Here's Why Red Lobster Is Dying

[wa3zrm]

America's changing eating habits are killing Red Lobster.
The chain's parent company, Darden Restaurants, announced on Friday it was selling Red Lobster to a private-equity firm for $2.1 billion after years of sagging sales. While it may sound strange to call a chain with such a high price tag "dying," much of that $2.1 billion covers Red Lobster's real estate. What's left of the brand's value is "fairly minimal," Sterne Agee analyst Lynne Collier wrote in a note.
The cheddar-biscuit purveyor's demise is being hastened by a growing American preference for micro-managing meals that can be scarfed down quickly. The era of families sitting down to a meal conceived by food scientists and prepared in a kitchen they can’t see is fading. That is bad news for a host of other chains, including Olive Garden, which Darden still owns.
"Even as consumer spending has improved, many consumers have still been less willing to spend on sit-down meals," noted a recent report from market research firm IBISWorld. "Instead, consumers have shown a preference for cheaper fast-casual concepts.”

(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...

[WickedKitchen]

Here in the Northeast I think Red Lobster is a cheap fast-casual alternative. I haven't set foot in one in a decade after working for them for years. The quality definitely wasn't there when the restaurant was in full swing but that can be applied to most places. Even at its best, I could never consider it gourmet but if you have a craving for all-you-can eat shrimp or crab legs, for the dollar it's not the worst choice you could make.

One thing that I mused at working there, and possibly part of it's slide, is that they put something called "buttery sauce" on everything. everything. The odd part is that the ingredients contain zero dairy.

I also learned that I am susceptible to scombroid poisoning (that was a scary day) and I no longer care for lobster.

[lxskllr]

Maybe it's because people are starting to realize all chain food tastes the same, and aren't willing to pay for mediocrity. I've pretty much quit going to large chains(there's a regional Mexican chain I'm fond of) aside from the occasional McDonalds. I don't pay significantly more my food, but I get the occasional surprise. It isn't always a pleasant surprise, but a surprise none the less. Beats knowing exactly what you're gonna get before you get it.

Scombroid poisoning... I learned something new today. Hope I never get that...

[piks101]

I always thought of Red Lobster as just a step above Long Johns Silvers. I also prefer the local regional restaurants based on their menu. National fast food for me is Chipotle first then Wendy's. For burger joints I find the Wendy's beef far superior to McDonald's and Burger King. McDonald's is my least favorite and eat there maybe once a year now. The kids like chicken nuggets and Wendy's is far superior on that area as well compared with McDonald's, although we had to get past the happy meal phase with the cheap crap toys. I also, like Five Guys Burgers. I have had customers on the west coast that rave about In-N-Out burgers but I have not had an opportunity to try yet.

[wa3zrm]

I always thought of Red Lobster as just a step above Long Johns Silvers. I also prefer the local regional restaurants based on their menu. National fast food for me is Chipotle first then Wendy's. For burger joints I find the Wendy's beef far superior to McDonald's and Burger King. McDonald's is my least favorite and eat there maybe once a year now. The kids like chicken nuggets and Wendy's is far superior on that area as well compared with McDonald's, although we had to get past the happy meal phase with the cheap crap toys. I also, like Five Guys Burgers. I have had customers on the west coast that rave about In-N-Out burgers but I have not had an opportunity to try yet.

I'm in 100% agreement with you... I especially like your Red Lobster/Long John Silvers corollary One area you didn't mention though was subs... I like those sub joints like Subway where you can get fresh bread and veggies (don't know about their meats though). My main stay are veggie subs... if I want to indulge I'll get one with cheese... or at least what they call cheese.

[Burnsey]

One area you didn't mention though was subs... I like those sub joints like Subway where you can get fresh bread and veggies (don't know about their meats though). My main stay are veggie subs... if I want to indulge I'll get one with cheese... or at least what they call cheese.

Hey me too.....a foot long Veggie Delight, all the veggies except jalapenos with oil and vinegar....occasionally a bag of Lay's Original chips

[piks101]

Hey me too.....a foot long Veggie Delight, all the veggies except jalapenos with oil and vinegar....occasionally a bag of Lay's Original chips

I use to eat the foot long veggie as well with oil/vinegar, salt and pepper and a bead of mustard. Good stuff. I had some acid reflux issues and I tried giving up gluten and dairy and low and behold no more acid reflux. I now eat gluten free bread if any bread and virtually no dairy (and I love dairy) but dropped a shit load of weight, no more allergies, headaches or acid reflux, so not that tough to do without gluten bread or dairy given the gains I have made health wise. Now if I am at a sub shop I get a gluten free bread option or wrap in lettuce usually wiht choice of meat, especially Jimmy Johns, they have a nice lettuce wrap pre made. At Chipolte I get the burrito bowl and pass on the tortilla.

