Myrtle Beach has a lot of different restaurants. I had never seen a Carrabba's Italian Grill before moving here, and I was reluctant to try it out at first. Of course, I am always hesitant to try new places; there's something wrong with me. Anyway, we've been frequenting Carrabbas for the last year or so, but I didn't really fall in love with it until I discovered sitting at the pasta bar.
Tonight, we decided to have a night out, as Mark had a great day. We decided to go to Carrabbas, as we had not been in a while. When we arrived, there was no wait. Instead of taking a booth or table, we asked to sit at the pasta bar. Now, you can sometimes get immediately seated, even if there is a wait, when you choose to sit at the pasta or pizza bar. As a matter of fact, that's how we originally came to learn of it. We rolled up one night to a twenty minute wait, unless we chose to sit at one of the food bars, which we promptly chose to do; it is a pretty great perk.
Tonight, no one else was sitting there, so we hopped up on our stools. Immediately, one of our favorite Carrabba's employees, Tracy, came up to take our drink order. He has taken care of us before, and he is always a delight. While he was getting our drinks, Mark snuck off to the bathroom. While he was gone, the gentleman preparing pasta gave me a free sample of the mezzaluna. Let me introduce you to perk number two of the food bars...free samples. The food bars allow you to watch the food being made; the stools look right into the cooking area. You can watch them prepare pasta or pizza, depending on where you sit. Not only will the cooks chat with you, if you so desire, but the wait staff will also stop and chat if you're into that kind of thing. At the same time, they will also leave you alone, if you don't want to be bothered. That interaction would be perk number three.
As far as samples go, we've gotten mezzaluna on multiple occassions. We have even gotten lobster ravioli once, which we hated. We still appreciated the opportunity to get experience points though. Tonight's mezzaluna was awesome, as usual. It is a half moon ravioli filled with chicken and spinach then covered with a pale red sauce. They usually give us a sample of four to six of them. It's like getting a free appetizer!
Tracy brought our drinks back and asked us what we wanted to order. Now, Carrabbas used to have the best steak ever. It was a ribeye served with a side of blue cheese sauce. Now, they have an espresso rubbed ribeye, which is just too salty. I've tried it multiple times, but it is always the same. Tonight, I asked Tracy if they could make the steak sans the rub. Because he is awesome, he let me know that they could. He also suggested I ask for it with a light grill rub, which I did. Mark ordered chicken Bryan, which is what he gets almost every time we go to Carrabbas. When he doesn't get it, his order is usually messed up. It's weird.
Mark and I got to chatting, but we didn't have to wait long until they brought our salad and soup over. Mark had the sausage and lentil soup, which he said was pretty good. It was a bit spicier and saltier than usual tonight, but it was still good. My salad was your basic salad; I had the creamy paremesan dressing, which is a Carrabbas' house dressing, I believe. Also, they bring you hot bread, as well as oil and herbs to dip it in. I have only ever found one place that has an oil that I enjoy dipping my bread in, so I always ask for butter. Mark says the herbs and oil are good though. Tonight, our butter didn't make it to us with our bread, but I didn't notice since our soup and salad arrived so quickly.
As always, we had great service. I have only had subpar service one time. Tracy managed to keep me in Sprites (with lemon) quicker than I could drink them. One time, I had finished squeezing my lemon into my Sprite and set the rind to the side. Tracy immediately appeared to make sure he had given me a lemon. He was just plain great. About half the places stop bringing me a lemon after the first one.
After we finished our soup and salad, but before we could get bored or antsy, our meals arrived. My ribeye was perfectly done. I ordered the zucchini and garlic mashed potatoes for my two sides. I prefer my mashed potatoes to be sans skins, but Carrabbas includes the skins in theirs. They are still tasty, but I tend to pick the skins out or eat around them. I had added on blue cheese crumbles to my salad and kept about half of them to eat with my steak.
Mark's chicken Bryan was awesome, as it always is. He had the spaghetti with it, which he said was pretty good. I didn't try it. I did have some chicken Bryan though, which is chicken with goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, and a lemon butter sauce. I didn't like goat cheese until I tried chicken Bryan. Since then, I have started cooking some items with goat cheese.
Today, we didn't have room for dessert, which is normal for us. We paid the bill, and Tracy made sure to ask our names. As we were leaving, he told us to have a great night and bid us farewell, using our names. I know it's a sign that we eat out too much, but it's neat when people who work there recognize us. When you sit up at the bar, someone that waited on you two months ago will stop and say hi. I like to think part of that has to do with Mark and I. I like to think we're not too bad to wait on. We try to chat with the people that are taking care of us. It's their job, but why shouldn't it be fun??
If you happen to be in Myrtle Beach, try Carrabbas on North Kings highway. The staff is excellent, and the food is wonderful. If you don't like it, you're a weenie. Okay, you're not a weenie, but it's definately worth the experience points. Be forewarned, it can get expensive, depending on what you order.
(Moved from FB - January 24, 2012)
No comments:
Post a Comment