got the current special, which was a hunk of lasagna and chicken parmesan. The flavors were good, but nothing to write home about. Service and atmosphere was good. Solid 3 star performance.
(3)
Frank G.
Can an Italian born in Italy find good food at a chain restaurant? You bet. I was surprised at the quality of the food, great. Service was just like in any high-end restaurant. The chicken marsala is fantastic, I should have ordered the large portion. Soup is out of this world. Price may be a little high than expected, but I think you won't mind too much. I suggest that you try it. I think you will be surprised. Frank G
(5)
Joe M.
Service Issues: Hostess said 3 dish washers walked out the night before. Current service is greatly understaffed, which delays sitting. The servers in place are undertrained. Last night, we experienced a night with an untrained waitress who was greatly stressed out. After looking around and and observing the long line of people waiting to be seated at empty tables (at 6 pm), and the long delay in our total service experience, it is evident there is a management issue in not hiring enough employees and not training them properly. But the quality of the food was outstanding as usual.
(1)
Kelley F.
Good was good but not what I expected. I am used to ordering chicken parm and it coming with pasta. Not here. I was bummed, but the green beans served with it was good. Had some trouble with our bill, but the server corrected it.
(3)
Jim F.
Food is top notch. However the service is not. Slow is the word. Not relaxing enjoy your meal slow but wait for everything slow. There is a wait for a table but not because the restaurant is busy. Tables go unfilled and it must be due to the slow staff not able to keep up. I saw similar reviews on other sites but came any way. Not going to rush back. Need a change in management to get the service turned around.
(3)
Meghan C.
NOPE. Walked into a virtually empty restaurant. Was told they had to wipe down a table (? there were literally dozens of empty tables...)...10 minutes later, still not seated, despite the hostess and another server fiddling with some menus in front of us. PEACE OUT. (which they watched us do but didn't say a word)
(1)
Kiel G.
I was rush out of this place after a "parking discrepancy" I wrongfully parked in one of their 5 takeout parking spaces on what was most likely their slowest night as no other cars we in the parking lot and it was 9pm. I am more than willing to move a vehicle when I am at fault but when you attack the situation like the staff here did, it is rude and unprofessional. My girlfriend and I fancy ourselves drinkers, we probably would have run 100 on a tab but they didn't care, all they cared about was 1 of their 5 parking spaces and not the fact i was entering as a paying customer at 9pm. I will not return and will sell the gift certificate given as a gift to my girlfriend on ebay. Down with this chain and their brethern! I curse you and your name!
(1)
Brittany H.
It may be a chain, but Carrabba's will always be one of my family's go-to restaurants when everyone is in town. It definitely tastes better than its Italian counterparts (Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill), & you're pretty much guaranteed fast & friendly service. They say everything is homemade, which I'd take with a grain of salt, but the food is still good quality & tastes better than when I throw store bought sauce on my own noodles at home. The Mount Pleasant location is much nicer than the one in North Charleston, so head here if you're trying it out for the first time!
(3)
Irene H.
Warm, welcoming staff. Excellent Italian food. I have never left hungry.
(4)
Carl H.
What can I say, I've been a fan since the first day I went here. I just love their marsala dishes... Chicken trio is a favorite. My wife LOVES their pasta weezy (seafood pasta). Their margaritas are very good and my wife loves their blackberry sangria. Their wait staff is always friendly and welcoming. We generally get their fried calamari which has always been a favorite of the table, including the grand daughter. If we are in the mood we eat at the grill bar.. Get to watch the great food getting grilled. The chefs are alway friendly and usually toss us a small appetizer or samples. We never leave hungry and generally eat more than we should... Not good for my diet..
(4)
Fabiola F.
I usually love this Carrabbas but tonight, everything seemed wrong. I'm writing this while still in the restaurant because I'm so upset about the service. We never got our bread, and after we asked about it she said that the bread was hard as a rock so they threw it out, she kept saying our bread was coming and it NEVER came. Our appetizer was good but it didn't have the lemon wedge that usually comes with it. My fish that I always get and is usually good, was raw in certain parts. Overall, I usually love coming here but today the whole restaurant was in disarray, you could hear the cooks talking LOUDLY in the back and there weren't many people eating in so there is no real excuse. I want to pay almost $20 and have an enjoyable experience. Not a lousy one
(1)
Barbara W.
