November 11th around 4:30 PM, we were seated promptly by the hostess, choosing a booth which was appreciated. Our server, whose name started with an “L,” seemed very busy possibly at the end of her shift or managing a large section. She was speaking quite loudly, which may have been due to the stress of her workload. While the staff was kind, the experience left room for improvement.
It took 15–20 minutes to receive the bread we were told was still in the oven. During this time, my toddler became understandably upset from hunger, which caused some tension with nearby diners. Once the bread arrived, it was fresh and warm, but the delay was challenging for a family dining with a young child.
Our drinks were served promptly, but there was a mix-up. I ordered a root beer but received Dr. Pepper. While I didn’t correct it to keep things simple, it’s a detail worth noting. For our meal, we ordered the Dinner Dolce menu for two. The first course, Mama Mandola’s Chicken Soup, arrived lukewarm, which was disappointing. It may have been prepared earlier and left waiting due to our server’s apparent workload. Our entrees were the Rigatoni Campagnolo and the Lasagna with a choice of meatballs. While the Rigatoni was flavorful, the meatballs tasted overly processed and bitter, which detracted from the overall experience. Our final course, Sogno Di Cioccolata, was excellent and a highlight of the meal.
Unfortunately, service issues continued. Our server was very busy, and we had to ask another staff member for to-go containers. Additionally, requesting a to-go drink took longer than expected, leaving us feeling overlooked. I did speak briefly with a manager before leaving to share my experience.
Overall, I understand that it may have been a busy or difficult day for the team. However, I strongly suggest that Carrabba’s consider hiring additional staff across all positions—servers, kitchen staff, and management. This could alleviate stress on employees and improve the customer experience. While I don’t blame our server entirely, the challenges we faced seemed to stem from understaffing rather than individual effort.
Janice DeJesus
-
November 20, 2024
We honestly should have left as soon as we walked in. Restaurant was pretty empty but that’s typical for a Monday night probably, but there was just a very off putting atmosphere. We were seated and tried to order one of the newest drinks on the menu, we were told they most likely didn’t have it, no biggie…then we were told they found all the items needed to make it, which was absolutely fine. Bringing the drink to our table was a different story….there was a big struggle in getting the drink right and one of the employees, who was possibly the manager was passing by, picked the drink up from our table, held it up to look underneath it and asked “what is floating in this?”. Then just set it back down. It was the cherry for the drink….this was a little awkward for us however, we tried to laugh it off and continue with our dinner.
We tried to order a new appetizer but they did not have it, again no biggie, we understand shipments get delayed or stuff just doesn’t come in, so we skipped having one. Ordered our main courses and was first told they didn’t have one of them but then they said they did. When our orders came to the table, there was at LEAST a pound of mashed potatoes on my boyfriend’s plate with his short rib, which we again laughed off and were totally fine with. However, the short rib was DRYYYYYY and so fatty, he took about 3 bites and he was done, the potatoes weren’t even mashed all the way either. My pasta side dish was so overcooked and my veggies were so soft they disintegrated basically as I tried to eat them. Steak was overdone and was a really weird cut. We are not ones to send food back, because welllllll, have you seen Waiting? We just did not want to be “those people”.
We were going to skip dessert but there was a new bread pudding one we kinda wanted to try, so we thought maybe this would save our meal….it really didn’t. It was made wrong and came out with very hard bread pieces and the ice cream was freezer burned and so hard, we tried to let it sit on the cast iron to melt some.
All in all, this experience was dreadful and we probably won’t be back again. I’ve never had a bas experience at any other location of Carrabba’s but this by far was the worst.
Pasquale Sofia
-
November 01, 2024
We had a nice lunch. The staff was friendly and the food was good.
I feel 4 stars is a good rating and I would recommend people go to this location.
Everything was fine just nothing was outstanding. I'm not sure what you will find better at this price point.
Procyon Training
-
July 21, 2024
Our server Max was amazing. The food came out at a good pace. Refills appeared at just the right time. We felt attended to but not smothered. A great experience!!!!
Stephanie Leggett
-
October 13, 2024
As a courtesy to other customers, I contacted the restaurant and spoke with the Manager regarding a recent delivery that contained a foreign substance in the mashed potatoes. I kindly shared the issue and the difficulty in identifying the object. The manager said it could be wrapping or a piece of a glove. His tone of voice and comments to let me know to contact DoorDash were rude! I shared that my call was with kindness, not warranting his extreme rudeness and assumption that I wanted money back. I am highly disappointed not only in the object being found but in the manager’s response that strongly lacked the level of customer service of Carrabba’s. I am from out of town, but will NEVER support this local business due to the rude response of someone who should exemplify true customer service. Highly disappointed- more than the object in the potatoes.
