Olive Garden Vs Carrabba's Italian Grill: Which Is Better?
When it's time to dive into some hearty Italian grub you have two choices: You could schlep to the supermarket and scoop up a bunch of ingredients that might take a long time to prep and cook, or you can have someone else do it for you while you enjoy the comfort of a restaurant without having to stress about the cleanup. That's where both Olive Garden and Carrabba's Italian Grill come into play. Both chains serve up a variety of Italian cuisine that'll definitely leave you satisfyingly stuffed once the meal is over.
Now, let's say that the urge to eat Italian strikes you and your group of friends hard. But, here's the problem: Both Olive Garden and Carrabba's Italian Grill are close by — which one do you settle on? You want to ensure you have the best meal possible because anything less would end the night in disappointment. Let's compare the two to see which one reigns supreme so that when it comes time for your appetite to harness its Italian vibe, you're sure to lock in the right decision.
Olive Garden has way more locations
Most of the time, you can pretty much tell how popular an establishment is by looking at the number of locations it has. If it's a nationwide chain then you know people from all over enjoy the cuisine. However, if it's just regional, there's a good chance the chain simply doesn't earn the same profit in other areas (although there could be other factors involved, as well). In terms of the number of locations between Olive Garden and Carrabba's Italian Grill, the former comes out on top.
According to ScrapeHero, as of October 21, 2022, Olive Garden had 891 locations up and running throughout all 52 states. That's a whole lotta Tour of Italys being sold every week. When it comes to Carrabba's Italian Grill, the restaurant lags behind with only 220 locations throughout 29 states as of the same date last year (via ScrapeHero). So, if you make a decision about where to eat based on popularity, Olive Garden takes the cake.
Carrabba's offers a more extensive catering menu
When you have a boatload of people coming over and you know everyone is going to show up ready to tackle trays upon trays of Italian food, you need to get yourself to a place with an extensive catering menu to ensure there's something for all of your guests to enjoy. Both Olive Garden and Carrabba's Italian Grill offer catering menus for anyone in need of mass quantities of food, but Carrabba's ends up pulling out ahead.
The catering menu at Olive Garden offers up large pans of all of its pasta dishes, huge jugs of soup, pints of dipping sauce, big batches of breadsticks, and oversized orders of its appetizers. There's also a make-your-own-pasta station for purchase. Not too shabby if you love Olive Garden. However, Carrabba's offers a huge selection of party trays, including options like salmon and chicken Marsala, which is nice when you don't only want to have pasta options. If you want a nice mix of flavors, Carrabba's has you covered.
Both offer a carside carry-out option
It's not always convenient to have to run into a restaurant and wait for your food if you're in a rush or have kids in the car you can't leave alone. So it only makes sense that places offer carside food drop-offs so you can stay in your vehicle and have your hot meals brought out to you. Both Olive Garden and Carrabba's Italian Grill offer carside carry-outs so you never have to enter the building.
Many people who visit Carrabba's take advantage of this service to avoid dragging their whole family inside to simply pick up food. One satisfied customer raved about their experience on TripAdvisor and described, "The take-out attendant came to our car immediately and confirmed our order. In no time, she brought out our food, put it in the backseat and we were on our way. We were very pleased at how carefully the food was packed." Now, Olive Garden also offers contactless carside carry-out which it started during the pandemic. An employee will bring your food out to your car and even place it in the trunk. Talk about service.
Olive Garden has a better selection of appetizers
Before you dive into a bunch of savory entrees, you'll want to get your palate prepared first. That means ordering an array of appetizers to kick off the meal properly and get you stoked for the main show. If you find yourself sitting at either Olive Garden or Carrabba's, you can rest assured they each serve up a selection of appetizers. But, if you're at Olive Garden, you'll find a more enticing variety to pick from.
The offerings at Carrabba's are fairly basic, with options like calamari, shrimp scampi, and meatballs. There really isn't anything super unique that jumps off the page if you're craving something different. However, Olive Garden includes some of the same standard options like calamari and meatballs, but it also throws in choices like lasagna fritta (miniature fried pieces of lasagna with meat and alfredo sauce) and spinach artichoke dip so you can get your pre-meal dunk on.