[wa3zrm]

I use to eat the foot long veggie as well with oil/vinegar, slat and pepper and a bead of mustard. Good stuff. I had some acid reflux issues and I tried giving up gluten and diary and low and behold no more acid reflux. I now eat gluten free bread and virtually no dairy (and I love dairy) but dropped a shit load of weight, no more allergies, headaches or acid reflux, so not that tough to do without gluten bread or dairy given the gains I have made health wise. Now if I am at a sub shop I get a gluten free bread option or wrap in lettuce, especially Jimmy Johns, the have a nice lettuce wrap pre made at Chipolte I get the burrito bowl.

Think about the pain...

When I first developed a stomach ulcer I drank a quart of buttermilk! I thought I was going to die. That's when I found out what a GI cocktail is. Miracle medicine for acid reflux. Thank God my doc writes me a script for it. Many doc's only allow ER use for it.

Here's the formula:
1 part Malox
1 part Lidocaine
1 part Phenobarbital

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_cocktail

[piks101]

Think about the pain...

When I first developed a stomach ulcer I drank a quart of buttermilk! I thought I was going to die. That's when I found out what a GI cocktail is. Miracle medicine for acid reflux. Thank God my doc writes me a script for it. Many doc's only allow ER use for it.

Here's the formula:
1 part Malox
1 part Lidocaine
1 part Phenobarbital

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_cocktail

I am glad you found some relief unless you have had acid reflux the type that comes all the way up to your mouth/sinuses then you don't know how painful and uncomfortable it is. My only concern is that this GI cocktail is simply relieving the symptoms but not fixing the underlying problem.

From Robb Wolf answering a question regarding a woman experiencing Gerd and wanting a fix not a symptom relieving approach...one of the Paleo Diet Gurus. This is the text from a podcast so very casual format.

Yeah man, and usually folks need to go a little on the low-*‐carb side for this to really get the big effect. Some of what’s going on when we consume food, we release cholecystokinin which is a neurotransmitter, gut hormone, that signals -*‐-*‐ it basically it gets triggered when food enters the stomach and it stimulates downstream signaling in things like the gall bladder, it will stimulate the release of bile salt. It will stimulate the release of pancreatic enzymes, and all that sort of jive.

So it’s important as a precursor for digestion but it also feeds into releasing stomach acid as parietal cells. And you -*‐-*‐ in a hyperinsulinemic state -*‐-*‐ in a high insulin state, then you can have some serious problems with the GERD, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. Some of the peripheral

things that can cause problem is diary because of the insulin kind of insulinogenic nature. Lifestyle stuff would be stress, high cortisol levels -*‐-*‐ cortisol causing problems with insulin sensitivity directly, also causing high blood glucose levels because of releasing glucose out of the liver.

Just insulin resistance because of sleep lack and stuff like that, so you have to start getting a little bit crafty in what you’re tracking down. When you see the whole thing -*‐-*‐ you know, close to Paleo and you know there’s such a spectrum of good eats and what will be good enough for one person versus another person. Gluten is a really gnarly confounder in this. It ends up really buggering cholecystokinin, CCK signaling in the gut, and so just a small amount of gluten, irrespective of the amount of carbohydrate that’s taken in, in total can cause some serous GERD problems.

So, it’s just something that -*‐-*‐ if she really wants it to go away, she needs to get really fastidious about all these stuff. Pull out -*‐-*‐ I would recommend pulling out all the diary, all the grains, all the legumes, make sure the sleep is solid. I would keep going with the Bio-*‐K, the Acidophilus and if that doesn’t resolve in like a month, then I would do -*‐-*‐ try to track down a doctor that would do what’s called an O&P, an Ova and Parasite, and also an analysis of her gut flora to see if she has a parasite or something funky going on.

But I would be about a 95-*‐98% bet that simply removing these final little niggling problems and making sure the sleep hygiene is good -*‐-*‐ you know that she’s actually sleeping well, taking magnesium, all that sort of stuff, I bet that would fix it. I would be surprised if it didn’t.

http://robbwolf.com/2010/04/13/the-p...on-episode-23/

[Thunder_Snus]

Ever since I moved into my new place I've been pretty into cooking. It's a lot more satisfying