Red Lobster

[dank69]

I've never been to Waffle House. OPH is the shit though.

KT

Waffle house power washes the walls with cooking oil for the grand opening.

 

[classy]

I love Red Lobster. Its the only major seafood place where you can get seafood at a decent price. And its really seafood, not some battered junk. Their lobster tail is kinda ehh, though.

 

[shortylickens]

For being a cheap family restaurant its actually OK. In fact probably the best chain of seafood eateries across America.
Anything better is usually that one special place only locals know about, or small chains most of us will never get to try.
RL gets an unnecessary amount of shit because of a handful of bad locations.
Much like Applebees, which isnt nearly as bad as people claim it to be. Any time I have bad food or service I talk to the manager and its always corrected by my next visit. One guy changed his meat supplier just because of my single complaint. And he comped my meal besides.

 

[classy]

All these seafood connoisseurs here need to understand one thing though. There is not a lot of national seafood type restaurants. So most top notch seafood places are localized.

 

[Ns1]

All these seafood connoisseurs here need to understand one thing though. There is not a lot of national seafood type restaurants. So most top notch seafood places are localized.

Morton's. You're gonna pay out the ass though.

 

[zinfamous]

Waffle house power washes the walls with cooking oil for the grand opening.

lol!

I think this is true.

 

[shortylickens]

Waffle House is proof you can make a chain out of greasy spoons.

 

[zokudu]

Its alright. We go out to eat every weekend and we stop there every other month or so. Its more expensive than most average level restaurants but I have no reason to complain.

 

[Wordplay]

The Red Lobsters around me are just a step above Long John Silver's.

 

[alkemyst]

Red Lobsters are very tied to their regions and management. I have been to good and bad. It's normally not a place I target.

Many women I know do like their salad lunch special. It comes with some bread things they like. That's usually the food item I hear most about from there than any seafood.

 

[techie81]

It has never been anywhere close to the best seafood restaurant.

Wut?

please tell me you haven't lived your entire life in the Bay Area while thinking that.



If you grew up in Oklahoma or Kansas or some other godless shithole, I can see where you're coming from. But any coastal town will have 100s of seafood joints that will kill Red Lobster.

lol, OK let me rephrase. I thought it used to be a decent restaurant but it has become a horrible place to eat in the last few years. I can only speak about the one by my house as that is the only one I have tried. I guess I really love the cheese biscuits and associate that with my visit.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Red Lobsters are very tied to their regions and management. I have been to good and bad. It's normally not a place I target.

Many women I know do like their salad lunch special. It comes with some bread things they like. That's usually the food item I hear most about from there than any seafood.

Which is kind of fucked up don't you think? A lobster/seafood house that's known primarily for its cheesy biscuits? I've had the biscuits, and they are damned tasty, but a fine seafood restaurant this isn't.

Hell, Fish House Vera Cruz in Carlsbad and San Marcos kicks RL ass and their prices are reasonable.

 

[evident]

Red Lobster is passable, but there are dozens of other restaurants I'd put above it. It's overpriced chain food, like an Olive Garden for seafood. It's palatable, but it appeals to the lowest common denominator. Better to find a real seafood place.

FYI Olive Garden and Red Lobster are owned by the same company, darden restaraunts, along with Seasons 52 which is their higher end chain, which i've eaten at and is decent.

BTW OP, if you want to go to a decent seafood chain restaraunt, check out bonefish grill. i take my parents there more often than i'd like to admit!

 

[darkewaffle]

The cheesy biscuits alone make the trip worthwhile.

As far as chains go I'd rate it above most of the others on it's 'tier' but I actually haven't been there in quite some time. Suffice to say you could do a lot worse than Red Lobster though.

 

[SP33Demon]

FYI Olive Garden and Red Lobster are owned by the same company, darden restaraunts, along with Seasons 52 which is their higher end chain, which i've eaten at and is decent.

BTW OP, if you want to go to a decent seafood chain restaraunt, check out bonefish grill. i take my parents there more often than i'd like to admit!

Bonefish is amazing.

The cheesy biscuits at RL do rock. It's not the best place for seafood, nor the worst. I don't mind eating there at all and like Alke said, it does depend on the local management. I haven't had a very bad experience yet.

