Red Lobster's new owners: I hope they succeed
 

What happened to the negative VPL? I don't know; for some reason he went off the deep end yesterday. Now you will hear from the positive VPL.

According to an article in the Daily Sun, there won't be any discounts but who needs discounts? As long as the economy is improving, we don't need no stinking discounts. Let the good times roll.

One thing I'm sure you'll like is the new way the food will be presented on the plate. Instead of being scattered and messy, it will be more compact and neatly organized in a pile. This has been done by other up-scale restaurants and has been proven to work well. Don't doubt me! :thumbup:

It was said they will have fresh ingredients: More traffic means a faster turnover of ingredients, so of course everything will be fresh.

The plates will be round instead of rectangular, just like I remember when I first visited Red Lobster many years ago. I have good memories of that day and I'm getting all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it.

So be sure to go to see for yourself and you be the judge. The fish may be farm-raised: that means you'll be supporting farmers, not to mention the restaurant staff and local business.

What do you think? Do you like the new positive VPL?

Responses were never about whether you said good or bad things about Red Lobster and the changes coming. The responses were only to hoping that they fail.
I never want anyone to fail.
We have been here over 14 years. There are stores and restaurants in the Villages I haven't been to in years and some I've never been to & probably never will, but I don't want them fail. I know others like them. I have plenty of places to go that I really like. I love it, something for everyone !! :thumbup:

I LOVE the new positive VPL !!!

Neither funny nor useful--don't go there if you don't like the place. I am not a patron because I have never thought that it was a good restaurant nor a good value. No need to publically wish failure. Our capitalistic system weeds out those who do not provide value for the buck.:mmmm:

Is this entire subject rather like discussing whether one should brush their teeth with Colgate or Crest?

Choose the toothpaste you like, others will do the same, and in the end, none of it matters. :-)

Trying to be serious for a second..I have seen multiple business reports and commentary about how Darden's two largest restaurants (Lobster & Garden) are failing miserably. The funny thing is, while we do eat at these places occasionally, I have never been past either of these restaurants no matter where I might be where the parking lot is not full and often people are waiting out the door. Not merely here in TV but anywhere I have ever been.

Now obviously I am talking about the prime lunch & dinner hours not off times.

However when we lived in Baltimore it seemed that no matter when you went to our local Olive Garden you were going to wait.

So my question is..where are all these supposedly failing stores? I've yet to see one.

I'm positive the new VPL is as obsessed about this non-issue as the old VPL.

4 out of 5 dentist can't be wrong

I'm like Mudder. I like the positive you. Hugs, buddy!

I like both Red Lobster and Olive Garden as a casual, intermediate priced restaurant. If they keep raising prices, they are going to lose the casual clientele.

Z

They are bad
 

Nothing is fresh there maybe a salad.My friend worked there.All they do is nuke your servings and serve. Disgusting way to run a restaurant.

These days most chain restaurants are in one way or another fed by a company commissary. For example Ruby Snoozeday TGIF & Crapplebee's has a lot of things set up that are pre-cooked to a certain point and then packaged up and then sent off to the individual restaurants to be finished up by the line cook or as you say nuked before serving.

My mother repeatedly told me if you can't say something nice about a person place or thing don't say anything at all:D

So I like the name Red. and I like Red's parking lot, a lot

Actually I believe the food is as good at Red as it is at Bonefish Grille.
I don't like the name Bonefish but I do like Grille. i mean who wants to find a bone in their fish. Ugh

How do you like GRILL (no e)?

Which is an effective response to the demand for food served expeditiously, consistent portions, and at the lowest price point possible. It is always interesting to read reviews here because the main complaints are about how long it took to get the meal, how much food was served, and how much it cost. I think about how many times I've read complaints about a meal costing $1 more, or calling a $12 burger "pricey". You will pay more for a meal prepared entirely from scratch just because of labor and waste costs.

I assume that this is the normal process in most chains. Since I only have shrimp and fries and the salad, I am okay with it.

The one or two times I tried the fish, I thought I was eating sushi it was so undercooked. But I ate it anyway with lots of tartar sauce.

z

Our "winter home" is in New Jersey and we have exactly the experiences you have just described. There are a number of Olive Gardens (which we both like) and Red Lobsters (split opinion on these) reasonably close to us. At any typical meal time, all of them are very busy. Maybe it is just because NJ is so densely populated and so many people eat out so often.

Farm raised fish comes from the orient ! Do you have a clue what they feed with !

I'm not a big fan of Bonefish either. Nothing to do with the name.

Red Lobster being sold by Darden surprised me. The Red Lobster's seem to always have a crowd and the ones we have gone to have been cheaper and just as good quality as Bonefish.

Thanks!! I'm feeling very positive about this thread. I'd like to present the following awards to the 2 best posters on this thread:

Mudder: :eclipsee_gold_cup:

graciegirl: :eclipsee_gold_cup:

:icon_wink:

The bonefish is a sport fish found in the Bahamas. Back in the year 2000 when Tim Curci and Chris Parker (both worked at Hops Restaurants), opened their seafood restaurant in St. Petersburg (before OSI - now Bloomin' Brands, bought the small chain) they called it Bonefish Grill after their favorite sport fish. Their boney logo is unique and unmistakable too. In the merger, the agreement was that they would retain control of the food (it never served bonefish) and the restaurant name. There are now about 150 locations and Tim fishes almost every day and still lives in Tampa. Chris unfortunately passed away a few years back. Bonefish is one of the most successful brands in the US (JMHO).

Skip

Not sure. I'm not a seafood eater but my wife is, and so is our youngest son who likes to go to RL for his B-Day. But it seems no matter where we've travelled if we drive by either of these stores at a regular meal time they are busy. So the constant cry that they are not making it doesn't seem to make any sense.

LIKE THE POSITIVE ALl YOU WANT THAT'S FINE

BUT WAKE UP

AMERICA IS FAILING ECONOMICALLY
really the economy is better?
thousands live without air conditioning jobs food and health care in the same county as us ..the economy is not getting better

and you are seeing this with DARDEN and several others major company failing (COLDWATER CREEK) but cant see the forest for the trees

a double dip recession is a depression with a fancy name..you still went from point {A} to point [B]
you can put lipstick on a pig and it still a pig

And serves excellent food. Yum. Worth all the pennies.

Such DRAMA...... I went to red lobster last nite for dinner and it was as good as it always is and the prices are the same..... I hope it continues to be successful