Red Lobster: A Good Value or Ghetto?

Red Lobster is losing its hold on the Eastern seaboard, I think. Between TGIFriday's, Applebee's, Chili's, Hops, John Harvard's Brew House, Outback, Olive Garden, it's no wonder. Shit, where's the INDIAN chain restaurant?

Maybe that's your life calling, Pandit Popshots. ;-p

One time, Ramon drank the broth from the shrimp scampi cos we dared him to. That was wicked sick. Their drinks are weak but you can get the lobsterita which is really great, despite the nasty ass name, because it comes inexplicably with beads.

there is only one outback steakhouse here unfortunaletly bvecause i looked at their menu and it is so funny, there's shit named after every backwater town on the map - the food don't even match, plus they odn't have any kanga on their menu.

That was a Simpsons episode, wasn't it? Where Homer went to a Red Lobster-like place with an "all you can eat" kinda deal and Homer kept eating and eating and eating and eating ...

Maybe you're a female Homer, Ally?

Is it sad that I live in a town with excellent seafod but I miss Red Lobster? NO! Because Red Lobster is affordable! And NUMMY!!

"Come see Bottomless Pete, nature's cruelest mistake! Come for the freak, stay for the food!"

Raita Way

I thought I was a high roller when I took my HS dates to Red Lobster. Do they still have those two-lb. biscuits? I swear there was a stick of butter in each one.

Oh how I long for the days when I had the metabolism of a bumblebee...

Are there any good seafood chains? Pappadeaux is quality, but that's Cajun food. Joe's Crab Shack is kinda bleh. I liked Landry's, but the one in town got replaced by a Crab Shack.

But my experience has been that the seafood chains are only good in areas where fish etc. are available locally -- the Red Lobster where I grew up is no good at all, and that's about an hour and a half inland, I'd guess.

Walking across hot coals to get to the table, maybe.

http://direct.where2getit.com/redlobster2/geoproc.cgi/redlobster2?action=fieldquery&qfield=BusinessID&qvalue=6298&country=US&dist=2.70%20miles&addr=&place=&state=&zip=10002

There is if you like food.

I'm so there at a Red Lobster FAP, but I think we should go to the one in Wayne, NJ!

See? Outcast. I am so alone.

(looks around with vacant expression, takes picture of sky, leaves)

nooooo, these two activities are diametrically opposed and should never be put in tandem with each other

If we combine them we will feel like we are Daryl Hannah in Splash.

What? This is so not even true!

We should totally go to a Jersey Red Lobster.

When I went to the bathroom, there were nautical charts of my small, rural Michigan hometown over the urinal and it freaked me out.

I can't imagine ever going to one again, being the anti-chain-restaurant snob that I am nowadays. Other than fast food in limited quantities, that is.

I hate to burst your bubble, but that's common. three star restaurants have frozen food they lie about. the restaurant I work at now (although it's not nearly three stars) does. fact: restaurants LIE about that shit. NOBODY CHECKS.

i have never been to a Red Lobster, but, conceptually, they're one of the greatest things America has to offer. fucking seafood restaurants not just in, but all over the middle western states??? kudos, united states of america. kudos.

joygoat, what rural Michigan town are we talking about, here??

a couple months ago, they were serving some fish that the wait staff was instructed to explain is super rare and can only be caught one day the entire year in a several-hour window of time. the fish is shipped in absolutely fresh and served right then. super rare L@@K. well, they served that fish for about 2 weeks. only one shipment of it ever came in. you piece it together.

There are two types of people I've met from small midwestern towns: those that are skeptical of almost all seafood, and those that think Red Lobster is a fancy eating destination. Somehow I'm pretty sure the two are linked.

Of course, the younger generation is losing this what with their MTV and fancy college towns with crappy sushi places.

That Salmon club sandwich however is pure asswipe on a ciabatta bun.

