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Coming from an Italian family, I of course love real authentic Italian Food and Recipes. There’s nothing better than a fresh chicken parmesan, or my grandma’s meatball recipe with homemade Sunday Sauce. I’m a little shocked that I’ve actually never dined at a Carrabba’s Italian Bar and Grill before. Now that Kay is two Chris and I figured it would be fun to finally go out on our own for a date night. You see, Kay has a very rare food allergy called FPIES, and we’ve finally come to a point where we have an understanding of her allergy as well as our family too. It’s crucial, and for so long we were nervous to go out on our own without her, for good reason.. Not just because we’re nervous nellies about being without her.
There wasn’t much of a wait and hubby and I were anxious to get inside. We snapped a quick selfie to send to my sister, so Kay could see mama and dada!
We were seated quickly and then they brought over some bread with olive oil and seasonings.
The bread was nice and warm and the seasoning was perfect, it even had a little heat to it. Chris and I both enjoyed. A family favorite is fried calamari, as soon as we saw it on the menu we put the order in! Can I just say this is one of the top calamari I’ve ever had? I hate when it’s overcooked, and it was cooked perfectly. Crunchy, and not too greasy either. The marinara it was served with was nice and fresh, a little chunky too. Definitely not from a jar!
We both ordered soup, Chris had the tomato basil soup, and I ordered the minestrone. We love both soups, so we shared. GOSH was it good! So sorry for the pictures, it was pretty dark which was nice, but not so great for picture taking.
When we first looked at the menu they had an insert with a new feature. Try a Classic Carrabba’s Dish and a New Creation on ONE Plate! I couldn’t resist and ended up getting one of the options, while Chris got a classic.
How did I like my combination? Well, I loved the chicken parmesan, but unfortunately I didn’t care too much for the fried ravioli. It could have been because I was SO full by the time my meal came too, but Chris enjoyed them so all was good! I messed up and got mashed potatoes – totally goofed not getting a pasta! If you know me, you know I love my potatoes and can’t resist a mash.
Chris ordered the Wood Grilled Chicken with their signature baste. Of course I thought he was being silly ordering this, but it really was delicious! The seasonings were perfect and I will be trying to mimic the recipe, that is for sure! I do wish the plates had a little garnish to make them prettier, but then I thought to myself, when did my grandma ever make food pretty? She made it delicious. All served in a bowl, you pick your food, and you eat & enjoy!
After THOROUGHLY shoving our faces, I realized we both had a chicken dish. It actually made me realize how much I miss eating poultry! We eat pork, beef, and fish, but no poultry due to Kay’s FPIES. I try to never bring it in the house since she can’t eat it. Coming from an Italian Family, I believe in eating as a family too! So we survived our first time out, and it was so weird to not breastfeed a little person while out, to not change a diaper, and to actually be alone with hubby just like when we first met! We both missed Kay terribly, and couldn’t wait to get back home to her so we actually ended up getting dessert to go.
Also because we couldn’t fit in another bite – but who could resist -+ Sogno d i Cioccolata “Chocolate Dream” A rich fudge brownie with chocolate mousse, fresh whipped cream and housemade chocolate sauce. NOT ME! Haha! We also stopped by Redbox on the way home and rented Noah, we ended up eating the dessert and falling asleep. We’re so boring, but that’s us! I had so much fun being alone with hubby and forgot about how important it is for us to have that alone time. We really got to reconnect just like we used to and it was really nice. I look forward to our next date night!!
The post The First Date, After Kids | Carrabba’s Italian Bar and Grill Date Night appeared first on Courtney's Sweets.