Carrabba’s The Original
The original Carrabba’s, on Kirby Drive, turns 35 this December. That’s three and a half decades, which is a long life in the restaurant business. And John Charles Carrabba III, better known to all of Houston as Johnny Carrabba, has not only managed to survive, but to thrive, and expand, even during a pandemic.
The Carrabbas family, and their cousins the Mandolas, have been in the business of feeding folks for decades.
“I grew up in the East End of Houston, working at my grandparents and later, my parents’ grocery store,” Carrabba says. “Our customers ran tabs that they paid when they got paid. You learn how to be part of a community, and that’s been key to my success.”
But the grocery store wasn’t his dream, opening a restaurant was. In 1986, he and his uncle Damian Mandola, opened the original Carrabba’s. They soon opened a second location at Voss and Woodway, and in 1993, formed a joint partnership with then Outback Steakhouse, Inc. (now Bloomin’ Brands) and Carrabba’s Italian Grill was formed. The chain has eateries not only across the country, but also in Canada and Brazil.
Carrabba kept ownership of the two original locations. And, with an eye towards the future, built a multi-level parking lot on some property he owned across the street, then in 2012 opened Mia’s, a fast casual eatery focusing on family Texas food, and then he decided to rebuild the original Carrabba’s from the ground up, and then built Grace’s — an ode to his grandmother, to which he attributes the successes of the Mandolas and Carrabba’s food empires to — to create an eating empire along several blocks of Kirby Drive.
He then partnered with George Joseph to buy Common Bond bistros and bakeries in 2016 but sold his share in 2018 as the business began to expand. “I just didn’t want to have any partners anymore,” he says. “I’m a guy who likes to hang out in his restaurants and mingle with the employees and customers. I don’t like board meetings and all of that.” A decision that also spawned his sale of his interest in the Carrabba’s Italian Grill chain just four months ago.
The Mia’s concept was doing so well that he concentrated on expanding those, but that’s when COVID-19 came calling in Texas. “I felt threatened during the shutdown,” he admits. “I had a panic attack, my main goal was to keep my employees going, I have about 110 who have been with me for 15 years or longer and six that have been with me since day one.
“I have to thank Houston for supporting me during that, we had longtime customers who would drop off $1,000 checks for the employees, they knew they weren’t getting tips during the shutdown, and they wanted to help them.”
The other thing that kept the Carrabba family business afloat, was take out. As other restaurants were pivoting to take out and delivery during the shutdown, he had already mastered the concept.
“Back in 1995 I saw the dynamics of dining changing,” Carrabba says. “Parents were working, kids had Little League and other activities, and they wanted family dinners but didn’t have time to cook a big meal.
“Chris Sullivan of Outback Steakhouse told me I needed to do more take out. That’s when we started doing take out on a large scale, with delivery right to your car. So, when COVID hit, we were already set up for that business.”
When the lockdown was over, and the vaccine arrived, more people began dining out again. He added two new Mia’s locations — totally six now — but there was another problem. “The last one (in Cypress) sat empty for two months because I couldn’t get employees,” he says. “I finally started offering hiring bonuses. But I could still use another 60 or 70 employees for all of my restaurants.”
He feels very fortunate that his family business survived when so many restaurants didn’t. “I’m just a neighborhood, family guy,” he says. His mother Rosie is at the Voss location almost every day, and his dad, known as Mr. C., hangs out at the Kirby location of Carrabba’s, while his son, Johnny IV, is learning the business from the ground up working in the Johnny Carrabba Family Restaurant company. Daughter Mia is still in college, so he says he’ll wait and see what she decides to do.
Family, longtime employees, and fourth-generation customers, are what keeps him successful. So, what does the future hold for Johnny Carrabba? “I think I’m going to need to take a week off,” he muses. “I’m at the stage where I’m doing a lot of soul searching about what I want to do next and what the rest of my career will look like.”
But it’s doubtful that he will ever stop showing up at the original Carrabba’s to shake hands with customers, and chat up employees, all while keeping an eye on the food that Houston loves to eat.