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Last Update: May 23rd, 2018
Carlucci's Fort Lauderdale

Carlucci's Italian Ristorante

6351 N Andrews Ave
Fort Lauderdale FL, 33309
(954) 493-8600
Overall Rating
2.5
Food
Service
Ambiance
Last Review
08/19/2014

Details

Hours: M-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 12pm-11pm
Attire: Casual
Parking: Private Lot
CC: Yes
Alcohol: Wine and Beer
Prices: Moderate
Outside Dining: No
Reservations: No
Delivery: No

Pros

Big Portions
Good Value
Nicer than a Pizzeria
Free Parking

Cons

Bland Food
Bad Music

Critic's Review

I felt like some Veal Parmesan, and I figured I could get some at Carlucci's. As it turns out, it appears I was wrong.

I hadn't been to Carlucci's in 3 years; around 800 reviews ago. I walked in and recognized the server/hostess; not much as changed here. I got the same booth I had last time I was here; there were 2 other tables occupied at just after 2pm.

Carluccis inside 0814

I ordered some iced tea; no Splenda at Carlucci's. At least not without asking for it, which I didn't.

Carluccis tea

The tea tasted a bit musty. Not sure what it was, but that's part of what the extra lemon is for. Freshly brewed tea is crazy rare, even though it's not rocket science or expensive to make.

They have a separate lunch menu which has lower prices than their dinner menu; but there is also no veal parmesan. They have a veal parm sandwich. The probably would have made it if I asked, but I decided to go with the eggplant again. I haven't had it in a while.

Lunch comes with soup or salad and rolls; I didn't want the pasta e fagioli; they also had lentil. I've been getting into lentils recently, so I ordered that. The soup came our right away.

Carlucci's Lentil Soup

Bland soup with can-soft lentils. It served its fiber/protein purpose but frankly the Progresso canned soup is better. Rolls were dropped off; i don't get the wet garlic rolls. They weren't very good rolls on their own and you can't save them by covering them with garlic.

Carluccis rolls

Music here should be turned down if not off; with no-one under 40 in the place the air was filled with "Rude", Beyonce and Katy Perry. Why do restaurants play what the servers want to hear rather than the customers?

The eggplant came out when I was about 1/2 done with the soup.

Carlucci's Eggplant Parmesan

The same portion as before, and at $10.49 only 54 cents more. Less cheese, however, which does affect the result.

They still don't use enough salt; the pasta was bland as was the sauce. I think the cheese saved the dish last time, because these just wasn't very good. Over-breaded. Bland Sauce. Tasteless Pasta. I took half of it home and I'll have it for a snack one night.

Still a good value, but I was disappointed by the food today. I'm guessing that my tastes and expectations have changed; I don't think it was much different than the last time, but I didn't really enjoy anything I had here.

Also: Note to Everyone: If you use someone's pictures on your web site for Facebook page, at least give a credit to the website you stole them from. Photos are copyrighted material and you can't use them without permission.

Review 8/8/11

From the outside, Carlucci's looks like a mall fast food joint, but when you walk in it's like a big pizzeria. It's a small place, but there are plenty of booths and it doesn't have the feel of a pizza joint.

Carlucci's interior

It is, however, one of those places where it looks like they need to wipe down the table right after they wipe it down. Not really sticky, but not squeaky clean either. We don't have the lunch menu here, but prices are about 25% less. For $9.95 they have eggplant parmesan, which includes a cup of soup or a house salad ($2 extra for caesar). I selected the pasta fagioli, which is pasta and bean soup.

Carlucci's Pasta Fagioli

This soup can come in many forms; this one was browner than I expected. The result was pretty good though; a bit bland perhaps but I ate it all. They also give you some pretty wet garlic rolls; I don't know, but I've never really been into rolls with garlic poured over them. Can't anyone figure out how to cook the garlic into the rolls somehow? They were pretty messy and I ran out of napkins pretty quickly. Just about when I finished the soup, the main course came out. Lunch happens pretty fast here.

Carlucci's Eggplant Parmesan

It was a pretty good portion; when you add up the soup, bread, pasta and eggplant, you get an awful lot of food for $10. The eggplant was pretty good; maybe a bit too much breading, and the pasta water wasn't salted properly for the spaghetti, but for what the place is, the food was pretty good. I didn't come in here expecting anything spectacular. I ended up taking about half of it home with me.

When the bill came, they only charged me for a small Pelligrino; maybe they didn't have the small ones, but 2.99 for the liter bottle isn't a bad price.

I wouldn't go out of my way for this place, but for people who work around here it's a pretty good place for a big lunch.

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Shay
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Looks like they are opening a Sal's at this location.

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