Fueled by their mutual passion for fish, veteran restaurateurs Tim Curci and Chris Parker set out to create a new kind of dining experience. They wanted to build a place that would take the mystery out of fish for people who didn't eat it very often. They would help their guests understand where the fish they were eating came from, how to have it cooked, and best of all – how to have fun with the wide range of delicious flavors and sauces they would develop to perfectly complement a wide range of species.

They wanted the place to feel warm, comfortable and inviting inside, but below the surface would lie a dogged commitment to quality and excellence on every level. They would come to call this ambiance "polished casual".

"polished casual." delicious flavors and sauces!

are there really people intimidated by fish?

At 10:45, our plates were returned to us with only slightly less inedible fish on it. Bonefish fish costing what it does, we asked for the manager, and Alisha, our waitress, went to fetch him.

This guy wasn't fit to be a manager at Denny's. First, he asked us what the problem was, as if he didn't know. Second, he told us he didn't know how our orders were burnt because they cook all the fish for sixteen and a half minutes as per company standard.)

ONLY LONG JOHN SILVERS HAS THE NEW $2.99 TAIL PACK WHERE YOU GET FRIED LOBSTER BITS IN A FRICKIN CARDBOARD LOBSTER TAIL BITCH

http://i44.tinypic.com/21np5px.jpg

the tv commercial has a guy ripping open the front of the tail (there's a perforated pull-tab) and the lobster bites come flying out at you at a very high speed

wow! good value

i wanna go on a date there

if the date was going well and you were a massive slut you could be like, "sure hope this isn't the last tail pack we enjoy tonight"

yeah then if the dude was like, "oh yeah let's order another they're only $2.99," i would know it was a match made in heavon

if the date was going well and you were a massive slut you could be like, "sure hope this isn't the last tail pack we enjoy tonight"

― asplundh tree expert co. (iiiijjjj), Sunday, April 26, 2009 3:46 PM (10 minutes ago)

looooool

omg rofl

When I was a kid Red Lobster was definitely a steppin'-out, dress up nice treat. Guess that means we were ghetto and didn't know it.

Long John Silver's is totally dear to my heart. Unfortunately, everything from the hushpuppies to the fish to the BUTTERY LOBSTAH BITES kind of taste the same (I think bcz they are all fried in the same thing).

For some reason it is always PACKED here in town. It is in the dying side of town w/the dollar theater and the Samon's hardware store and 1,000 empty strip malls and a creepy Greyhound station. Anyway, srsly, it is all old people going crazy on the soda refills. The soda, actually, is my one beef bcz it is a 'Yum! Inc.' franchise, owner of Pizza Hut/Taco Bell/KFC/A&W. They serve only Pepsi products. Oh god do I not want a Pepsi.

The Wiki section on Long John Silver's 'Controversy' is great:

The restaurant chain was the subject of some controversy in the late 1990s for a commercial in which a police officer decided not to write a ticket to a motorist who gave him a Long John Silver's fish sandwich. Many police organizations objected to the commercial on the grounds that it depicted a police officer taking a bribe.

In March 2006, LJS began offering buttered lobster bites, and in the stores signs state "made with real langostino lobster." Many people felt that this was misleading because langostino is not a conventional type of lobster; however the Food and Drug Administration has stated that langostino can be named and marketed as lobster.

In South Florida, Long John Silver's -- and Arthur Treachers -- has gone the way of Taco Viva. Gone without a trace.

Still ubiquitous, thankfully: DENNY'S.

I have dinner at Red Lobster with my family every time I go back to Minneapolis--love it.

Red Lobster twice offered an endless snow crab leg promotion. However, in 2003 the promotion resulted in parent company Darden Restaurants taking a $3 million charge to third quarter earnings resulting in CEO Edna Morris' departure from the company. The ill-timed promotion was launched amid high wholesale crab legs prices. The chain also underestimated how many times guest would order more.[1] Further complicating matters at the restaurant level was the amount of time guests spent tableside in the restaurant cracking crab legs which increased wait times in the lobby and overall diminished guest capacity per hour.

