Carrabba’s Italian Grill

This was a big disappointment. The service was lackluster to say the least. I waited a good 15 minutes for my salad, which came the same time as my bread. After one bite my entrée showed up.
I stopped by carrabbas for their chicken parm which was $ 21. It was barely warm, was served with spiral pasta (huh?) and the chicken HAD to be frozen factory food patties. The breading was pale and tasteless and the meat underneath had to have been some kind of processed chicken parts. Really awful.

Working lunch didn’t go well. Server slow and unable to get orders delivered correctly. Some orders wrong and he just couldn’t remember who ordered what although he took orders in sequence. Food tepid to cold and server never came back to check on us. We thought he went on break for a smoke of pot. Never mind that he knocked over a water glass and couldn’t manage to clean up the mess.

So they’ve expanded dining options in terminal A/​B at Dulles which is an improvement but this Carrabba’s was disappointing. The prices do seem a bit higher compared to their regular locations and the food was also subpar. The only redeeming thing was the service was decent. I ordered a chicken parm sandwich which basically looked like it was taken out of plastic packaging from the freezer and then put into the microwave. The sandwich arrived barely warm and lacked flavor. I ordered a side of orzo which was ok but again bland. The two highlights of the meal, the bread, and the sangria.
Also I would advise you that if you’re in a hurry meaning your flight is leaving within an hour, I would look for something a bit quicker, as the food is «made» to order and that does take time compared to some of the other dining options. I certainly won’t likely return here to eat the next time I fly out of Dulles.

strawberry salad was amazing and my waiter was very polite. Great way to relax before a flight

Tried the calamari. Probably amongst the least well made calamari dishes I have had. Wife got the spigetti pomodoro which was not good either. While we were eating, we also saw other customers complain. The manager came out and comp’d the food. I am not coming back here again.

Calamari was subpar. Wings were not bad. Service is just ok. I feel the lady has forgotten about me tbh. Been waiting for my check for almost 10 minutes and the place is not even busy

Service was horrible. Took an hour to get my food. The managers are all a bunch of ignorant bitches and they could use a lot more training. I have been going to Carrabbas for more than 8 years and this was the WORST experience of my life. The cooks do not wear gloves when preparing your food. I complained to a female supervisor and this bitch literally told me «I can’t do anything for you».

At the Dulles airport. I can’t believe the high prices! Yes I know it’s the airport. I’m tired of that excuse! Wow! Come on really?
And plastic silverware!

Electric plugs on exterior of bar. Phone recharging. Wish they could feed me more data here too.

I was so disappointed. I’ve been to many Carrabba’s over the years and almost always had a decent experience. First of all my server was horrible! She was nice, but taking the order and never coming back ’til it’s time to bring the bill doesn’t cut it. I ordered a Diet Coke and got a regular which wouldn’t have been a big deal if she had ever come back so I could change it out. Plus, I never got my salad that was supposed to come with my pasta. Sadly the quality of the food also seems to have plummeted. I know all of these restaurants are trying to cut costs, and it is very apparent. I worked for Outback, which is part of the same company, for 3 ½ years about 18 years ago, and when I got hired I was told, «We use the best ingredients and hire the best employees, and we don’t have to worry about our customers as a result.»
I guess that policy is out the door.
Maybe it was just that it’s an airport restaurant, but I won’t even visit any of the other stores as a result of this experience.
Oh, and what happened to that fabulous bread with oil and herbs you used to get.

Decided to try a chain restaurant at the airport. We were hoping for procedures and processes that would produce edible food. That was more than the staff could deliver. The food was terrible. Pizza soggy, doughy, tasteless. Meatball sand should be renamed breadball sandwich.
The staff here is living proof that a minimum wage is an affront to all productive people in this world. Service was sloth paced, without any additional effort. Walking seemed a chore. And then two employees took a break nearby and shared profanity laced music for all to enjoy. Begging for the check I wondered if anyone here ever hurried. This is an airport and no I’m not late for a flight. I’m starving and need to get something to eat.