Watch the pricing on your bill vs. the menu. We found that two of our five items were higher priced on the bill than on the menu, specifically the mussels appetizers were 90 cents more and the side order of pasta was $4 instead of the menu stated $3. It wasn't the waitresses' fault, because register automatically rang it up, but we did get "excuses" relayed from the management. To add insult to injury, they told us they were taking an "extra $3 off for our inconvenience", but they didn't - that was what they owed us anyway. It wasn't worth sending the waitress back for a third time to argue the point.
(2)
Daniel B.
We stopped here the other night. We thought we were going to have a long wait because the parking lot was completely full and we had to park in the adjacent lot. When we walked in, it was maybe only 2/3 occupied and no wait. We ordered the fettuccine carrabba (not sure why this particular location doesn't call it pasta carrabba like the website and the menu at all the other carrabbas I've visited), baked ravioli, and chicken parmaesan. When my dinner salad came out there was a block of ice coving the bottom about 1 inch thick. The server said that they put the salad plates in the freezer and not to worry about it. Sure enough, when the server removed my plate after I had finished, all the ice had melted and I got a nice bath of cold water all over me. Overall the food was very good and tasted fresh. Our waiter never asked to refill our water glasses and I had to go about half the meal without anything to drink and so did one of my guests. Overall the food was good and the staff was friendly but inexperienced. If the staff got better training this would easily be 4 star yelp review.
(3)
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Address :2668 US Highway 17
Mt. Pleasant, SC, 29466
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Bike Parking : No Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : Yes Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Brian D.
Sorry folks, but this place is not very good. I compare it to its sister restaurant, Macaroni Grill. It's all generic Italian food for the masses, but I can always depend on Mac Grill to serve up some real tasty pasta, great sauces, and killer bread. This place? Bland, generic bread, and a much smaller menu with few choices, and the pasta is just not that good, and the salads lack any character or taste. This area lacks a decent choice of restaurants anyway, especially Italian food, so if you need something in a quick fix for take out, or have company in town, it will be the job done, otherwise, don't expect the taste buds to be firing.
(2)Ellen W.
It's hard to decide how to rate our experience tonight. So I'm rating based on our last interaction. The night started as usual. Drinks at the bar then our buzzer went off for our table. From there the next hour and a half was an experience out of the twilight zone. Our drinks took FOREVER! Almost 45 minutes and even then they were wrong. The waitress explained that that computer went down....okay so if our drinks are taking this long because of no computer then how long is our dinner going to take? Hah! Never ask what you don't want to know. Our dinner ended up being a series of comical errors. They were bringing trays of food out but playing Russian roulette with the entrees from table to table. Then our server ended up snapping at us because half of our order was correct. There were no hand towels in the restrooms out drinks were empty yet again. Dirty dishes piling up on our table with no one to clear them. We asked for the manager and later we found out he was the proprietor. He came to speak with us but we felt like we were encountered with the same attitude as the server (we get the issues with the computer but it doesn't stop us from being hungry, especially after 2 hours). It wasn't until the manager Sam came to our table and spoke with us that calmed us down. Sam was confident and tool charge of the situation. She owned up to the errors of the night and went out of her way to make sure that everything was perfect from that point on. And she did it with a smile! Because of her and her only we will come back. Because of her and her only is Carrabba's getting 4 stars from me. We were on the verge of walking out. Thank you Sam for making our experience bearable. You are the only reason Carrabba's is getting 4 stars.
(4)C T.
It very well may not be as "authentic" as my Grandmother's Italian cooking, but this chain still has tasty dishes with great portion sizes. The Fried Mozzarella is a great app and the Alfredo sauce (def homemade) is good to dip your bread in. I usually get either the Lobster Ravioli or Veal Marsala. To be honest, the Marsala sauce is some of the best I've ever tasted. Anywhere. The wife always enjoys the spinach stuffed cannelloni and can never finish her dish as the serving sizes are large for a mere mortal. This, I am not, so I'll devour hers too. The service is usually pretty prompt and attentive but the place can get crowded on Friday or Saturday night after 6pm-so go early or be prepared to wait a few minutes. Overall, good spot...