Sucked 2BU, Edna, but that was a memorable pile of crab legs.

Langostino is crayfish, isn't it?

I wish "endless crab legs" would replace the term "perfect storm"

How is this shit up for six years and people are still using the phrase "ghetto" on it

fast food fish is so fucking horrible

cosign, j0rdan. won't go near the shit.

but get me near a popeye's and i sometimes succumb to the immense pleasure of 2 pieces and a biscuit for $1.99, which is a fucking unreal deal.

i used to looooove Red Lobster when I was in the burbs, but after living in New York for 7 years or whatever, I have no taste for chain food whatsoever (except Subway, obv)

(and white castle)

(and Nathans)

i still have a taste for Subway, but will only go to the one in Oberlin, Ohio, since i (along with many other people i know) believe it to be the freshest and most pleasant dining experience found in any Subway.

really, though, the only fast-food i get is tacos (El Farolito and Guadalajara being my preferred venues in San Francisco) and the $2.50 California rolls at the lunch-counter place near my school.

i fuck w/ mcdonalds - they really upped their chicken sandwich game in the past few years

wendys too

i don't eat at taco bell anymore

I still have my Long John Silver's name tag. I worked there for 2 years in high school. My sister was one of the shift managers. So no one talk shit about LJS or I'll throw petrified popcorn chicken at ya.

i think that it is because i am secretly terrified of bad fats that i stay away from fast food places. i know the bad fats lurk in fancypants restaurants (ahem, bistros) too, but i can't smell it in the air at the latter.

I'm lightly breading some skate now, guys. A wild rice side. Come on over.

wait guys, what about other 'casual dining' places....Olive Garden?

i admit that i have never been to a Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Ponderosa, Outback Steakhouse, or anything of the sort. i have been to Denny's and Chili's. do y'all have that weird ass Baja Fresh bullshit?

Does Chevy's still exist in CA?

there;s one in civic center that i know of.. actually yeah, they are all over

went there once as an 8-year-old.

chili's is my favorite restaurant

We have all those here, and I haven't stepped foot in one since grad school. But I'm not one for drunk/stoned late night dining anymore.

Chili's is not terrible. if i have choices in an airport, i usually do Chili's or Wolfgang Pucks or some BS like that.

If i need drunk food, i go to Orphan Andy's.

(the only time i step foot in the Castro)

do y'all have that weird ass Baja Fresh bullshit?

Kinda like this place. Fish burritos.

jordan 'popism' doesnt really work with food

XD

chili's is incredible, sorry

i used to go to red lobster w/my grandparents all the time when i visited them - one time when they were visiting me in boston we went to legal seafood - from then on whenever an outing to red lobster was announced theyd be all now its not like yr FANCY legal seafoods but we like it JUST FINE

chili's is incredible, sorry

Incredible is going a little far. Chili's is okay. It's certainly better than fast-food.

They serve milk!

Last time I was at Chili's I ordered a giant glass of milk and I was practically in ecstay.

You need milk to wash down the grease.

Chili's has 2-for-1 cocktails all day, all week. C'est tout.

Well then! There's one around the corner from my house. And -- conveniently -- in the same complex as my gym. Work out -- drink -- work out -- drink.

max and whiney - yall live in nyc and can stfu

a creepy Greyhound station.

Are there non-creepy Greyhound stations??

one in boston is pretty nice

i admit that i have never been to a Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Ponderosa, Outback Steakhouse, or anything of the sort. i have been to Denny's and Chili's. do y'all have that weird ass Baja Fresh bullshit?