Wow pleasantly surprised! I had the Johnie Rocca salad, very tasty with fresh Romain, roasted red peppers, Kalamata olive’s, ricotta salata cheese, with grilled shrimp and scollops. I asked for the lemon salad dressing. Both the hostess and the waiter were very familiar with their gluten-​free options which made me very happy! The shrimp and scollop were done perfectly.

Overpriced and not impressive. But at the end of the day, if you’re stuck at the airport with loads of time to kill, swing by and watch some football :-)

Great service, great food, and overall a nice dining experience! Big perk is it also close to home.

Food wad actually surprisingly good. Ordered Cesar side salad and grilled salmon with season vegetables (which green beans). Salmon was cooked very well, not overdone, moist and garnished with some sort of salsa. Overall was a very nice dish and surpassed my initial expectations.
The negative was a very slow service. When a waitress did arrive, she had very little knowledge of the menu and did not even know the difference between various fish selections. My other pet peeve was that for utensils they give you plasticware. I was drinking a $ 14 glass of Cabernet wine and eating $ 20 entrée with a plastic fork and a knife. Just does not seem right.

Worst service. Not recommended. The guy at the front doesn’t know what he is doing, just staring at me, like I’m supposed to serve him. Also, I ordered sirloin steak, and I asked for silverware. The other waiter said, and I quote, «that’s all we have». I have to google to find out there are security concerns to have metal knife. At least, he could have just told me it’s a IAD policy.

This is probably the best option at Dulles airport for a decent meal. I could’ve given 4 stars; it was close. My Italian salad was very good. I had the salmon with pasta instead of mashed potatoes. I liked that as well, though I’ve had better.
The service was prompt, as you would expect in an airport. Though I didn’t sit at the bar, I like the look of it. It has large TVs if you want to catch a game.

I am not ashamed to say that I was excited to see this restaurant in the airport… had time to kill before a flight so decided to enjoy a meal…
For starters there were out of the first two types of wine that I wanted… ok for the third one, I would have liked for you to offer me the glass that I chose at the price of the wines that I actually wanted… It was easier to ask what they actually had instead of picking what I wanted.
The arrancini were cooked too long– super dark. They would be much better (delicious actually) if cooked a minute or two less.
Then my salad arrives with tomatoes. Unfortuantely the menu did not say anything about tomatoes. I would have picked them out, but they were halved and the juice and seeds were all over the salad. That is what I am not supposed to eat, so I exaplined this to the server and I apologized a million times…
She brought a salad back within minutes, and I just had a feeling that they picked out the tomatoes instead of making a new one. There were seeds and tomato pieces at the bottom of the salad. Sorry, a no go. The server was nice enough, apologized, offered to make it again, but at this point, I just wanted to get out of there. I heard who I could assume was the manager ask the kitchen if they remade the salad, but I was not able to hear the kitchen’s response.
Either way perhaps you can come to the table and talk to me, rectify the situation by just saying you are sorry. I am sucker like that.
Get it, it is airport food, and you probably never see the same people again, but regardless, you can try a little harder.
Walk the other way and go to Max and Erma’s. Staff is much friendlier, and menu descriptions match what they serve.

How are places like this allowed to exist in a busy international airport like Dulles? Only beer they had on tap was bud lite. Ordered some food items and got Heineken in a bottle. Pretty sure my waitress forgot about my order bc I waited forever. When I reminded her, my food came out within a minute. Then I don’t see her for a long time — no water was served and I wanted to order another beer. Finally I flag her down and she says they have no more Heineken — she gave the last one away. Never coming back

Great food. Terrible service. Extremely slow service and food especially for an airport location. Needs better management. Servers half asleep, waiting on chefs to have food ready. No straws with water. Took 30 mins to get side salad. Ordered dirty martini w/​o olives. Had to personally go to bar to get them and silverware. Don’t come if your Ina rush. Luckily my flight was delayed 2 hrs…

