Olive Garden vs. Red Lobster

[kmwrestle]

Bad Italian food vs. bad seafood

 

[crazyquik]

Originally Posted by visionology

Kids tend to piss me off wherever they are.


In regards to the ingredients, if people have never had authentic italian food then how would they have anything to compare against?

I think a lot of the restaurants recommended in this forum are either, a) too expensive for most people, b) seen as too stuffy, c) aren't family oriented, d) aren't accessible by the masses, or e) all of the above.

The masses just want a place they can stroll in, get a fairly quick seat without reservations, be casual, get decent food with many options, and not have to pay $50+/person.


Bingo. Plus, OG is hugely profitable . . . think about the ingredient costs. Pasta noodles are cheap, some lettuce, some bread. Occasionally you get to sell overpriced/marked up wine

You guys are just jealous you're not making bank off middle America paying you $6 because you're fancy enough to grate some cheese over the top at table-side.

Originally Posted by chronoaug

I kinda want to do Red Lobster or Olive Garden to go tomorrow, just to get some breadsticks and chedder rolls. The only things i actually enjoy there.

I think everyone loves the bread at these places. I haven't been to Red Lobster in over 10 years, but I remember them having great biscuits.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

I like the bread at Outback Steakhouse. This probably makes me a bad person.

 

[Nouveau Pauvre]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

I like the bread at Outback Steakhouse. This probably makes me a bad person.

This is not the thing that makes you a bad person.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by Magician

This is not the thing that makes you a bad person.
Oh, good. I like your new Fred Savage avatar.

 

[eg1]

I believe the Olive Garden has been driven from Canada (though I could be wrong) -- I haven't seen one around for years.

My family hails from the East Coast and we spent most of our summer vacations there. This renders Red Lobster anathema.

 

[milosz]

Red Lobster is inedible aside from the lobster pizza (which is actually more like crawfish pizza - it's just cheese, spinach, tomatos, crawfish/lobster on a thin crust) and the biscuits.

 

[kabert]

Olive Garden and Red Lobster are both part of the same company, Darden Restaurants. I've never had a bad meal at either. Both are kid friendly, though an Olive Garden I go to on occasion is always crowded and there's invariably a wait to get a table (which the kiddies don't like).

 

[itsstillmatt]

I went to the bathroom once at a Red Lobster. I think it was a brown dolphin.

 

[christinedaae]

2 words,.


cheddar biscuits

 

[LabelKing]

I prefer buffets myself.

 

[spertia]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I prefer buffets myself.

 

[milosz]

Originally Posted by kabert

Olive Garden and Red Lobster are both part of the same company, Darden Restaurants. I've never had a bad meal at either.

I don't know how it's possible to have a good meal at Red Lobster. Last time I got dragged there, the lobster/shrimp/scallops meal I got was drowning in a vile garlic-butter sauce. EVEN THE ******* LOBSTER. Presumably they do this to mask the taste (or lack of) of their frozen ****.

At $12-15 I'd be like *******, who cares. But they've got to be running a $25-30 per-person average and the food is terrible for those prices.

 

[whiteslashasian]

I honestly haven't been to RL since I was 11, that was during my "I don't like seafood" phase so all I remember were the biscuits. Their commercials kinda gross me out with all the sauce they put on their seafood and that woodfire grilling nonsense is annoying.

I haven't been to OG since college, but back then the unlimited pasta, salad, and breadsticks presented a fantastic bargain. It's too bad their tomato sauce is the blandest red crap I have ever had. It's not that hard to make a good tasting sauce...wtf? Just let it simmer with some herbs, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil....jeez! The breadsticks are decent as they're always fresh out of the oven due to the high demand.

I'd take Macaroni Grill over OG though. I've never had a bad experience there and the food is plentiful and tasty. Usually a mild wait of 15 or so minutes but that isn't the end of the world. Even then I haven't had Macaroni Grill since my Grandma's 80th birthday...

 

[dalej]

Red Lobster