(4)Andrew H.
Everything is made from scratch! I've seen them tossing salads and cooking pasta! It's just like eating at home! Carrabba's is the best place in the world to eat with the Avents and I wouldn't trade it for the world! God bless this establishment!
(5)Maria T.
Italian explosion of so much garlic and salt I could have ate a horse lick. The methods of meat prep such as mussels being nicely prepared but everything, down to the salad, everything was sooooo overdone with garlic and butter the meal was lost after a few bites. Heavy, pungent and gastro-death.
(2)Bill B.
You know it's not authentic Italian but you can still get some great food there. Stick with the recommendations and you will not be disappointed. spacious place so you will not be waiting for a table for long. Great deal on the wine at happy hour so take advantage.
(3)Steven P.
This is definitely one of the better chain restaurants: 3-star worthy food and a 4th for quality service. Our server, Tom, was very friendly and offered good menu advice. His recommendations for the shrimp diavolo, goat cheese bruschetta, and meatball flatbread made for a very nice series of appetizers. We took advantage of the Wine Wednesday special on a bottle of Rodney Strong Cabernet and enjoyed sharing the dessert trio to finish the meal.
(4)Marissa F.
Unexpectedly good for a chain restaurant. I highly recommend the Mahi Wulf with mashed potatoes. Much better than average casual chain dining with excellent service. This location has been consistent. It is a little pricey and with all of the the options in Charleston, a reasonably priced menu for a cookie cutter restaurant would be in line with dining expectations for this city. However, if you want a decent meal that is not going to be a trial and error situation, Carrabbas has it. If you are a vegetarian or only eat fish, do be on the look out. They use meat stock in some of the soups and sauces that you would not expect, such as the tomato basil soup.
(4)Charles O.
Unfortunately, our experience was not good. My ravioli was burned. The portions were small. The Alfredo sauce had virtually no taste. The food was much better in The North Charleston location.
(2)Francis C.
Love Carrabbas! Dine in - nice atmosphere. Take out service is great. Love the food, especially from the wood fired grill.
(5)Flash F.
The food was good, service marginal, the bar failed. It took 15 minutes for server to make it to table, another 12 minutes before cocktails (failed in the portion of alcohol) made it to table - all this on a Monday night. Was not that busy. Terrible disappointment.
(2)Brandon H.
First time in a Carrabba's in years. For a chain the food was decent, but the portions were small and lacked the "authentic" flare that used to separate Carrabba's from other Italian places. The bread was generic and dull. The Caesar and house salads were better than boxed, but not by much. My friend ordered spaghetti and meatballs and asked for garlic bread. He was informed that the item didn't exist at Carrabba's.. An ITIALIAN place with no GARLIC BREAD on the menu! I got the current special, which was a hunk of lasagna and chicken parmesan. The flavors were good, but nothing to write home about. Service and atmosphere was good. Solid 3 star performance.
(3)Frank G.
Can an Italian born in Italy find good food at a chain restaurant? You bet. I was surprised at the quality of the food, great. Service was just like in any high-end restaurant. The chicken marsala is fantastic, I should have ordered the large portion. Soup is out of this world. Price may be a little high than expected, but I think you won't mind too much. I suggest that you try it. I think you will be surprised. Frank G
(5)Joe M.
Service Issues: Hostess said 3 dish washers walked out the night before. Current service is greatly understaffed, which delays sitting. The servers in place are undertrained. Last night, we experienced a night with an untrained waitress who was greatly stressed out. After looking around and and observing the long line of people waiting to be seated at empty tables (at 6 pm), and the long delay in our total service experience, it is evident there is a management issue in not hiring enough employees and not training them properly. But the quality of the food was outstanding as usual.
(1)Kelley F.
Good was good but not what I expected. I am used to ordering chicken parm and it coming with pasta. Not here. I was bummed, but the green beans served with it was good. Had some trouble with our bill, but the server corrected it.
(3)Jim F.
Food is top notch. However the service is not. Slow is the word. Not relaxing enjoy your meal slow but wait for everything slow. There is a wait for a table but not because the restaurant is busy. Tables go unfilled and it must be due to the slow staff not able to keep up. I saw similar reviews on other sites but came any way. Not going to rush back. Need a change in management to get the service turned around.
