Restaurant Round-Up: Chocolate Cafe, Raspberries & Carrabba’s

I can only go out to eat so much. Same with Dori. In my case, my waistline and my wallet would both be adversely affected if I went out any more than I do now. In Dori’s case, well, she’s got a young 'un.

With that in mind, we’d like to introduce a new weekly feature, the Spotoblog Restaurant Round-Up. The people who keep Spotobe running on all cylinders love to go out as much as Dori and I do, and we figured the more meaningful information we can put out there, the better. Hopefully this will be one more resource to check out before spending your hard-earned coin on a meal.

We’ll be putting each post under the new Restaurant Round-Up category, and we’ll also create a category for each Spotobeing who submits a review. That way, if you find you tend to like the same restaurants as one of us, you can see every place that person has written about. This week, Madeline weighs in on the Chocolate Café, Dave dishes about Raspberries and Katie gives us the scoop on Carrabba’s. Enjoy:

Chocolate Café (Linglestown)
Name: Madeline
When: Friday, August 22; 6:30pm
Been Before: Nope
Ordered: I ordered grilled Salmon that came with a dill sauce. This came with the choice of either soup or salad and one additional side from their menu. I ordered their lobster bisque and a grilled zucchini and yellow squash mixture. For dessert, I chose the chocolate molten lava cake.
The Food: The lobster bisque was out of this world and really set the standard for the rest of the meal. I was definitely not disappointed with the salmon and dill sauce. The salmon is a little plain on its own but the fresh dill sauce really brought the dish together. Anyone who loves chocolate would walk away happy after indulging in the warm chocolate lava cake. It is sinfully good and with a name like the Chocolate Café, I would expect no less.
The Ambiance: For what used to be the inside of a church, I think they did a very good job. The large windows let a great amount of natural light in which works well with the punchy interior colors.
Company: My best friend from high school.
Did Others Like Their Meals: Yes.
Cost: I did not order any alcohol, so with dessert, it was between $20-$25 dollars a person.
The Service: Very good.
Notes: Their little deck seemed like the place to dine on such a nice night. I was surprised at the lack of a crowd on a Friday night.
Recommendation: Yes, it would be a good choice if you are looking for a nice, simple and relaxed night out.

Raspberries (Downtown Harrisburg)
Name: Dave B.
When: Friday, August 22; Dinner
Been Before: Yes, for a casual lunch.
Ordered: Steak, wine, shrimp salad, child’s chicken fingers.
The Food: For me, probably like a 9-out-of-10.
The Ambiance: Very casual, very nice families (there was a special event going on in one of the banquet halls), service could have been slightly better---but, I’m only judging our individual server, and not the entire restaurant; I think she was either new or just having a bad day—and we had an especially comfortable booth for a very private dining experience.
Company: My hot girlfriend and my beautiful daughter.
Did Others Like Their Meals: Unfortunately, my hot girlfriend wasn’t too pleased with her shrimp salad; but, she was compensated with another meal of her choice.
Cost: Approximately $22 per person, including glasses of wine.
The Service: Good overall.
Notes: Great location, very affordable, very multi-cultural and very much a fine example of the energetic Harrisburg experience.
Recommendation: Of course.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill (Mechanicsburg)
Name: Katie
When: Sunday, August 10; Dinner
Been Before: Yes
Order: Chicken Marsala – it has very good grilled flavor and you can cut it with a butter knife, the chicken is that tender.  You get a nice amount of mushrooms and the sauce is so good I have to resist licking the plate after the chicken is gone.  Also, you can get spaghetti as a side and the sauce has a spicy kick and small chunks of prosciutto in it.  Yes, it’s every bit as good as it sounds.
The Food: 9-out-of-10. My meal was delicious, but the salad could have been a little better. You also get awesome awesome bread you dip in olive oil and spices.
The Ambiance: Relaxing atmosphere with Italian music.
Company: Husband and his Grandparents
Did Others Like Their Meals: Yes
Cost: $12-22 per person - most dinner meals include salad and at least one side.  Alcohol is $4-9 per glass of wine or mixed drink.
The Service: 8-out-of-10. The staff was knowledgeable about menu choices, but we waited for more water for a while.
Notes: So yummy and perfect for a date or just a night without cooking and doing dishes. Go hungry, the portion sizes are huge and you’ll end up eating more bread than you should.
Recommendation: Yes! Go tonight for dinner. Forget Olive Garden ever existed. The pasta is always al dente. Need I say more?