RA
Raquel Atkinson
Apr 8, 2026
An evening with Steve.
I am writing because I had a genuinely bad experience at Carrabba’s, and it stood out even more because I had a great experience there about a week earlier.
On my first visit, I sat at the bar and had a bartender I believe was named Samantha. She was great. I ordered a variation of a pasta dish I saw another guest eating, asked for it without tomatoes, and it was phenomenal. That visit was so good that I specifically came back expecting the same level of service.
When I returned about a week later with my daughter, we sat at the bar and had Steve as our bartender. The difference in service was night and day.
From the beginning, Steve was rude, rushed, and argumentative over basic questions. My daughter ordered a drink, and he told her it would cost more to use real espresso. Fine, if that is policy, then say that. But then when she asked if the drink could be made creamy, he gave her a hard time about that too. It was a simple drink order, and he made it into an issue for no reason.
Then we sat there ready to order food while he continued taking care of and chatting with other guests. We literally watched him go guest to guest, come right down to our end of the bar, finish pouring wine for the man sitting beside us, then turn around and walk away again without once asking if we were ready to order. We got there shortly after 9:00, and by around 9:20 we were still waiting to order until I finally had to stop him and ask, “Can we order?” That is ridiculous.
When I ordered the pasta dish without tomatoes, he interrupted me and told me there was no way to “cook the tomatoes out of that,” and that it would basically just be pasta with garlic, olive oil, and basil, followed by, “That’s what you want?” The way he said it came across as mocking and condescending, like my order was stupid. That was especially irritating because I had already ordered a version of that exact dish without tomatoes on a previous visit, and it had been excellent. However the kitchen executes it is not my concern. My concern is ordering what I want without being talked down to.
The food came out, and neither of us liked it. The dish he described as very garlicky, buttery, and lemony had barely any flavor. My dish also was not good. Then, instead of checking back on us, he again failed to come over, and we had to flag him down ourselves.
When we told him the food was not good and that we wanted to order something else, he dropped the menu down in front of us like he was annoyed and told us the kitchen closed in 10 minutes and that we needed to get the order in. That was incredibly rude considering we lost about 20 minutes waiting on him in the first place because he never came to take our order when we were ready.
Then came the part that completely turned me off. I asked for a bowl because I wanted to take my soup with me. He snatched the bowl up so fast that the spoon fell into my soup. Then he reached into the soup and picked the spoon up with his fingers. At that point, I no longer wanted the soup at all. That was disgusting.
There was also a pricing issue. We asked if we could upgrade the cups of soup that came with the entrées to bowls, and he made it sound like it was about a dollar. It was not. It was around $3.95 each, which added about $8 to the bill. That is a big difference, and it should have been stated accurately.
By the end of the night, I left the soup, left my entrée, and left feeling like I had wasted my money. The bill was around $62 before tip and about $72 total after I still left a $10 tip. Frankly, I regret tipping at all, but I did it in the moment to show grace.
What bothered me was not just that the food missed. It was the entire experience. We were treated like our questions were a problem, ignored when we were ready to order, talked over when placing the order, rushed when trying to fix the meal, charged more than we were led to expect, and then I watched a bartender stick his fingers into my soup to retrieve a spoon.
That is not acceptable service.
MM
Morgan Maravich
Apr 1, 2026
Had such a great experience at Carrabba’s Italian Grill! The food was absolutely delicious—everything came out fresh, flavorful, and perfectly cooked. You can really tell they take pride in what they serve.
What made the night even better was the outstanding service. A special thank you to Steve, who went above and beyond to make sure everything was perfect. He was attentive, friendly, and made us feel genuinely welcomed without ever being overbearing.
Definitely looking forward to coming back again soon. Highly recommend for both the food and the service!Had such a great experience at Carrabba’s Italian Grill! The food was absolutely delicious—everything came out fresh, flavorful, and perfectly cooked. You can really tell they take pride in what they serve.
What made the night even better was the outstanding service. A special thank you to Steve, who went above and beyond to make sure everything was perfect. He was attentive, friendly, and made us feel genuinely welcomed without ever being overbearing.
Definitely looking forward to coming back again soon. Highly recommend for both the food and the service!