Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Metairie, LA Report #263

A lot of people avoid chain restaurants because they don’t equate them with quality food.  If that was a rule, this place is definitely an exception to it!  From the wood burning pizza ovens to the house made salad dressing, this place is pretty good!

Last time I went to a Carrabba’s was about 10 years ago, while I was in Virginia for some Navy training.  I had never heard of it because we didn’t have one in the New Orleans area.  I didn’t know it was a chain, but when I walked in and found out, I wasn’t expecting very high quality food.  I remember I got the Veal Marsala and was surprised at how good it was!  I was long overdue to get back.

We decided on:

And the food!

We started off with the Carnevale Pizza as an appetizer.  It was great!  You could taste that it was made in a wood fired oven.  Nice crispy crust.

You get a choice of a soup or salad with your entrée.  My dining partner had the lentil and Italian sausage soup.  She said it was really good, and a little spicy.

I had the Caesar salad.  Our waitress told us they made their salad dressings in-house.  It was yummy!  Nice salad.

My dining partner had the Rigatoni Campagnolo.  She liked it a lot.  It sure looked good.  She was eating pretty aggressively so I was scared I’d get hurt if I reached over and tried to get a bite.

My Shrimp & Scallop Linguini Alla Vodka was delicious.  I was thinking the dish would have those small bay scallops in it.  Nope.  Huge sea scallops!  The shrimp were huge too.  In fact, I cut the shrimp and scallops in half.  Very good dish.

Finally, the Cinnamon Apple Crostata for dessert.  A hot apple tart topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Fantastic.

One final note.  Some time back someone gave us a Carrabba’s coupon.  We were in the mood for Italian, so we figured we’d come in and use it.  As usual, I never read the fine print, but did right after we sat down.  It said “Valid after 4:00PM”.  It was about 1:00PM.  The waitress noticed the coupon sitting on the table and asked if we wanted to use it.  I told her I hadn’t noticed the fine print, so it was no big deal if we couldn’t use it.  She checked and said it was no problem!  Very nice of them.

Great place!  I recommend it.

4641 Veterans Blvd., Metairie, LA  70006  Ph: 504-779-2252

Blaine 1-18-2020

SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT:

Back for another long overdue visit. We ordered:

&& THE FOOD &&

Calamari

Italian Trio

Shrimp & Scallop Linguini

The calamari were crisp, tender and delicious! And we loved both of the sauces. The yellow one was a lemony one I really liked.

My dining partner had the trio. She said everything was great.

I inadvertently ordered the same dish as I did last visit and enjoyed it just as much!

Great dinner here tonight.

4641 Veterans Blvd., Metairie, LA  70006  Ph: 504-779-2252

Blaine 10-14-2023