(3)Meghan C.
NOPE. Walked into a virtually empty restaurant. Was told they had to wipe down a table (? there were literally dozens of empty tables...)...10 minutes later, still not seated, despite the hostess and another server fiddling with some menus in front of us. PEACE OUT. (which they watched us do but didn't say a word)
(1)Kiel G.
I was rush out of this place after a "parking discrepancy" I wrongfully parked in one of their 5 takeout parking spaces on what was most likely their slowest night as no other cars we in the parking lot and it was 9pm. I am more than willing to move a vehicle when I am at fault but when you attack the situation like the staff here did, it is rude and unprofessional. My girlfriend and I fancy ourselves drinkers, we probably would have run 100 on a tab but they didn't care, all they cared about was 1 of their 5 parking spaces and not the fact i was entering as a paying customer at 9pm. I will not return and will sell the gift certificate given as a gift to my girlfriend on ebay. Down with this chain and their brethern! I curse you and your name!
(1)Brittany H.
It may be a chain, but Carrabba's will always be one of my family's go-to restaurants when everyone is in town. It definitely tastes better than its Italian counterparts (Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill), & you're pretty much guaranteed fast & friendly service. They say everything is homemade, which I'd take with a grain of salt, but the food is still good quality & tastes better than when I throw store bought sauce on my own noodles at home. The Mount Pleasant location is much nicer than the one in North Charleston, so head here if you're trying it out for the first time!
(3)Irene H.
Warm, welcoming staff. Excellent Italian food. I have never left hungry.
(4)Carl H.
What can I say, I've been a fan since the first day I went here. I just love their marsala dishes... Chicken trio is a favorite. My wife LOVES their pasta weezy (seafood pasta). Their margaritas are very good and my wife loves their blackberry sangria. Their wait staff is always friendly and welcoming. We generally get their fried calamari which has always been a favorite of the table, including the grand daughter. If we are in the mood we eat at the grill bar.. Get to watch the great food getting grilled. The chefs are alway friendly and usually toss us a small appetizer or samples. We never leave hungry and generally eat more than we should... Not good for my diet..
(4)Fabiola F.
I usually love this Carrabbas but tonight, everything seemed wrong. I'm writing this while still in the restaurant because I'm so upset about the service. We never got our bread, and after we asked about it she said that the bread was hard as a rock so they threw it out, she kept saying our bread was coming and it NEVER came. Our appetizer was good but it didn't have the lemon wedge that usually comes with it. My fish that I always get and is usually good, was raw in certain parts. Overall, I usually love coming here but today the whole restaurant was in disarray, you could hear the cooks talking LOUDLY in the back and there weren't many people eating in so there is no real excuse. I want to pay almost $20 and have an enjoyable experience. Not a lousy one
(1)Barbara W.
Watch the pricing on your bill vs. the menu. We found that two of our five items were higher priced on the bill than on the menu, specifically the mussels appetizers were 90 cents more and the side order of pasta was $4 instead of the menu stated $3. It wasn't the waitresses' fault, because register automatically rang it up, but we did get "excuses" relayed from the management. To add insult to injury, they told us they were taking an "extra $3 off for our inconvenience", but they didn't - that was what they owed us anyway. It wasn't worth sending the waitress back for a third time to argue the point.
(2)Daniel B.
We stopped here the other night. We thought we were going to have a long wait because the parking lot was completely full and we had to park in the adjacent lot. When we walked in, it was maybe only 2/3 occupied and no wait. We ordered the fettuccine carrabba (not sure why this particular location doesn't call it pasta carrabba like the website and the menu at all the other carrabbas I've visited), baked ravioli, and chicken parmaesan. When my dinner salad came out there was a block of ice coving the bottom about 1 inch thick. The server said that they put the salad plates in the freezer and not to worry about it. Sure enough, when the server removed my plate after I had finished, all the ice had melted and I got a nice bath of cold water all over me. Overall the food was very good and tasted fresh. Our waiter never asked to refill our water glasses and I had to go about half the meal without anything to drink and so did one of my guests. Overall the food was good and the staff was friendly but inexperienced. If the staff got better training this would easily be 4 star yelp review.
(3)