since 2009. Maybe I'm not the only one?

American business is killing its golden goose, via RWNJ party economics.

afford their restaurants.

and that was not by choice. Someone else chose the lunch venue. I haven't been to Red Lobster in about five years.

Olive Garden was okay, but bland. If I have to choose, I know two or three really good Italian restaurants in my area that are not part of a chain. I would go to those any time.

Here in the City by the Bay, the best place to have seafood is SCOMA'S in my humble opinion. Once you have eaten there, its hard to even think about going to a Red Lobster...





http://www.scomas.com/

Now I'm hungry.

for obvious reasons. Yet I read the tale of some New Orleanians who were so enticed by the commercials that they drove up to the nearest one, in Gulfport, Miss.

Not only that, I'm pretty sure Red Lobster is very supportive of the right wing establishment. Not sure about Olive Garden, but I'd assume the same for them.

At the end of the day, I like visiting the local smaller restaurant chains, since their food actually tastes good, and aren't so supportive of the Republicans.

It was pretty good. That Salad they make is incredible. And the breadsticks are some of the best in the industry. I could go just for those two items alone, but of course I have to get my Angel Hair meat spaghetti. Makes for a wonderful evening out with family and friends.

Just closed both a Red Lobster and an Olive Garden in our town. The two restaurants were side-by-side in a common building. The employees were given no warning, just showed up for work to a chained up building 2 Saturdays ago. Our town took more than 2 years to settle with Darden on zoning changes to get the building built. They were open for less than 18 months before closing. Now the building sits empty, out of place, and a testament to corporate greed.

was founded in 2000, by former investment professionals from private equity firm Bain Capital, as well as business consultants from its affiliate Bain & Company.


(insert theme from Jaws).

(well, at least for the 99%) are not going to help a bit.

Then I turned eleven.

Look up their workers rights violations.

Haven't been to a Red Lobster in about 10 years because of their bullshit.

Cheese in biscuits?!

we pretty much think that no self-respecting New Englander would ever eat at Red Lobster.

As a field marketing manager for Red Lobster was to travel to Brockton, MA, where RL had to close because of bomb threats. Apparently New Englanders thought they had a lotta' nerve serving up Florida lobster in New England.

My, what a community relations problem I had on my hands.



Cher

But eat at a Red Lobster.... in New England???????????

That's a total WTF moment.

The Weathervane is a stretch. Red Lobster is a no-go.

I can't believe people still eat this crap - and worse, give these slimy corps their money!

there are very few where I live now, so I get to go to local restaurants that serve great food...things I would not cook at home, and have great service.

ok. It's a step up from diner. The consistent problem with both places is their service sucks. Just terrible customer service in general, especially Olive Garden. It doesn't matter if I go to one in Vallejo, Stockton or even Reno, just terrible service. They don't treat you like you are a guest who has come to spend med price point to high price points.

We haven't eaten at the local Olive Garden in over a decade even though it's only 5 minutes from us. I joined my mom and sister today and kept an eye out for breast-feeding, chain-smoking pitbulls, ha ha. It looked like their menu had taken a step up from years ago so might be worth another try. My entree was OK but I likely wouldn't order it again. The service, however, was great from start to finish. Our waitress was friendly, attentive and had good knowledge about the ingredients when asked. The manager made a visit to the table to ask how everything had been. I guess it depends on the location.

That said, we aren't lacking for good local establishments regardless of cuisine, so will probably stick to them in the future on the rare occasions we dine out.

For Mother's Day...my Daughter took me out to dinner at RL. When I worked at RL as a teen, Mother's Day was a guaranteed two hour wait before being seated, period. It took my Daughter and I just twenty minutes....tops.

Feel bad for the employees despite the chain being owned by a corporation...as I saw one lady STILL working there from when I was a teen over 26 years ago. Believe it or not, back in the day, RL had a PENSION plan for the restaurant front line employees.

My, my, my how times have changed.

Link to a recipe, or check the out the Top Secret Recipes books from the public library.
http://www.cooks.com/recipe/wz3do87u/cheese-garlic-biscuits-aka-red-lobster-biscuits.html

The corporate chains are in big trouble, as they treat their employees poorly, lobby for more government handouts for themselves and then serve bad food.

Olive Garden has gone downhill really fast. The last time we ate there was in 2012, very bad food and very poor service. They had cheapened everything, no doubt to raise profit at the expense of quality.

