Avoid the creamed corn.
And the peanuts…
I wonder if the increasing quality and availability of frozen seafood at grocery stores has anything to do with it?
As a kid, there were “fish sticks”, which were rectangular breaded fish pieces that you baked or fried. Not god-awful, but not particularly good either. You could get a very limited selection of fresh (mostly catfish), canned (tuna, salmon, crab and shrimp) and frozen(cod, catfish and shrimp) seafood at your average grocery store.
Sometime in the late-80s/early-90s, companies like Gorton’s and Van De Kamp started making a whole variety of frozen fish fillets that you baked or fried, and frozen fish became a much bigger thing.
Now, inland in Dallas, I can get fresh salmon, catfish, shrimp, and probably a half-dozen kinds of frozen fish fillets - catfish, tilapia, cod, salmon, swai, etc… and the aforementioned varieties of pre-breaded fillets, nuggets and sticks.
It seems to me that if you had a hankering for seafood and didn’t want rectangular fish sticks in 1985, you pretty much had to go to somewhere like Red Lobster, or spend a lot more, if you didn’t live near the coast. Now you can go get it in a box and bake it right up in your own oven for a lot less.
Oh, son… you have to go get something else in the Mexican arena- maybe some good enchiladas for dinner, some migas for breakfast, maybe some chilaquiles and fajitas for dinner.
Taco Bell & Chipotle, while not really bad, are kind of like comparing Totino’s frozen pizza to the real thing. There’s a lot of upward steps on the Mexican food ladder for you.
If I ever consider Applebee’s or Olive Garden a “nice restaurant” someone needs to shoot me.
I would take them (RL) over in a New York minute if I had the capital funding.
I would change the menu to a cafeteria style menu with a cafeteria style waiting line that leads you through a cafeteria experience.
If you want something that takes longer like steak take a number and have a seat.
I would put in a Boston Whaler salad bar and I would put a attractive hostess with a low cut pirates outfit on to serve you from the salad bar, because I don’t like other people putting their hands in my food.
One trip through, one price per plate … extra plate = extra price.
Get them in and get them out except on week-end nights make it a date with entertainment like a comedian or ballad singer.
If you got the money honey I got the time … anyone want to open a seafood restaurant?
This is not a family buffet, yuck!
More like a Libby’s with style like they use to have in Houston (maybe they still do) with little kiosks outside the main cafeteria line.
Their motto: We Recycle.
My point was to be adventurous the first time. Flautas are sure to be much better than you can get at Taco Bell (assuming they sell them.) Second time he can get the enchiladas and stuff.
Depend on where you are, I suppose. I used to travel a lot for business, and if I got too nervous about eating by myself I’d have starved. (I hate room service, and it often wasn’t available.) The kind of restaurants we’re talking about aren’t fancy. They aren’t expensive. You can probably look up the menu on line. I bet lots of people will tell you what you want to eat. Then you can be a man of the world for the future Mrs. Cups.
Heck, around here we have a nice storefront place, mostly take out, run by a really nice guy. Good food also. I realize you might not have a place like that near you.
Give it a shot. You’ll be glad you did. Or PM me your zip code and I can look for good possibilities near you.
Perhaps the rising price of fishis impacting them as well.
Regards,
Shodan
Thank you for bring that to our attention Shodan … I read it and they blamed China
Oh no not another thing to blame China for :smack:
Then they went on to say that:
Tuna? Like Chicken of the Sea?
But…like…is it fish? Or Chicken?
And that is almost certainly not fudge.
You kind of read my mind. Not necessarily the cafeteria aspect, but I like that too. I was thinking they should revamp into something kitschy-swank. Think 1950’s resort/lounge. Cute chubby guy in a shiny suit playing the piano. Maybe do more of an a la carte/tapas thing if not the cafeteria style.
I go to RL a few times a year now, since we moved to East BF, Indiana. We’ve “done” the local restaurants, quirky and otherwise, and still do. They try, bless their hearts. Sometimes I just want a big plate of garlic butter shrimp and nostalgia. The kids like it, too.
I’m old enough to have gone to RL before a high school formal, and enjoyed myself. (Plus they had a reputation of not carding. Heh. The daquiris used to be pretty good.) Anyway, I’d like to see the chain not die.
I just want to let everyone know that for my birthday my brother got be a $50 giftcard to RL.
I had to chuckle because literally the first thing I thought of was this thread 
This thread made me remember an event many years agothat might have had something to do with Red Lobster and its lack of recent success.
We used to eat at Red Lobster all the time but rarely due anymore. In short, way too expensive for what you get. They want to charge gourmet restaurant prices for middle-of-the-road food.
Everyone, go read his story, now.
I cod tuna you out for that joke but that’d be shellfish.
Sorry, salmon haddock do it.
back on topic, not much else to add. bad food and high prices
The parent company (Darden) that owns the Red Lobster chain is selling it for $2.1 billion to a private equity firm. I guess it still has some value.