Carrabba's Italian Grill
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Carrabba's Italian Grill (or simply Carrabba's) is an American
restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...
featuring
Italian-American cuisine Italian-American cuisine is a style of Italian cuisine adapted throughout the United States. Italian-American food has been shaped throughout history by various waves of immigrants and their descendants, called Italian Americans. As immigrants ...
. It is owned and operated by
Bloomin' Brands Bloomin' Brands, Inc. is a restaurant holding company that owns several American casual dining restaurant chains. The company was established in 1988 in Tampa, Florida, where it is headquartered. History The company was founded in August 1988 as ...
, and headquartered in
Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
.


History

The chain was founded on December 26, 1986, by John Charles "Johnny" Carrabba III and his uncle Damian Mandola. Together, they opened the first restaurant on Kirby Drive in Houston, Texas. A second location was opened soon after at the intersection of Woodway and Voss Road. After a considerable enlargement of the restaurant, it was renamed "Rosie Carrabba's" in honor of Damian's sister Rose. Johnny Carrabba and his family are still the proprietors of both original locations. In January 1993, under a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
with Outback Steakhouse, Inc. (the predecessor to
Bloomin' Brands Bloomin' Brands, Inc. is a restaurant holding company that owns several American casual dining restaurant chains. The company was established in 1988 in Tampa, Florida, where it is headquartered. History The company was founded in August 1988 as ...
), 10 new Carrabba's locations were opened in Houston and
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. Two years later, OSI acquired the rights to develop the Carrabba's chain nationwide. In 2008, OSI teamed up with
HMSHost HMSHost is an American highway and airport food-service company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Italian company Autogrill S.p.A. , Steve Johnson is the CEO of HMSHost. History The company's origins are in the Van Noy Railway News and Hotel C ...
to open the first airport location in
Tampa International Airport Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective December 30, 2021. T ...
. As of 2013, there were more Carrabba's restaurants in Florida—home to parent company Bloomin' Brands' corporate headquarters—than any other state in the United States. In 2015, the first Carrabba's international location opened in Brazil, rebranded as "Abbraccio" In 2020, Carrabba's expanded into Canada, opening a location in Moncton,
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
. In 2021 Bloomin Brands bought out the founders of Carrabba’s Italian Grill in a royalty termination agreement. As part of the agreement the founders kept their original two locations in Houston.


Menu

Many of the recipes for the dishes on Carrabba's menu are those of Damian's mother, Grace, and his sister, Rose. These recipes were featured on the
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
cooking show ''Cucina Sicilia'', which is hosted by Carrabba and Mandola. Chicken Bryan, one of Carrabba's Italian Grill's dishes, features an 8 oz grilled
chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
breast, topped with goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, and a
basil Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also k ...
lemon-butter sauce. The dish is named after the city of Bryan (Texas), where the Carrabba family settled.


References


Further reading

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External links

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Bloomin' Brands website
{{Authority control Companies based in Tampa, Florida Italian-American cuisine Italian restaurants Restaurants established in 1986 Restaurant chains in the United States 1986 establishments in Texas Bloomin' Brands American companies established in 1986