Sunday Lunch at Carrabba's Italian Grill
Last Sunday, my wife, Laureen and I decided to visit Carrabba's in The Woodlands and try their new fixed price menu. We were very pleasantly surprised.
Their fixed price menu includes your choice of a personal appetizer, soup or salad, an entree, and a personal dessert. The options in each category were excellent.
My wife started out with Carrabba's famous lentil soup with Italian sausage. The serving size was good and the soup tasted as good as ever. It was like Rose Carrabba was in the kitchen herself! I started out with the Mediterranean salad because I had never seen it on the menu before. It was also very good as was the portion size. The perfect blend of ingredients actually made it more like an appetizer, than just a salad.
Next, we were served our entrees. Laureen, ordered Chicken Marsala with a side order of pasta with marinara sauce. I ordered an old Carrabba's mainstay, Chicken Bryan with a side order of Fettuccine Alfredo.
The Chicken Marsala was excellent as always. The Marsala sauce was perfect with just the right amount of mushrooms. My Chicken Bryan dish was also excellent, as usual. I'm always amazed at how well the sun-dried tomatoes complement the Fontina cheese, creating a creamy, yet tart sensation. It's really hard to describe, but atop the grilled chicken it makes my mouth water just to think about it.
Being the traditional Italian that I am, I swirl my fettuccine on my fork, and then pierce a piece of chicken with just the right amount of cheese and sun-dried tomato, to make a superb forkful of Italian heaven! And yes, I finished Laureen's dish after finishing my own. I was brought up to always clean my plate and not waste food. So, who am I to disappoint my Grandma Jenny?
As we finished our meals, I looked around the restaurant, and smiled when I saw all the old photos on the various walls. I believe they are of the Carrabba family. Possibly some Mendola family as well. I would love to learn more about the Carrabba-Mendola family history, so feel free to chime in if you know! Anyway, the photos reminded me of my own childhood in New York, and of friends and family getting together for Sunday dinner with an abundance of antipasto, followed by pasta (we called it macaroni back then), meatballs and sausage, and then a roast of some kind. Afterwards, the adults played some cards while sipping espresso (they called it "black" coffee) with a shot of licorice-tasting Anisette or Sambuca. Fond memories, indeed.
Well, we were both stuffed, but dessert was calling our names. Our waiter brought over a small tray with the personal dessert options. There were six in all, and all were in square shaped glasses, the size of large shot glasses. At first, I was disappointed to see the small size of the dessert offerings. However, they were actually the ideal size to end our Sunday meal.
Laureen chose chocolate mousse with fresh whipped creme on top, which was really very good. I also chose a mousse, although mine was a delicate blend of chocolate and coffee. I was disappointed that Tiramisu was not a dessert option, but the chocolate-coffee mousse was extremely close in taste, and was absolutely delicious. The only thing missing were Lady Fingers so I chalked up to having less calories than Tiramisu. Like it really mattered at that point?
Here's the awesome part of the experience. Our dinner cost less than $30 excluding tax and tip. That's for two! I'm not sure if we could have had such a fine dinner, with exquisite ambiance and exceptional service, and at such a relatively low price, as Carrabba's Italian Grill! Visit one today, and tell 'em, Paulie sent you.
Their fixed price menu includes your choice of a personal appetizer, soup or salad, an entree, and a personal dessert. The options in each category were excellent.
My wife started out with Carrabba's famous lentil soup with Italian sausage. The serving size was good and the soup tasted as good as ever. It was like Rose Carrabba was in the kitchen herself! I started out with the Mediterranean salad because I had never seen it on the menu before. It was also very good as was the portion size. The perfect blend of ingredients actually made it more like an appetizer, than just a salad.
Next, we were served our entrees. Laureen, ordered Chicken Marsala with a side order of pasta with marinara sauce. I ordered an old Carrabba's mainstay, Chicken Bryan with a side order of Fettuccine Alfredo.
The Chicken Marsala was excellent as always. The Marsala sauce was perfect with just the right amount of mushrooms. My Chicken Bryan dish was also excellent, as usual. I'm always amazed at how well the sun-dried tomatoes complement the Fontina cheese, creating a creamy, yet tart sensation. It's really hard to describe, but atop the grilled chicken it makes my mouth water just to think about it.
Being the traditional Italian that I am, I swirl my fettuccine on my fork, and then pierce a piece of chicken with just the right amount of cheese and sun-dried tomato, to make a superb forkful of Italian heaven! And yes, I finished Laureen's dish after finishing my own. I was brought up to always clean my plate and not waste food. So, who am I to disappoint my Grandma Jenny?
As we finished our meals, I looked around the restaurant, and smiled when I saw all the old photos on the various walls. I believe they are of the Carrabba family. Possibly some Mendola family as well. I would love to learn more about the Carrabba-Mendola family history, so feel free to chime in if you know! Anyway, the photos reminded me of my own childhood in New York, and of friends and family getting together for Sunday dinner with an abundance of antipasto, followed by pasta (we called it macaroni back then), meatballs and sausage, and then a roast of some kind. Afterwards, the adults played some cards while sipping espresso (they called it "black" coffee) with a shot of licorice-tasting Anisette or Sambuca. Fond memories, indeed.
Well, we were both stuffed, but dessert was calling our names. Our waiter brought over a small tray with the personal dessert options. There were six in all, and all were in square shaped glasses, the size of large shot glasses. At first, I was disappointed to see the small size of the dessert offerings. However, they were actually the ideal size to end our Sunday meal.
Laureen chose chocolate mousse with fresh whipped creme on top, which was really very good. I also chose a mousse, although mine was a delicate blend of chocolate and coffee. I was disappointed that Tiramisu was not a dessert option, but the chocolate-coffee mousse was extremely close in taste, and was absolutely delicious. The only thing missing were Lady Fingers so I chalked up to having less calories than Tiramisu. Like it really mattered at that point?
Here's the awesome part of the experience. Our dinner cost less than $30 excluding tax and tip. That's for two! I'm not sure if we could have had such a fine dinner, with exquisite ambiance and exceptional service, and at such a relatively low price, as Carrabba's Italian Grill! Visit one today, and tell 'em, Paulie sent you.
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