Red Lobster impressions

[Tennis]

I went there on a date with my wife once.

The prices were silly, there was a wait time, the food was not the great, and we ended going to subway afterwards because it wasn't very fulfilling.

Subway with your wife on a date? That's real low.

[Gestopft]

HOLY SHIT. A chain restaurant with food that looks better on TV than in person!?!?

Stop. The. Presses.

/nonthread

This is all that really needs to be said: restaurants spend a lot of money making food look as appetizing as possible on commercials.

OT...as someone who works for Red Lobster, I have plenty of impressions (AMA):

-it's a national chain, with nationwide distribution. It's never going to be as good as a local seafood restaurant because most locations don't do much in the way of local seafood (with a few exceptions), and most things come frozen- the idea is that you should be able to walk into any Red Lobster around the country and expect the same thing- lots of things like sauces are pre-prepared and shipped out to each location. Red Lobster is the largest seafood chain in the world, so almost any other seafood restaurant is going to have more localized distribution, fresh products, and in-house preparation. The portions at Red Lobster are usually quite a bit larger than other seafood restaurants though.

-That said, overall food quality has been increasing in the last couple of years- ever since Darden sold us off, there have been noticeable steps forward. Some things are honestly still "freezer aisle" quality

-The preparations are still mostly rather traditional (I have a coworker who refers to us as "70's seafood"), and not particularly flavorful in many cases. The corporate head chefs do roll out many new flavors for various promotions, but they are usually seasonal, and/or don't sell as well because we tend to have an older clientele.

-like just about any restaurant, the food is going to be better when the kitchen isn't really, really busy, but seafood loses quality especially quickly from sitting in the window too long. There can be a very noticeable in quality between slow nights and busy nights

-I eat clam chowder at restaurants wherever I go, and I have only once or twice thought that Red Lobster's chowder was better. I like both the potato bacon soup and lobster bisque much more

-the biscuits are really awesome, and made fresh from scratch. Some things are really done the right way

You can buy them at most grocery stores as a box mix.

The secret to fluffiness I'm told is to make sure you use ice water. Most people tell me they are better in the restaurant.

[dvaz]

What's the middle middle class go for ?

Costco food court

[Deleted]

Lobster is overrated

[Louisa Bannon]

Applebee's, TGI Friday, Red Lobster. All garbage for lower middle class.

Isn't Olive garden supposed to be in there too?

There is one thing I like at Olive Garden, the salad dressing - my best guess is that it was super-engineered and consumer tested until it reached its bliss point.

[breadisfunny]

I dont like lobster.

neither do i.