An Adventure In Italian... Food

We went to Carrabba's Italian Grill the other night. It took me about an hour of online researching to figure out what I could even order there without throwing my diet out the window. They keep the nutritional value of some of their meal items guarded. In fact, when I asked the waiter if he knew the calories and fat of the bread. He said he could try to kind out, but that even if he could get the numbers, he probably wouldn't be allowed to tell me! What the hell?!

I plan my meal before I get to any restaurant now that I am dieting. It helps me know where I stand POINTS-wise and it also is a great way to avoid the temptation of ordering something more fattening when I get to the restaurant.

My dinner consisted of:

Minestrone (1 cup)= 4 POINTS

Spaghetti Marinara = 5 POINTS

Unsweetened Iced Tea= 0 POINTS

This meal only cost me a total of 9 POINTS and was filling. The minestrone was delicious. It was one of the best soups that I have ever tasted. My main course didn't fair so well. The marinara was mad spicy for me. I must have downed three glasses of iced tea with my meal! I am sensitive to spice so maybe it isn't too spicy to a normal person with normal taste buds.

If that was my only complaint with dinner then I'd recommend the restaurant to other dieters. However, I have nit picking to do. If the following two gripes don't bother you, my fellow dieter, then I would say you might just enjoy a dinner out to this Italian Grill.

Here goes:

This is NOT a restaurant to take a child. My kid is not picky. She'll pretty much eat whatever I give her. We ordered her the the pizza from the children's menu. The waiter said it was made with mild cheeses and a milder sauce (which should have been an indication of what I was in store for with my meal's sauce, but I digress) on a thin crust. She had NO INTEREST in this meal. I apologized to the waiter, who kindly offered to bring her another meal. I opted for the Cheese Ravioli. What kid doesn't love ravioli? Ok, let me rephrase that. How many kids do you know that would eat ravioli that smelled like stinky feet (according to my non-Italian hubby)? My daughter sniffed that dish and then pushed it away from her. I tried to feed it to her several times, but to no avail. She has had ravioli before at other Italian restaurants and loved it! In all fairness, I tasted the ravioli and thought it wasn't bad, but I don't mind most strong cheeses. However, I did think that it was a poor choice for a children's menu though.

Lastly, the bill was a little too high for our tastes (haha, get it!). We were expecting something on the lines of Olive Garden, but got something more fancy schmancy. If we wouldn't have had a gift card, we probably wouldn't have chosen to eat there. I highly doubt you will see us in a Carrabba's again.