Olive Garden offers unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks
There are a ton of people who visit Olive Garden for lunch without the intention of ordering any kind of savory entree or appetizer. They simply go to stuff their faces with the wildly popular option of unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks. For only 10 bucks, patrons get to toss back as much roughage, bread, and soup as their little hearts can handle, which is a great deal if you have a huge appetite but want to dine on a budget.
The same salad and breadsticks are served at each refill round. However, there are four different soup options available, so you can change up at least some of the flavors each time you go back for the next plate of food. You get to choose from either minestrone, pasta e fagioli, chicken gnocchi, or Italian sausage and kale. If you're hungry enough for four rounds of lunch, you can check all the soups off your culinary bucket list.
Carrabba's has a bigger selection of meat
Even though both Olive Garden and Carrabba's have quite a selection of pasta available to those who want a belly full of hearty carbs when they leave, some people want to rock out with protein instead. So, if you want to head out for some Italian cuisine without the goal of ordering pasta, which of the two spots slings a greater variety of meat? It turns out Carrabba's has Olive Garden beaten by a long shot.
At Olive Garden, the only protein-heavy non-pasta menu items you can order are the grilled chicken Margherita, herb grilled salmon, and a 6-ounce sirloin steak (which actually comes with pasta on the side). Carrabba's, however, offers a bunch more. You can get mahi-mahi, salmon prepared two different ways, both sirloin and ribeye steak, Tuscan-grilled pork chops, and a shrimp with sea scallops meal. Carrabba's seems to know people who love Italian food don't necessarily want to overindulge on pasta, and that's a respectable quality.
Both have the same number of dessert options
After you finish that last bite of your entree, one question looms tall: Will you order dessert? And if so, what's the best option? It's not always easy to fit in dessert after a huge meal, but there's something about the sugary sweetness after a rich and savory entree that makes your appetite feel complete. Olive Garden and Carrabba's serve up some sweet post-entree goodies to wrap up the meal properly, and as it turns out, they both offer up the exact same number of options.
If you're at Olive Garden, you'll find the following six options: black tie mousse cake, tiramisu, strawberry cream cake, chocolate brownie lasagna, Sicilian strawberry cheesecake, and warm Italian doughnuts with chocolate dipping sauce. At Carrabba's, the menu will lure you with these desserts: cannoli cake, strawberry cheesecake, tiramisu, cannolis, a vanilla ice cream dish with caramel and roasted cinnamon rum pecans, and a fudge brownie cake with chocolate mousse.
Although both places offer six standard choices, keep an eye out for limited-time seasonal features such as Olive Garden's pumpkin cheesecake and Carrabba's caramel apple cheesecake. It's up to you to decide which spot has a more enticing selection.
Carrabba's has a lot of salad options
When it comes time to order a huge Italian feast, it's never a bad idea to first get some greens into your diet to offset (at least slightly) the tremendous amount of fat and carbs you're about to flood your body with. Sure, a salad might not taste nearly as appealing as a steaming bowl of fettuccine Alfredo or a platter of Parmesan-covered meatballs, but your cholesterol and blood pressure will thank you later on. Well, if you're the type of diner who dabbles in salads at the start of a meal, Carrabba's will likely appeal to you more.
The only option Olive Garden offers customers is its unlimited salad bowl, and every time you get a refill it's the exact same house salad. So, if you're not down with the flavors, you're outta luck. Now, maybe you're obsessed with a lettuce, tomato, olive, and onion combo, and that's totally fine. However, if you want a proper selection of greens, Carrabba's serves four different options: house salad, Caesar Salad, Italian salad with Kalamata olives, and the Johnny Rocco salad with grilled shrimp and sea scallops. Go green at Carrabba's.
The kids menu at Olive Garden is bigger
Taking kids out to eat can be a pain if the restaurant you're going to doesn't have a solid selection of stuff for the little ones. Most children don't have quite the same palates as adults and tend to refuse to try food that looks unfamiliar or even the slightest bit aesthetically unappealing. So, a kids menu is a pretty big deal for parents. Well, the moms and dads schlepping their tykes out to Olive Garden will find a larger selection of kid-friendly food than the parents making the trip to Carrabba's.
Let's start with the options at Carrabba's. Kids are offered penne mac and cheese, spaghetti with a meatball, cheese ravioli with tomato sauce, chicken fingers, grilled chicken, or grilled shrimp. But, what if your child wants pasta other than spaghetti or ravioli? Olive Garden serves up an Alfredo dish with any choice of pasta, rotini with either meat or marinara sauce, a five-cheese marinara sauce with a choice of pasta, mac and cheese, and chicken fingers. But, here's where Olive Garden wins big time: It has pizza on the menu, as well. Pizza and kids go together like Olive Garden and unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks.