Our Address
2370 SW College Rd, Ocala, FL 34474, USA
Claim Listing: Carrabba’s Italian Grill
Please Login or Register an Account to Claim Listing
November 11th around 4:30 PM, we were seated promptly by the hostess, choosing a booth which was appreciated. Our server, whose name started with an “L,” seemed very busy possibly at the end of her shift or managing a large section. She was speaking quite loudly, which may have been due to the stress of her workload. While the staff was kind, the experience left room for improvement. It took 15–20 minutes to receive the bread we were told was still in the oven. During this time, my toddler became understandably upset from hunger, which caused some tension with nearby diners. Once the bread arrived, it was fresh and warm, but the delay was challenging for a family dining with a young child. Our drinks were served promptly, but there was a mix-up. I ordered a root beer but received Dr. Pepper. While I didn’t correct it to keep things simple, it’s a detail worth noting. For our meal, we ordered the Dinner Dolce menu for two. The first course, Mama Mandola’s Chicken Soup, arrived lukewarm, which was disappointing. It may have been prepared earlier and left waiting due to our server’s apparent workload. Our entrees were the Rigatoni Campagnolo and the Lasagna with a choice of meatballs. While the Rigatoni was flavorful, the meatballs tasted overly processed and bitter, which detracted from the overall experience. Our final course, Sogno Di Cioccolata, was excellent and a highlight of the meal. Unfortunately, service issues continued. Our server was very busy, and we had to ask another staff member for to-go containers. Additionally, requesting a to-go drink took longer than expected, leaving us feeling overlooked. I did speak briefly with a manager before leaving to share my experience. Overall, I understand that it may have been a busy or difficult day for the team. However, I strongly suggest that Carrabba’s consider hiring additional staff across all positions—servers, kitchen staff, and management. This could alleviate stress on employees and improve the customer experience. While I don’t blame our server entirely, the challenges we faced seemed to stem from understaffing rather than individual effort.
We honestly should have left as soon as we walked in. Restaurant was pretty empty but that’s typical for a Monday night probably, but there was just a very off putting atmosphere. We were seated and tried to order one of the newest drinks on the menu, we were told they most likely didn’t have it, no biggie…then we were told they found all the items needed to make it, which was absolutely fine. Bringing the drink to our table was a different story….there was a big struggle in getting the drink right and one of the employees, who was possibly the manager was passing by, picked the drink up from our table, held it up to look underneath it and asked “what is floating in this?”. Then just set it back down. It was the cherry for the drink….this was a little awkward for us however, we tried to laugh it off and continue with our dinner. We tried to order a new appetizer but they did not have it, again no biggie, we understand shipments get delayed or stuff just doesn’t come in, so we skipped having one. Ordered our main courses and was first told they didn’t have one of them but then they said they did. When our orders came to the table, there was at LEAST a pound of mashed potatoes on my boyfriend’s plate with his short rib, which we again laughed off and were totally fine with. However, the short rib was DRYYYYYY and so fatty, he took about 3 bites and he was done, the potatoes weren’t even mashed all the way either. My pasta side dish was so overcooked and my veggies were so soft they disintegrated basically as I tried to eat them. Steak was overdone and was a really weird cut. We are not ones to send food back, because welllllll, have you seen Waiting? We just did not want to be “those people”. We were going to skip dessert but there was a new bread pudding one we kinda wanted to try, so we thought maybe this would save our meal….it really didn’t. It was made wrong and came out with very hard bread pieces and the ice cream was freezer burned and so hard, we tried to let it sit on the cast iron to melt some. All in all, this experience was dreadful and we probably won’t be back again. I’ve never had a bas experience at any other location of Carrabba’s but this by far was the worst.
We had a nice lunch. The staff was friendly and the food was good. I feel 4 stars is a good rating and I would recommend people go to this location. Everything was fine just nothing was outstanding. I'm not sure what you will find better at this price point.
Our server Max was amazing. The food came out at a good pace. Refills appeared at just the right time. We felt attended to but not smothered. A great experience!!!!
As a courtesy to other customers, I contacted the restaurant and spoke with the Manager regarding a recent delivery that contained a foreign substance in the mashed potatoes. I kindly shared the issue and the difficulty in identifying the object. The manager said it could be wrapping or a piece of a glove. His tone of voice and comments to let me know to contact DoorDash were rude! I shared that my call was with kindness, not warranting his extreme rudeness and assumption that I wanted money back. I am highly disappointed not only in the object being found but in the manager’s response that strongly lacked the level of customer service of Carrabba’s. I am from out of town, but will NEVER support this local business due to the rude response of someone who should exemplify true customer service. Highly disappointed- more than the object in the potatoes.