Welcome to the first restaurant review in the history of Palm Coast magazine. We’re starting off with a restaurant that we had no expectations for since we had never been there before and didn’t read anything in advance: no reviews, online or otherwise, and no comments from past customers. We went in cold and were pleasantly surprised, especially with the very first dish we were served.
It’s our custom to always order the calamari at any Italian restaurant we review because it’s our feeling that if the place can’t get the calamari right then the rest of the menu probably isn’t going to be good either. It’s always been a remarkably accurate indicator and it definitely worked here.
Carrabba’s has the best calamari we’ve had in years. It’s crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and tastes delicious. And the rest of the dishes, as predicted, followed suit. We simply enjoyed everything we ordered, period.
The entrees of fried scallops and shrimp with fries, and mahi with garlic mashed potatoes were both well cooked and flavorful. They came after we enjoyed a Caesar salad with a suitably tangy dressing. We also got a tasty chicken vegetable soup that came with one of the entrees.
Actually, when we first looked at the menu we thought the prices were a bit high but that was before we realized that the entrees come with either a side dish or a soup or salad or both. This makes the value for money here very good.
The menu has a good selection of Italian favorites for entrees with a few salads and a couple of soups to go along with the appetizer selection, as well as some desserts that we were unable to consider due to space considerations (we were just too full.).
As former restaurant owners, our experience here was exactly what we strived to provide for our guests, and our hosts did it very smoothly on this evening. This place is obviously managed well, the servers are excellent and the food is tasty, and at a fair price.
There’s not much more to ask for from a restaurant, so Carrabba’s gets very high scores all around for everything here.
And for us there’s no greater compliment that you can give a restaurant than by returning to it because you just have to have one of their dishes. You know what we mean? So we’ll be back soon for some more of, well you know, that calamari.
By the way, did we mention how good it is?
Carrabba’s, 160 Cypress Edge Dr, 386-246-9839
