Dinner at Carrabba's

The wonderful people over at Carrabba's sent me a gift certificate. It was a Saturday night, and I was hungry...so I called my friend Chris with a promise of a free meal. So off to Carrabba's we went!

We got there around 7, and it was packed. There were only a few tables open. We got a comfy booth and perused the wine list. I was impressed! I was expecting almost all lower end wines, but they had a lot of great picks. We settled on a new Super Tuscan wine they were offering and it was delicious, full bodied with rich aromas (sorry I can't give a better description...I wish I was a wine expert!).

The warm bread arrived and it hit the spot. It was soft in the middle with a nice crust. The dipping sauce was good as always, a nice blend of olive oil with their spice mix. My salad was good...typical salad fare. A side potion of lettuce with the fixins. I enjoyed the dressing, a creamy parmesan. As I like to say, cheese makes everything better!


The entrees made their way over and they were huge! Chris ordered the Chicken Pamigiano and I ordered the Chicken Bryan. It came with a side...and what I liked is that for a side you can pick any pasta with any sauce. We both chose the penne with tomato cream. The Chicken Bryan came out great. It's basically grilled chicken, sauteed in a lemon white wine sauce with sundried tomatoes, and topped with goat cheese. The chicken was cooked very well, and the sauce had a great tanginess. It paired very well with the goat cheese. The only problem I could find was there was a little too much goat cheese, and I had to remove some so it wasn't too overpowering. My only other minor complaint was that the server seemed a little out of it at times. But overall, it really was a great meal. Even though Carrabba's is a dreaded "chain", it is consistent and reasonably priced.

Great Deal: Every Wednesday, Carrabba's in Florida is offering $10 off any bottle of wine (and the wine is good!).