Good luck. Even if the brand survives, it will be mercilessly penny-pinched. I pity those who work there. Their jobs are about to become considerably more difficult. These capital groups only look at people as numbers and how much they can squeeze out of each one of them. They are not interested in long term viability, just short term gain, so they can in turn sell of the company for a hefty profit. Failing that, dismantle it and make a bundle that way.

Good luck.

and recipes along with their scampi sauce would have saved their investment.

That's my favorite chain restaurant ever.

Then there's the seafood restaurant I drive almost an hour away to get a good meal.

I live in CT. There is no reason to go to RL when you can get better fresh seafood in every single town in New England, often cheaper and always better. Likewise, I never understood why there are RL in MD or VA or NJ or lower NY or CA or OR or WA or LA or the coastal Carolinas.

Shore-up and draw back to the middle of the country where they don't have to compete with any moron who can get a food permit and drive to the dock to buy fresh seafood. They're never going to compete in seafood country. That's like trying to sell chain BBQ in the south.

There are several chain BBQ places in the South that do really well...Red Hot & Blue, Smithfield's in North Carolina, Maurice's in South Carolina, Texas Best in you-know-where...

Places that do a solid business catering to people that don't know that it's not-very-good BBQ. Dickey's ain't terrible...but it isn't good either.

You're naming regional chains, many of which all the locations are owned by the same individual or family and the quality-control is tight. Not one of them is comparable in their market-segment to Red Lobster.

I'm happy to see a lobster joint bite the dust. I hope it continues to fail for its new owner.

Certainly, Chipotle is no cheaper, and it's fear mongering is just ludicrous. It will backfire eventually.

a bowl of soup and just relax and read. They're more like a cafe in that way. No pressure to turn the table.

Chipotle 'isn't ' bad... it's just extremely overpriced for what it is...

It just isn't that 'good' ...

Here in Central California, where I live, we don't get the lines snaking out of our Chipotle's like they do in the rest of the country. In fact, except for the lily-white lunch rush from the executive set, or the shoppers wandering in from their days at the shopping mall (which are still oddly successful here, despite being a dying business model elsewhere), most Chipotle's are empty.

Why? Because around here we know that any taqueria can sell you a burrito for $4 that will be twice the size and taste ten times as good, with ingredients that are fresher and better for you. Eating at Chipotle means paying twice as much for food that isn't even half as good.

Chipotle is popular simply because it's nearly impossible to find "real" Mexican food outside of California and the Southwest, so most American's don't understand what they are missing. In places where the local population is familiar with "real" quality Mexican food, they don't do so well, and are generally only popular with the lily-whites who won't go into any place with a Mexican name, and the wanna-be hipsters who just think it's "cool".

I'd rather eat a burrito off of a taco truck selling food to farmhands along a dusty highway than eat at a Chipotle. Most people who have eaten at those types of trucks will agree with me on that point.

It is just over priced sub sandwiches

If you go on the web site, you will see all the different breads and rolls. The semolina bread with sesame seeds on top is very soft, for example.

I eat at Panera once a week, and also buy their day-old breads. No complaints here.

I won't go there. Even if you get something vegetarian, you can be sure it's grown with lots of pesticides and the plants are GMO.

Patronize your local organic restaurant, instead.

Organic food and local food doesn't mean safer, healthier or even better for the environment, however. The anti-GMO movement is anti-science to the core. It's all hyperbole.

that made this an attractive buy.

Red Lobster was rolling just a few years ago from what understand. Don't ask me why it how but it was.

Probably not missing much. I know that Olive Garden has gone down in quality. They are cutting corners with the ingredients, and it often feels very heavy to the stomach.

From the article, the high end chains are doing fine, but the lower end chains are suffering.

No need for Red Lobster.

Our fisheries are going under

....and the restaurants will close.

The Bain way.

In my community we do not have a mid-range place that specializes in seafood (or a high end place either). I eat at Red Lobster about once a year.

I do have to wonder about the comment that different customers go to Olive Garden and Red Lobster. It seems like the customers come from the same economic level. I got to think this will be end of Red Lobster (and probably Olive Garden). Three of the four places listed as part of Darden are located within two blocks of each other in our town. They must have many operational synergies (such as food deliveries) that will be lost in the split.

Like said above, the bread sticks and salad are a meal alone and delicious. We ate there a couple of weeks ago for mother's day. However, the last time we ate at Red Lobster, I was sick all night like I ate two sticks of butter and a pint of olive oil with some mushy seafood stirred in. Good thing the tub is next to the throne. Their biscuits are good though.

I wish we had a restaurant I could get some fried mullet, white rice and black eyed peas with a big glass of sweet iced tea.