-Red Lobster (think i went once as a kid, don't really remember it)
-Olive Garden (have never been)
-Ponderosa (do these still exist? my parents like buffets and we'd sometimes go here on the road)
-Outback (never been)

-Denny's (desperate times, desperate measures, late-night cheese fries, etc)
-Chili's (never been)
-Baja Fresh (i don't love it but it'll do in a pinch if there's nothing else around)

haha we wanted to go to ponderosa sooooo bad (i think i was about 8 or 9) that my parents finally took us and even at that age i was disgusted

I don't get people talking about how horrible some fast food chains are and then admitting they're down with Subway. I mean, these places vary between franchises, but Subway is pretty bad all around here.

i was obsessed w/ihop as a kid

i still hav a reflexive interest in it - just walked by one i was unaware of near my house the other day and i was all i didnt know there was an ihop here - then i realized i would never go there

doesnt hav a blue roof tho so fuk that place

MPLS has General Mills HQ and Pillsbury so their chains are rife. I've never been to a Red Lobster but had a huge phase of wanting to go there when I was 8/9/10. Vetoed due to 'we'll get you a REAL lobster in Florida'. My mom can eat her own body weight in shrimp NO PROBLEM but whenever it was time to get dressed up for dinner at a smart casual franchise, we usually wound up at the Mr. Steak in Edina because STEAK and Wishing Well-type kids' prizes. Mom would never take us to Perkins because it was gross and she liked Poppin' Fresh better anyway: OMG FRENCH SILK PIE.

I don't get people talking about how horrible some fast food chains are and then admitting they're down with Subway. I mean, these places vary between franchises, but Subway is pretty bad all around here.

when i go to subway it's because i need some calories/blood sugar in a hurry and have no better options. it's not horrible if i close my eyes and think of england.

i had a gift card to red lobster once (or some other chain that was owned by the same company and good at red lobster)and i was going to go with my wife and friends to get trashed but never could quite get it together and then the fucker expired........missed opportunities.

I have Popeyes both north and south of my house, within 10 blocks either way

subways is gross. blimpie's is where it's at in the NE if you want good hoagies from a chain restaurant.

and for the zillionth time, IHOP = ISLOP

Blimpies was great when I was still in Ann Arbor. I don't think it's reached the Pacific Northwest, tho.

Subway in the UK is even worse. I went...once.

but get me near a popeye's and i sometimes succumb to the immense pleasure of 2 pieces and a biscuit for $1.99, which is a fucking unreal deal.

^^cosign

i don't think i'm going to be doing taco bell again. the last time i succumbed i felt like i needed a shower afterwards. like it was coming out of my pores or something

when i was out in CA a few months ago, i went to baja fresh -- it was OK, nothing special and certainly not the best "tex-mex" i've ever had but far from the worst i've ever eaten either. probably better than taco bell.

baja fresh is the anti-tex-mex.

My sister wants to go to Red Lobster for her birthday. I can't really argue it because: cheese biscuits.

I went there once because it was the nicest restaurant in the parking lot of the strip-mall we were shopping at. I could fuck with the cheese biscuits but even better was the white pizza with seafood toppings. Oh hey look it was this thing:

Lobster Pizza

A crisp thin-crust pizza topped with langostino lobster meat, melted mozzarella cheese, fresh tomatoes and sweet basil. 9.50

I would totally eat that again, along with at least 6 other things on their menu. Happy birthday to your sister!

Thanks! It's in a week or so but all of this talk about chain restaurants got me thinking about it.

Now I'm thinking about it.

I live in fucking Boston and periodically I miss Red Lobster

this is what growing up in the midwest does to you

hahaha oh boy I could have saved us all some time by using cntl-f before submitting that last post

I like langostino lobster, but it is in fact, not at all a lobster

I'm fine with that! I do not in fact actually like lobster that much, and the pizza was delicious.

if I hear one more student qualifying dismissal of RL with "but their cheddar cheese bread" or whatever I'm going to asphyxiate them with shredded cheddar cheese

hahaha oh boy I could have saved us all some time by using cntl-f before submitting that last post

new board description

anyway in a revelation that will surprise exactly no one, i got no problem with red lobster.

http://mealtime.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/tl_chef_jeff-smith.jpg

WONderful!

their new commercials are a hoot and a half though

http://seattletimes.com/ABPub/2004/07/09/2001976208.jpg

A-1!

