Carrabbas #FirstTastes Event Featuring Fiesta di Carrabba

Last Updated on January 12, 2014 by

I was provided a selection of menu items at no charge in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions expressed here are my own.

This week I was excited to get to visit Carrabba's Italian Grill for an exclusive tasting event previewing their new Fiesta di Carrabba seasonal menu.  Carrabbas's Italian Grill was founded in 1986 by two Sicilian men from Texas who had a passion for real food.  Their dishes are made from scratch with fresh ingredients that are delivered daily. For a limited time you can experience the Fiesta di Carrabba menu at an exceptional price.  Starting as low as $15 you can have a 3 course meal full of flavor that will leave you amazingly satisfied without breaking the bank.  We were provided a selection of many items from the Fiesta di Carrabbas menu during our tasting event and I thought they were all delicious.  If you are heading to Carrabbas here are a few of the items you can choose from. (keep in mind that the evening included sample sized servings so your meal will be much larger!)

Carrabbas #FirstTastes Event

Arancini: A rustic Italian Favorite.  Crispy bites of risotto, Italian fennel sausage, red bell peppers and Romano cheese.  Hand breaded and served with house made marinara sauce for dipping.

CHAMPAGNE SHRIMP AND SCALLOPS LINGUINE

Pan-seared shrimp and scallops with mushrooms and roasted red peppers tossed with linguine in a champagne cream sauce

PARMESAN-CRUSTED CHICKEN

Sautéed chicken breast coated with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and house made breadcrumbs.

LOBSTER MAC & CHEESE

Cavatappi corkscrew pasta with lobster, pancetta and four cheeses, topped with toasted breadcrumbs.

POTATO-CRUSTED HADDOCK

Flaky whitefish with a crispy potato coating, cooked to golden brown perfection and topped with a light mustard cream sauce and fresh diced tomatoes.

"FOREVER BRAISED" BEEF BRASATO

Boneless beef short rib slow-cooked for hours until you can cut it with a fork. Topped with rich red wine vegetable sauce and served over risotto.

GRILLED TUSCAN SKEWERS

Wood-grilled sirloin, red onion and tomato skewers topped with a Chianti wine sauce.

Sogno Di Cioccolata "Chocolate Dream"

A rich fudge brownie, with chocolate mousse, fresh whipped cream and homemade chocolate sauce.

My Experience:

Our evening at Carrabbas Italian Grill was wonderful.  The staff was friendly and incredibly knowledgeable about the dishes they were serving.  We enjoyed a small cocktail to start out and I have to say that both the Flora Rosa and the Rosalini were delicious.  Of all the dishes we were served I would have a hard time picking a favorite.  The Beef Brasato was so tender it was easy to cut with just a fork and the aroma of rosemary was incredibly enticing.  I thought using a crispy potato coating on the haddock was brilliant and it gave it a nice crunchy exterior that I really enjoyed.  I have to say that the Arancini appetizer we started our evening with was incredible.  The flavor of fennel sausage was delicious and I was tempted to just eat the marinara sauce with a spoon it was so rich and flavorful. And of course, as a big fan of dessert I was thrilled to see the Sogno di Cioccolata.  They make the chocolate sauce in house and it was rich and delicious.  The Carrabbas First Taste event was a wonderful experience and their is a wide variety of meals to choose from to appeal to everyone in your family.

Between the friendly staff, delicious food and relaxing yet cozy atmosphere I highly recommend you try out Carrabbas Italian Grill and their Fiesta di Carrabba menu!

Diane Hoffmaster

Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy.  She has two college aged kids, one husband and more pets than she will admit to. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire  but left her career in science to become a stay at home mom. Years of playing with LEGO and coloring with crayons had her craving a more grown up purpose to her life and she began blogging and freelance writing full time.  You can learn more about her HERE.