We realize that if we want some good Italian food, our hands are pretty much tied. For my wife's birthday, we wanted something a little more than Oregano's and a little less pricey than Tutti Santi. Let's face it, Carrabba's is just that middle man and their recent advertising spree had our mouths watering with images of plates filled with authentic looking Italian delights!\n\nWhat we received however was a cross between what I would expect Astronaut food and Jail food to taste like. \n\nBefore I unleash my furor, I would like to say that there were a few positives regarding our experience. \n\n1. The kids loved the mozzarella sticks.\n2. The bread was piping hot.\n3. The water and the drinks were cold. \n4. The pasta portion of my wife's dinner was hot.\n5. The waitstaff and manager were \""nice\"".\n\nStarting with our server, she was nice enough but I am certain that she had neither washed her uniform or her hair in the past two week and on a 4-top, was handing us our drinks rather than placing them on the table. Who cares right? Terrible service is the norm here in Gilbert. At least she was nice.\n\nWhen our appetizer arrived, the calamari was literally inedible. It wasn't burned either, it was a light golden brown in color. Of course it is frozen calamari, of course it comes in a bag... We aren't sitting on a pier in San Francisco, I get it but I swear, this bag had been sitting open at the back of the freezer collecting every bit of flavor the other foods had to offer while simultaneously losing every molecule of moisture. This stuff tasted like cardboard... origami calamari anyone?  \n\nThe manager graciously took the calamari away from us and gave us more mozzarella sticks... deep fried luxury right there. Sadly, he had the nerve to offer us more calamari.\n\nI could go on and on but the bottom line is that the food was sub-par. Worse than my already low expectations could handle. Now, I fully understand that managers and cooks are people too but the managers really need to step their game up at that location.\n\n1. Make sure your staff look professional. Not disheveled, greasy and dirty.\n2. Look at the food you are serving. My calamari was paper thin. My chicken Marsala came with 2 half full scoops of (instant?) mashed potatoes and a double (not cut in half) chicken breast covered in overly salty, non-cooked off raw wine tasting \""mushroom\"" sauce.\n3. Cover the salad in the walk in... the grated carrots tasted like EVERYTHING in the walk in.\n\nI doubt that anyone deliberately did anything to sabotage our meals just the same as I doubt anyone thought they were doing anything wrong... which is the most frightening part.