 

[corwin]

As with any chain restaurant there's bad ones and good ones...I've visited RL several times in the last few months, the ones in Athens, GA, Dickson City, PA and Rogers, AR were superb while the one in Waco, TX overcooked it badly...one thing I will say is that I've never had bad service at any of them, the wait staff are always super friendly and if I've had a complaint the management is quick to take care of it...if you're anywhere coastal though there are much better options but you'll pay much more for them and there's always a chance they could be bad as well, had the worst seafood ever on the piers of Seattle, go figure.

 

[trmiv]

When I lived in the SF Bay Area, there were much better seafood places, but I lived right across the street from a Red Lobster so we ended up there quite a bit if we wanted seafood but didn't want to drive anywhere. Still preferred other places, but it didn't stop me from going there due to proximity. Now that I live in NC it's about the only place near me I can get seafood that isn't deep fucking fried. Too bad the only one near me sucks, so I don't go that often unless I really really really want some seafood.

 

[Fritzo]

Bonefish is amazing.

The cheesy biscuits at RL do rock. It's not the best place for seafood, nor the worst. I don't mind eating there at all and like Alke said, it does depend on the local management. I haven't had a very bad experience yet.

I used to down 5-6 of those at a time until I started body building. Now I have to look at the stupid nutritional label each time:

Nutrition Facts
Calories 150 (627 kJ)
Total Fat 8g 12%
Sat. Fat 2.5g 13%
Sodium 350mg 15%
Total Carbs. 16g 5%
Protein 3.5g

That was 750-900 calories of biscuits alone, then a 1500 calorie fried meal. Scary.

 

[SP33Demon]

I used to down 5-6 of those at a time until I started body building. Now I have to look at the stupid nutritional label each time:

Nutrition Facts
Calories 150 (627 kJ)
Total Fat 8g 12%
Sat. Fat 2.5g 13%
Sodium 350mg 15%
Total Carbs. 16g 5%
Protein 3.5g

That was 750-900 calories of biscuits alone, then a 1500 calorie fried meal. Scary.

Yeah that's like a full day's worth of calories WITH extensive exercise. The main thing I avoid is the melted butter and it cuts down a good chunk of the kcals.

 

[sactoking]

Morton's. You're gonna pay out the ass though.

Morton's is a steakhouse, not a seafood shack, and it's not national considering that 25 states have no locations at all and many states only have one location each which is inaccessible to much of the state.

Also, for as good as the cheddar bay biscuits are most people forget that RL used those to replace their sourdough dinner rolls which were actually better than the biscuits.

 

[Via]

You need mediocre on that poll.

I agree with all who say that while never great it used to be much better that it is now.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

Red Lobster is gross. Their Lobster and crab is never cooked right. Crab legs are always rubbery. Luckily we have some pretty decent seafood places even in landlocked Phoenix.

 

[LegendKiller]

Disgusting place. As others have said, you can lump RL with Outback and Olive Garden and other "bottom rung" specialty restaurants in the same category. Relatively inexpensive but massively cheap quality specialty food. Sodium contents are astronomical, as are saturated fats and trans fats.

Outback's "steaks" are of the worst quality, nearly on par with Sizzler and Ponderosa. Olive Garden's "Italian" is garbage. RL's "fish" is low quality garbage with tons of salt thrown on it to make it taste "better".

Might as well go to Long John Silver and save yourself a few bucks. For far better steaks, hit Texas Roadhouse. For better chain italian, Bertucci's.

Cheddar bay biscuits are good though.

 

[Regs]

Its a joke of a seafood. It's like taco Bell for Mexican food.

I would agree. I don't remember how it was 10 years ago, but when I went again last week, most of their food was microwaved or their sauce tasted like it came from a jar pre-maid weeks in advance. If you want good seafood, expect to pay a heafty price. There are some places however that can get the food cheap enough because of their location (like being next to a body of water).

 

[moshquerade]

I have a gf who used to live in Alaska. Her father has a fishing boat which is their livelihood. They had fresh salmon, haddock, clams, etc., all the time.

Once her parents came to visit her here and she knew they liked seafood so took them to Red Lobster. Her father flipped out about how disgusting the seafood actually was there, and I have to agree. It's nothing but fast-food-fish, and that phrase never describes a good thing.