As I was walking past this restaurant wondering when it would open, a man appeared from behind the façade and asked if I’d like to eat for free on their «tryout» day. Since I really was looking for a new experience, I jumped at the opportunity. My meal was fantastic and the service was quite good, but you might take this review with a grain of salt because everything was better for not having paid for it!
I decided to try the «large» chicken parmesan dinner, which came with soup (or salad) and a side. I got the garlic mashed potatoes. As you can see in the first picture, they brought a nice cup of minestrone soup along with bread, dipping oil, and my diet Coke.
The soup was extremely pleasant, with the vegetables having noticeable texture and flavor, and an overall taste of black pepper. I didn’t really care for the bread and oil (bread too moist, oil too olive-​y) but since I didn’t want to fill up on bread anyway, this wasn’t a big deal.
My main plate arrived with a generous portion of both the chicken parmesan (two large, thick pieces) and two scoops of the potatoes. There is only one way to describe the chicken parmesan: THE BEST I HAVE EVER HAD. Rather than deep-​fry the chicken, this chicken seemed coated in bread crumbs and then sauteed. The tomato sauce was chunky, and then covered in cheese. The seasoning was fantastic — although, like the soup, the overwhelming flavor was black pepper. I’m sure you’ve been to a restaurant where they bring a fresh pepper grinder to your table, and you want to ask for MORE pepper but at some point it seems silly? Well, at this Carrabba’s they have put just the right amount of pepper on the food already.
There was only one thing wrong with my meal, which is I don’t think I will ever enjoy chicken parmesan this much, again.
I don’t normally order the expensive deserts at this type of restaurant because, well, they’re expensive (and full of calories). But today they were free (nothing you can do about the calories), so I had the chocolate dream cake. Also very good without being too sweet.
The service, if anything, was a little too attentive. They kept bringing me a new diet Coke when my current one was still half-​full. (I learned later, this is a «style» — that your cup should never be empty). They offered to wrap-​up my second piece of chicken when I was still more than happy to eat it! But certainly, attentive service is better than the opposite, so I only hope the restaurant can keep it up when they have more customers.
For an additional perspective, the gentleman at the next table ordered scallops. I didn’t taste them (although I have enclosed a picture), but I remarked to him, that I recently had scallops at Legal Seafood, and I described them as «nicely firm in texture, with a hint of flavor but not too fishy.» He said the scallops here also fit that description, so they were probably pretty good!
As you might imagine, at regular prices this restaurant is a bit expensive. My chicken parmesan was $ 19.60, and the desert was $ 9 (ouch). This is about 9% higher than the prices at the nearby Tyson Corner location of Carrabba’s, but it seems fairly reasonable for an airport mark-​up. If you want excellent food at an airport, I would say it was more than worth the price.
I did a little research after my meal and was surprised to discover that Carrabba’s is a pretty major chain, and not everyone has had a five-​star experience at their many locations. Maybe this location was trying extra hard on the first day; following the recipes more exactly, or maybe I just ordered one of their most delicious items!
I was also surprised to discover that this location was managed by the same company that runs the much-​maligned «Gladstones 4 Fish» location at LAX (Los Angeles Airport), HMSHost. I only wish Gladstones could learn something from this location, because this was a wonderful dining experience, something few people have had at LAX’s terminal 3.
Again, it was a wonderful experience, and I will certainly consider eating here again the next time I fly out of Dulles Airport. You can get to Carrabba’s from Gate A or B.

Came here during a slow period, even then service was terribly slow. I ordered the Chicken Parmesan Dinner and ended up with a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich with a Tomato and Cucumber Salad. I didn’t have time to wait for the right order so I settled for the sandwich. Bread was fresh but the Chicken could have more spices. Overall the taste was OK. Many travelers during my time here left frustrated because their food never came. At best this place is a crapshoot all around.

If you are on a delay and have some time to kill, this is a good place to put your bag down and order some food. They have a small breakfast menu and a full lunch menu that starts at 1100.
From the bar I ordered a limoncello gimlet that was smaller than I expected (as I found out, it was only a limoncello). It was however very tasty so I ordered a second!
Lunch was the signature dish of Fettuccine Carrabba and a loaf of the fresh bread with olive oil w/​herb dip. Both arrived quickly and were fresh as you’d expect at a normal location.
This is day 3 of this location being open and is only the second location in an airport. For that being said service was quick (although a 1 to 2 trainer/​trainee ratio) and I’m sure it will improve.