I kinda love Red Lobster even though I mostly dislike seafood. Those two facts are probably related.

Red Lobster being owned by a crybaby bitch who will deliberately cut back on employees' hours to make sure they don't have to pay health coverage to the very people handling your food:

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/10/olive-garden-red-lobster-putting-more-workers-on-part-time-because-of-obama-health-care-law-80832.html

Servers at Red Lobster now handle four tables at a time, instead of three. And last year, the company also put workers on a "tip sharing" program, meaning waiters and waitresses share their tips with other employees such as busboys and bartenders.

That allows Darden to pay more workers a far lower "tip credit wage" of $2.13, rather than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Starting next year, the company will change the way it offers health insurance to full-time employees, to keep costs more predictable. Instead of offering one insurance plan for all 45,000 employees, it will give workers a contribution toward buying coverage and then send them to an online health insurance exchange where they can chose from five medical, four dental and three vision plans.

Figures

The lobster pizza and cheddar biscuits are the only edible things on the Red Lobster menu. Love that lobster pizza, but I always hate myself after ordering one.

Aaand.. I already made my Isaiah Thomas joke six years ago.

Red Lobster's Problem Is That the Food Is Bad

Memo to Mr. Khaki Pants: Red Lobster is NOT "fancy dining" in the big city unless you are really, really POOR. Please, there is a fish place on every corner in the "ghetto".

My sister used to work at LJS and I used to BEG her to smuggle me a bag of those batter things that accumulate at the bottom if the fish case. She succeeded a few times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scraps_(batter)

I'm serious, she told me that Long John Silver had a "no batter" policy and that staff were not allowed to eat scraps! What is the point of working there if you can't eat the stuff? Also they don't serve it to customers deliberately.

How Old People and Pricey Shrimp Turned Red Lobster Into a Castoff

It’s big. It’s green. And it tastes even more incredible than it looks! Introducing the NEW! DEW Garita💚👅 @MountainDew Get yours today*, along with all of your favorite PepsiCo drinks! #RedLobsterDewGarita * May not be immediately available in all restaurants. pic.twitter.com/SByIIxufg8

— Red Lobster (@redlobster) September 15, 2020

🤮🤮🤮

Horrifying on its own but when you think of the garlic butter drenched frozen seafood and Cheddar Bay biscuits that it will accompany, may god have mercy on us all.

How is this shit up for six years and people are still using the phrase "ghetto" on it

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Sunday, April 26, 2009 5:48 PM (eleven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

who's still using it itt?

it's in the thread title, so every revive throws it up there on SNA. we should lock it now that i think about it.

it's ok to make fun of poor, stupid, tasteless people for liking it in the other thread, we just have to be more polite about it.

It is precisely because this thread calls out the customers rather than the food that I started that new, more 'polite' thread. It is up to others whether the focus returns to the customers or the food. I tried to indicate that the food is the subject in the OP.

If someone does make fun of poor people on this thread or the other, feel free to bash them for it. I have not seen any such posts yet.

Red Lobster one of those places like the Olive Garden, TGI Fridays or the Sharper Image I'm surprised hasn't reached the brink of bankruptcy yet.

for something called a "doo-garita", it's the wrong color

Burrito was the first dumbshit to even post something in the neighborhood of "derogatory" in the other thread, so just ignore his trollish attempt at performance art.

(This Thread, on the other hand...)

Mods, can we please lock this thread before more people have to look at the G-word in the thread title, or get called vulgar obscenities like d*mbshit?

(Sorry, should've replaced the vowel in the cuss part of the obscenity with the asterisk in order to protect people from reading it. So, dumbsh*t)

yeah. right.

Locked Lobster.