Overall, Carrabba's is healthier in terms of nutritional value
Let's face the cold hard truth about going out to Olive Garden or Carrabba's Italian Grill: No one is under the assumption they're going to be filling their bellies with nutritional superfoods. Not to knock either establishment, but most of the items on both menus aren't exactly calorie-friendly options. But, that's also why they taste so, so good. You have to treat yourself sometimes to the stuff your doctor tells you to avoid. But, if you are interested as to which restaurant is overall healthier, Carrabba's leads the charge.
It's worth comparing some of the overlapping menu items. For starters, the lasagna at Carrabba's pulls in 770 calories and 46 grams of fat. Not great. But, the lasagna Olive Garden is slinging comes in at 940 calories and 55 grams of fat. If you just want something simple like spaghetti and meatballs, the pasta dish Olive Garden puts out is packed with 1,120 calories and 62 grams of fat. Carrabba's, however, has 1,040 calories and 33 grams of fat, which is almost half as much as Olive Garden. Obviously, the two restaurants don't have the exact same menu, but of the comparisons you can make, Carrabba's is the healthier option.
Olive Garden offers the never-ending pasta bowl
If you're a fan of Olive Garden, there's no time quite like never-ending pasta bowl time. This popular option allows you to mix and match different kinds of pasta, sauces, and toppings. Your pasta options are fettuccine, spaghetti, angel hair, or rigatoni. For the sauce, you can choose from either Alfredo, marinara, meat, creamy mushroom, or five-cheese marinara. Then you wrap the whole order up with either crispy chicken frittas, meatballs, or sausages added on top.
Finally, repeat that process until your stomach stretches to its maximum capacity and you have to get carted out the door in a stretcher. Or perhaps learn from past mistakes and stop while you're ahead. There's no doubt that Olive Garden's never-ending pasta bowl is the perfect dining option when you want to test the limits of your stomach. Of course, starting at $13.99 a person, at the time of publication, it would still be a good deal if you stuck to one loaded plate.
Carrabba's is more affordable
Going out to eat nowadays can certainly put a dent in your wallet, which means venturing out to a place that's affordable is at the forefront of many minds. Not a lot of people have the funds to sit down to a Michelin-starred meal, but they don't want to settle on something as cheap as fast food instead. This is where chain restaurants work really well. You're not gonna break the bank, but you're also not shoveling garbage into your mouth, either. So, if your options are Olive Garden and Carrabba's Italian Grill and you're solely looking for the cheaper choice, head to Carrabba's.
If you order the spaghetti and meatballs entree at Olive Garden, you'll be shelling out $18. But, at Carrabba's, that same dish costs you $14. If fish is your thing, the grilled salmon at Olive Garden goes for $22. Meanwhile, grilled salmon at Carrabba's, while not astoundingly cheaper, pulls in at just under $21. As for meat, the 6-ounce sirloin steak at Olive Garden costs almost $21, but at Carrabba's, you can get a 7-ounce sirloin steak for a dollar cheaper. Sure, some of these prices aren't hugely different, but they can add up to a significant amount of savings by the time the meal ends.
Which chain is better overall?
The decision as to which chain is better overall is quite subjective, and there are hardcore fans of the two establishments who will swear by one or the other. Both spots serve up an array of delicious Italian dishes, and neither one breaks the bank if you take the family for an outing. But, if you are looking to spend less, then Carrabba's is the spot to visit.
However, if you're one to kick off the meal with an array of starters then keep in mind that Olive Garden has a better selection of appetizers. But don't let that sway your decision if you're looking for a salad to start your meal. The only salad Olive Garden offers is the unlimited salad they'll keep refilling. Your roughage game isn't as strong there, and that could very well turn people off.
If you look at a list compiled by Ranker in 2019, Olive Garden pulled in at the number four spot, while Carrabba's locked down the number two spot. Of course, this is an opinion that some people won't share and other rankings have the establishments reversed. One thing's for sure, they're both successful restaurants. In the end, you might want to spend some time at Carrabba's to save some money, eat a bit healthier, and explore more protein options if you don't feel like filling up on pasta.