[2012] Don't Do It! [Red Lobster]

[dioxide45]

It is that time of year again for Red Lobster's Endless Shrimp deal. We usually get "dumb" once a year and forget that last year it really wasn't worth it and not really all that good. We went tonight and returned not feeling overly great about the experience. All the items seem overly oily/greasy and quality is more downhill from the last. We expect much of the same at Olive Garden that we won't be bothering with their endless pasta bowl in 2012.

Getting dumb and forgetting how bad something is also applies to the following:

• Golden Coral
• Going to the Zoo

 

[Rose Pink]

:hysterical: Oh, how I can relate.

 

[Renny30]

So funny. My son loves Olive Garden. The endless pasta bowl runs during his birthday every year. What a mother has to do.

 

[PigsDad]

Getting dumb and forgetting how bad something is also applies to the following:

• Golden Coral
• Going to the Zoo

I'm with you on the first one, but the second? You must have a really poor zoo, is all I can say.

Kurt

 

[staceyeileen]

I'm with you on the shrimp, but the endless pasta bowl rocks.

 

[DeniseM]

Our local Red lobster is really good - and for California, the prices are great.

I also visited the San Francisco Zoo this month - and it was fabulous!

 

[Ken555]

Great thread title. And since I'm here I might as well toss in my $0.02. I learned a while ago that anything which includes "unlimited" (or "endless") food is bound to be bad, not just in quality but also bad for me... No buffet, no pasta, no unlimited anything (except cell minutes, but those have zero calories). Live and learn.

 

[AwayWeGo]

I Resemble That Remark.

It is that time of year again for Red Lobster's Endless Shrimp deal. We usually get "dumb" once a year and forget that last year it really wasn't worth it and not really all that good. We went tonight and returned not feeling overly great about the experience.

I ordered all I could eat shrimp 1 time at Red Lobster & felt heavy in the gut for days. But it was my fault for trying to eat all the shrimp I could possibly swallow, rather than limiting my intake to a reasonable pig-out.

I have no business going to any kind of All You Can Eat establishment, which has me semi-concerned about our upcoming Las Vegas timeshare week, with Las Vegas full of so many great restaurants & lavish buffets.

By sticking with the Dr. Phil Fat Folks Diet & exercising daily, I have trimmed down from 250 pounds in March to 213 pounds today. One week of All I Can Eat behavior could throw that into reverse.

If that happens, it's my own fault & not the fault of the Las Vegas pig-out places.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[pjrose]

Yep, I agree too. Buffets and bottomless, endless, etc lose their appeal when we feel bloated and totally yucky. Sometimes we will succumb, but we generally regret it. I took a group of teens for Endless Pasta, and even they couldn't eat more than one big bowl each. Golden Corral and its ilk? Just yuck. We do like Hoss's, a PA steak chain with a big salad/soup/dessert bar; their food just seems to be a better quality fresher selection.

We almost always regret Red Lobster, but it is usually DD's birthday choice.

 

[MuranoJo]

By sticking with the Dr. Phil Fat Folks Diet & exercising daily, I have trimmed down from 250 pounds in March to 213 pounds today.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Alan,

Absolutely, amazingly fabulous on your significant weight loss in just 6 mos. or so.

Congrats!

(And I can relate to Red Lobster: Used to take my aunt there once in awhile as it was her favorite. Total pigout with the Captain's Plate or whatever it's called, with lobster tail and all the fixins, and of course the yummy biscuits.)

 

[ronparise]

But the commercials make it look sooooo good Im watching one now

It happens to me too, once a year we see the commercials, we go, and we are almost always let down

Last time though was lobster fest...and it was good....Ill go back

 

[ricoba]

Since shrimp is high in purine which can lead to high uric acid, I will avoid an "all you can eat" simply because I'd rather not eat foods (like shrimp) that may lead to a gout flare up!

 

[geekette]

Fun thread!

Dissing RL! Every once and a while, I want Red Lobster (and thanks, NOW I DO!) We are landlocked and at least they are fairly consistent.

I'll go to Olive Garden but it's unlikely that I would suggest it, I'd say No on that. I'm not that into their salad, breadsticks nor soups.

Golden Coral, Ryan's, those buffet things, I just say ick. Mass quantities of subpar food. there are some gems, I can find stuff I like if I have to go.

But, it is difficult to turn down a GOOD Chinese buffet.

I meet friends for lunch and we use 2 for 1 coupons - love Subway. not fond of avocado. I'll make stuff with avocado but I cannot have much of it. Guacamole is No for me.

