Fine Dinning? Red Lobster is NOT.?

Question

I hear alot of people mention that Red Lobster is an upscale Restaurant. I dont see how ANY "Chain" Restaurant can be considered a romantic place to bring a date. A High Scale, 5 Star Restaurant are usually ones that do not advertise on TV. They are run by individuals NOT corporations. Am I the only one who thinks this??

Yes, I do agree Olive Garden & all the "Chain" Steak houses... ANY "CHAIN" Restaurant that can be found all over the country ARE NOT FINE Dinning.

Answer 1

You are right. Chain restaurants are not fine dining. I work at one, I know.

Fine dining is usually a place run by individual people like you said, and chefs that have come from culinary institutions and have background in a wide variety and styles of cooking. Cooks a chain restaurants are trained in how to cook for that restaurant, and they do not have a wide variety of food knowledge past that.

Fine dining restaurant also makes a wide variety of food by hand and from starch. If they don't do that, then they import it from bakeries that do. All the food at chain restaurants comes frozen out of a bag. It's totally disgusting.

I totally agree with everything you have said. Fine dining is a cultured activity and it's a shame that not all people understand or appreciate it.

Answer 2

No, Red Lobster is not fine dining. We dine at RL about 10 times a year and have 3 kids under 7. However, it is certainly nicer (and way more palatable) than Long John Silver's. Also, I have dined in many a Red Lobster and some of the restaurants are more casual than others. I feel that the atmosphere in my local RL is slightly upscale after 8pm (when all the kiddies are home in bed). It has a darker cozier feel than the one my sister lives by (60 miles away), which feels like the wait staff should all come out and do the funky chicken every 1/2 hour (as some other chain restaurants do).

There is a restaurant that I feel is even more borderline as to whether it can be considered "fine dining," because the food is prepared by chefs, the food presentation is more artsy, they serve their water with a sprig of mint, use cloth napkins, and all of those little things that make it soo much nicer. However, at Claim Jumper, you do get a large portion (as opposed to the $60 3 oz. filet mignon you might get in many "fine" restaurants), and it is a small chain with 40 locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada and Washington.

I suppose this designation of "fine dining" is in the eye of the beholder. For many people, Red Lobster is out of their price range, and anything more upscale would cost as much as feeding their family for two weeks. For those who are well-off, Red Lobster is a good place to take the kids for a nice meal (or a comfy date place after 8pm), but the occasional upscale dining experience would definitely be elsewhere.

Answer 3

No Red Lobster is not "Fine Dining", But The Chart House Restaurant Chain is a Fine Dining Restaurant.

Answer 4

You are correct SIR! If you like same old boring mass produced food, Yes Chains such as Red Lobster are the way to go. If you do 3 minutes of research in the yellow pages of any city you are in the chances are you will find a good niche place that will be better. Take a minute and don't fall for commercials.

Answer 5

Red Lobster is a chain restaurant, but also, so are the Palm Restaurants. While Red Lobster is famous for seafood, they command a check average of about $60 per couple, including app, 2 entrees, and maybe 2 drinks. Fine dining check averages are up near $100.

In simple terms, you wear your best clothes to a fine dining restaurant. You freak out if you drop butter on your tie at such restaurants. Look around, people at RL are dressed in jeans and t-shirts. Nothing wrong with it. Plus, RL usually has kids in tow. Kids do no belong at high-end dining (sorry!)

The difference is in the presentation and delivery. RL serves food in baskets with mismatched plates. That is unheard of in fine dining, where china is as important as food.

While RL is a chain restaurant, it's a step up from Red Robin's or places like that. But of course, seafood costs more than burgers.

Answer 6

Red Lobster is not fine dinning. LOL You are right. (will maybe for some it is, who knows). It is nothing more than nice casual dinning. Compared to McDonald's a KCF, which is in most smaller areas, Red Lobster is a better choice. I personally don't go to Red Lobster because of its refusal to stop buying Canadian sea food. If stopped then seal hunting could come to an end.

Answer 7

Red Lobster, at one time, was considered fine but it has really gone down hill....higher prices and lower quality. I have to agree that "fine" dining should be reserved for local individual restaurants and not corporations that have many types of restaurants in their chains.

Answer 8

I agree, I guess people who don't know any better think that since they have *lobster* it's upscale. Some people have never been to a true 5 star restaurant.

Oooo! Same thing with Outback and Olive Garden. If one more hillbilly at my job goes on and on about the glories of Olive Garden I'm punching them in the face.

*coming from someone with a vowel at the end of her last name*

Answer 9

No, you're not. RL is an awful chain. The one, and only, time we went there with another couple was a complete disasater. The lobster was overcooked, the place was very noisy & rambunctious and the rice pilaf served on the side was so dry that I actually choked on it! My husand asked the waiter many times to bring me (& our table) some water, but was completely ignored. I started choking horribly on the dry rice & not one person on the wait staff even came to our table to see if I was ok or give me a glass of water. I was actually standing up, grabbin my throat & turning blue. RL is like the McDonald's of seafood restaurants. Bleech! Same thing goes for The Olive Garden, another terrible chain restaurant. IMO no upstanding person of Italian descent would be caught DEAD eating there. There's stuff on the menu, "special dishes" & combinations of ingredients that I've never even heard of! Barf-o-rama.

Answer 10

Red Lobster is NASTY! And so I Olive Garden and Outback. Now, there are a few chain-type restaurants that are fantastic. We have one here called Carrabas that serves Italian food. It's very good and very consistent.

Red Lobster is also consistent - consistently bad!