You're not missing a thing. On the rare occasion my husband suggests Red Lobster I always tell him you know, it's not going to come out looking like that picture and it doesn't. The last time the picture was of these beautiful looking lobster tails and the plate came with this shriveled up unrecognizable thing on it. I'm good for several years and then I'll be suckered in again! LOL.

I know, they keep showing Golden Corral commercials on my satellite. Ours closed down about 15 years ago. And the phone books don't list any around. And I really want those All You Can Eat Ribs for ten bucks.

That's how I feel about the Macy's commercials. In CA there was a Macy's in my city. There isn't a Macy's in Iowa.

Even the Subway ads....Have you ever gotten a sandwich at Subway that looks like the ad?? Not long ago, a friend of mine ordered at Subway and when it came, she said, how about maing it look like your ad...They did take it back and add but not as much as the ad.....

I love the food at Red Lobster and Subway!

Here's another one...Have any of you seen the Pizza Hut ads for the "any size pizza for $10.00? A month ago, DH ordered one and it came to $10.60 so he gave the fellow a tip...This time, we ordered the same thing and the bill was $12.72....We figured, they tacked on a delivery fee and that went to the person that delivered....WELL, the fellow that came told us, they don't get that extra money and make their money on tips...They also have to use their own car, their own gas and their own insurance...DH felt so bad for him, he came back in the house and gave him a bigger tip....
It's not a big amount but what happened to the $10.00...With our tax, it does add the .60....I don't want to see cheap but I'm thinking of calling and asking.....

By the way, the pizza was pretty good!

we got "burned" last year at red lobster..and had to the one where dd2 used to work in her college days..it was sure not worth the money!

we used to go to golden corral in sturgis mi but they closed long time ago..wonder if they're trying to make a come back? still havn't made it to the new sonic, yet...

Really good restaurants don't need to advertise on television. Really good restaurants gain their reputation by word of mouth.

Most of these chains are decent but not something to miss if one isn't in your area. The ones I miss are the excellent mom and pop joints pushed out of business by these frozen meal chains.

You couldn't pay me to eat at either Red Lobster or Golden Corral - gag, especially Golden Corral!

There are several chain restaurants I will patronize, but those two are scraping the bottom of the (garbage) barrel.

Naw, you're not missing anything but a sick stomack cause of all the grease :c) What I like to do is look up the menues for each place, find copy cat recipes for what looks good and cook them at home. Then you have the best of both worlds, great food you can alter to your taste and comfortable surroundings.

I've made the garlic/cheese biscuits from Red Lobster, one of the soups from Olive Garden which is my DH's favorite and a few other things. You'd be surprised at how close they taste to the real thing!

I would rather drive three miles to one of the best steak houses in the United States....Jocko's.
I have never been to a Golden Corral and was very disappointed the one time I went to The Outback.
Our semi-local Red Lobster isn't too bad but with so many really good sea food places here on the coast, we usually only go there if we have a coupon.

The few times I have been R. Lobster, the food was good. I don't think there is a Golden Corral in Minnesota, or Jocko's. The closest Outback is in MPLS. I think. We have 3 restaurants in our area, and they have good food, and their menus are are so similar. But I wish there was a place close to us where we could get a seafood meal, and I don't mean breaded shrimp, or a REAL GOOD steak grilled the way I want it, Chared on the outside and rare on the inside. The best place where we used eat was in the town we used to live. The supper club there, you could get a choice of two entrees from about six choices, I always got the steak and scallopes, both done to perfection. Dotttie

Yeah, when I lived in SoCal that was something I never appreciated until now that we're in the midwest and a really good restaurant is hard to find. :c(

Dot, Jocko's is a locally owned steak house and the same family who opened it if the early 1900's still owns and runs it.
There is absolutely no ambience in the restaurant but the food is consistently very good and the service is good, especially if you are a "local,"
We have been going there for 50 years.
Come visit and I will treat you to dinner.

I'd like to see them get rid of the commercials for feminine produts or cyalis.

I used to go to Red Lobster occasionally and always enjoyed it. A little spendy but for a birthday or something it was fine.

I'd defy any fast food joint to make their stuff look like what's on the commercials.

For the most part though, I still prefer the smaller diners and such for good food.

I'm not a local but I get excellent service at Jocko's. LOL By your third visit you're a "regular". Had the lamb chops last time. Excellent. But next time I'll ask for a bit less rub. They were just a wee bit too salty.

I drive almost 203 miles for a Jocko's steak. Many people always put it on their itinerary when driving south.

It's a true carnivore's delight.

Don't have an Outback, but we do have Red Lobster, Subway and Golden Corral, also Olive Garden is fairly new here. We like them all.

I will never eat at an Outback again. I think there food is just awful and so salty it's inedible.

I also think alot of the difference is the management of these places.

We have an Outback that is OK. I like the little rack of lamb there and I have had good fried shrimp there too (no longer on the menu). I happen to think Red Lobster has the best ever tartar sauce and I have been known to stop in and get some to go when I'm frying fish at home. I also like the crab legs and the choices of side items. It's an easy,predictable place for me to dine out when I'm on a diet. (as long as I don't order anything fried because of the tartar sauce).

I cannot stand Olive Garden. Same goes for Chevy's. I will only go there with a group if I have someone to share a fajita platter with. Their food is about as non Mexican as food can get.

Keep in mind that chains (like Golden Corral, Western Sizzlin, Bonanza) are very different, depending on location they are in
Menu and ways of cooking changed this way and that to accomodate majority of population around.
I like Golden Corral in Gallop and Alamogordo, NM well enough. Food is baked and steamed and edible.
But I wouldn't be caught in any of them in Alabama.
Every single thing is deep fried to the point beyond recognition...

One thing I know is that the food shown in commercials is faked. They have artists who make the fake food so it looks real and big and beautiful. But it's made of plastic, foam, fabrics, paint,etc. It would have to be to stand up for hours under hot lights while being filmed and photographed I have a Subway near me and the real sandwiches don't look nearly as good as on TV. On TV the meat is shown hanging way out of the bread. No way that could be "real".

We've been enjoying the DVD of an old British TV show called "Pie in the Sky". A retiring police officer and heretofore amateur chef opens his own restaurant, featuring English standards he's worked up to be delicious. In one episode a salesman calls on him offering a full line of frozen entrees he could 'prepare' in a microwave. He also offers a gizmo that you insert into stale rolls to inject steam into them -- freshens them right up, he says! Our hero shows him the door.

If you can't order food with the sauce on the side -- it's probably pre-made to be microwaved.

The Golden Corrals I have been to in central Indiana have all been good. If it is a holiday expect to pay around $15 for your meal.

Sue