No to sushi. where I come from, the fish is cooked. always. worked in a finer restaurant during college and had to serve caviar. ick. never was tempted to try it because I didn't like how it looked, I didn't like how spills clung to me, I didn't like the slimy dark stains it left everywhere. ditto pickled herring. ugh! people EAT that? ewwwww!!!

most pickled anything, and most pickles for that matter = NO. Baby gerkins excepted. pickled beets sounds like torture food to me.

~~~
zoos, the key is to not go to the same one all of the time. Go to the local when there is a new exhibit, new babies, or certain seasonal events or special hoo hahs. if you live in a reasonably large city, you may find that a membership at one family-friendly non-profit can get you discounts on another. museums, orchestras, theaters, parks, maybe library, join one and use the reciprocal benefits all over town. by the time you get back to the zoo, maybe it's new to you?

 

[LynnW]

I love shrimp but I agree they're not that great at Red Lobster. I do love those cheese biscuits though!

Lynn

 

[AwayWeGo]

I Resemble That Remark.

No to sushi. where I come from, the fish is cooked. always.

Johnny Carson agreed.

He said, "I don't like to eat fish that looks like it should be used to catch other fish."

Shux, I'd rather to go Long John Silver's or Arthur Treacher's than any sushi place.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

It's Not Just Foods.

Buffets and bottomless, endless, etc lose their appeal when we feel bloated and totally yucky. Sometimes we will succumb, but we generally regret it.

From across the street in Las Vegas, I once saw a banner over the front door of Slots-A-Fun or some establishment right near there that said . . .

ALL THE BEER YOU CAN DRINK $15​

In the bad old days, I would have taken that as a challenge -- would have gone right in & made a point of chugalugging $30 or $45 or $60 worth of brew & damn the consequences.

Fortunately for me, I never spied that banner till after those days were long over.

Dodged a bullet, I'd say.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[dougp26364]

It is that time of year again for Red Lobster's Endless Shrimp deal. We usually get "dumb" once a year and forget that last year it really wasn't worth it and not really all that good. We went tonight and returned not feeling overly great about the experience. All the items seem overly oily/greasy and quality is more downhill from the last. We expect much of the same at Olive Garden that we won't be bothering with their endless pasta bowl in 2012.

Getting dumb and forgetting how bad something is also applies to the following:

• Golden Coral
• Going to the Zoo

Red Lobster quality varies greatly from restaurant to restaurant. We tend to be picky about which one we go to, even at home.

 

[SmithOp]

Shrimpers Heaven at Bubba Gumps for us, preferably in Kona.

Shrimp Adventure at Elephant Bar.

The only buffet I like is Chinese or Fresh Choice salads.

 

[Ken555]

Red Lobster quality varies greatly from restaurant to restaurant. We tend to be picky about which one we go to, even at home.

Really? I have the misfortune to admit that I've been to them in about five cities across several States, and they've been universally...satisfactory (and that's being kind). I'll pay an extra $5-10pp to go to a non-chain fish restaurant any day of the week, and it's usually worth the extra cost in more than food quality. But as chain restaurants go, there are a lot that are worse than Red Lobster.

 

[Ken555]

I meet friends for lunch and we use 2 for 1 coupons - love Subway. not fond of avocado. I'll make stuff with avocado but I cannot have much of it. Guacamole is No for me.

What do you have against guacamole? It's fabulous! And avocado is good for you! (C'mon, support California's economy and buy some today!)

No to sushi. where I come from, the fish is cooked. always.

Where's your sense of adventure? Sushi is awesome!

 

[dougp26364]

Really? I have the misfortune to admit that I've been to them in about five cities across several States, and they've been universally...satisfactory (and that's being kind). I'll pay an extra $5-10pp to go to a non-chain fish restaurant any day of the week, and it's usually worth the extra cost in more than food quality. But as chain restaurants go, there are a lot that are worse than Red Lobster.

Satisfactory or average would be a good description. There are two here in town, one we'll eat at, the other we'll take a pass on. When you live about as far away from the ocean as possible, there really isn't a good choice for seafood IMHO. Closer to the ocean I'd definately agree with you that the non-chain seafood restaurants tend to bring more to the table.

 

[dioxide45]

I'll explain the zoo comment. We have two within about a half hour drive; Cincinnati and Columbus. Every time we have left the zoo we were hot and miserable. It is usually scorching hot, regardless of what time of year we opt to go. Cincinnati is worse because it is very hilly. After we leave we ask ourselves "why did we do it?".

Chinese buffets would be in that same "getting dumb" category for us. I love Chinese food but after leaving most buffets we again ask ourselves why we did it. A few years later we will get dumb again and go and the cycle starts again.

 

[am1]

I'll agree with Red Lobster but disagree with Olive Garden. Chinese buffets will be a crapshoot depending on where, when and what you eat.

I do like a good sushi AYCE but do not want to eat poor quality fish.

The zoo sounds like it is good exercise.

 

[Phydeaux]

Here's a friendly suggestion - pass up on the chain restaurants, and try out small, family owned and operated mom & pop places. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Elan]

Our Red Lobster is ok. Since we're not on an ocean, I figure I'd just as soon go somewhere where the turn over rate of their seafood is pretty high. We go, on average, maybe once a year, but it's been a couple of years since we've been.

Never understood the appeal of Olive Garden. When a restaurant's calling card is soup, salad and breadsticks, count me out. Our local OG is always packed, which I find amusing -- so many people eager to eat sub standard food. Haven't eaten there in 15+ years.

Golden Corral is the Walmart of restaurants.

We really don't go out much, partly due to the expense, but mostly because I can cook better meals at home. When we do go out, it's either a local brew pub or a local Italian place near the university.