Stop eating so damn many crab legs!

[guajolote]

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/bus...ess/6853481.htm

executives said Red Lobster management had badly miscalculated how many times customers would refill their plates after paying $20 for an "endless" crab entree. Meanwhile, crab prices were going up, sending the profit margin crashing.

"It wasn't the second helping on all-you-can-eat but the third," said company chairman Joe R. Lee on a conference call.

"And maybe the fourth," added Rivera.

[MsRamsey]

I wonder why crab prices were going up. There was a huge glut in certain areas (at least in the Bay Area).

[=Mark]

What kind of crab are we discussing here?

[tommy]

What kind of crab are we discussing here?

really really crappy frozen-long-time crab i'm guessing.

[guajolote]

What kind of crab are we discussing here?

really really crappy frozen-long-time crab i'm guessing.

Certainly the cheapest crab legs you can buy.

The article also said that Olive Garden had record profits this last quarter.

[hsm]

What kind of crab are we discussing here?

really really crappy frozen-long-time crab i'm guessing.

Confession: had the crab legs at Red Lobster around 20 years ago (haven't been back since). As we were leaving the place, the hostess inquired how we liked our meal. I mentioned, nicely, I thought, that the crab legs were a little salty (they were awful - and salty). She smiled sweetly and assured me 'that's how they're supposed to be.'

H-now with a new Red Lobster 3 blocks away, but luckily, Joe's Stone Crab a few blocks more

[TrishCT]

I heard that the NYC Red Lobster is a huge success. I can't believe it's just the tourists eating there....

[Schneier]

I heard that the NYC Red Lobster is a huge success.  I can't believe it's just the tourists eating there....

It's a huge success everywhere in the U.S. Olive Garden is a huge success. People want easy and cheap; food quality is secondary.

Bruce

[vengroff]

People want easy and cheap; food quality is secondary.

Don't forget volume. For many people, if you are going to spend $12.95 or more, you better get a damn big portion. If at least some part of the meal is all-you-can-eat, that's even better. Half the quantity of a higher quality product at the same price point doesn't cut it in our supersized world.

[tommy]

I heard that the NYC Red Lobster is a huge success.  I can't believe it's just the tourists eating there....

yeah, out of the 3 million people in NYC, i'm guessing that at least a few thousand would probably like the red lobster. maybe more.

although varmint is in town, so add 1 to that total.

Edited September 26, 2003 by tommy (log)

[Toliver]

I heard that the NYC Red Lobster is a huge success.  I can't believe it's just the tourists eating there....

It's a huge success everywhere in the U.S. Olive Garden is a huge success. People want easy and cheap; food quality is secondary.

Bruce

Sorry to disagree, but Olive Garden can't be called "cheap". Perhaps "mid-range" would be a more appropriate term. "Cheap", in comparison, would be Denny's, IHOP, etc.

Edited to remove a letter.

Edited September 26, 2003 by Toliver (log)

[Ladybug]

I heard that the NYC Red Lobster is a huge success.  I can't believe it's just the tourists eating there....

It's a huge success everywhere in the U.S. Olive Garden is a huge success. People want easy and cheap; food quality is secondary.

Bruce

The people who eat at Red Lobster and Olive Garden don't think the quality is secondary - in fact, it's probably better than what they make at home. Think Hamburger Helper.

[Mabelline]

To say nothing of the kids on dates who go "all out" to impress by taking their girl to a sit down restaurant.

[jschyun]

What kind of crab are we discussing here?

I think they use snow crab legs. Probably frozen and dumped into a vat of salt water or...something.

[malcolmjolley]

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/bus...ess/6853481.htm

executives said Red Lobster management had badly miscalculated how many times customers would refill their plates after paying $20 for an "endless" crab entree. Meanwhile, crab prices were going up, sending the profit margin crashing.

"It wasn't the second helping on all-you-can-eat but the third," said company chairman Joe R. Lee on a conference call.

"And maybe the fourth," added Rivera.

holy sh*t, that's funny!

[WHT]

I heard that the NYC Red Lobster is a huge success.  I can't believe it's just the tourists eating there....

yeah, out of the 3 million people in NYC, i'm guessing that at least a few thousand would probably like the red lobster. maybe more.

although varmint is in town, so add 1 to that total.

Chicago is about 3 Million people. NYC is closer to 9 Million.

[WHT]

What kind of crab are we discussing here?

I think they use snow crab legs. Probably frozen and dumped into a vat of salt water or...something.

If I remember the advertisment it is Alaskan King Crab.

[=Mark]

I can't say that Red Lobster is nessesarily cheap eats. Entree prices there are comparable to family owned seafood places down here off Exit109. If they were in fact Alaskan King Crab legs then I'd kill them for $20 all I could eat! Bear in muind that all Alaskan King Crab is precooked and flash frozen aboard ship; the stuff Red Lobster is getting is the same stuff you'll get at any other seafood place. These crab legs are ranging from $10 to $13 per pound at most local markets, and is being offered for $20 to $26 per pound at local midrange restaurants.

I could easily go through more than 2 pounds of the stuff at a sitting, don't bring me beer, don't bring me coleslaw or fries, just a dish of melted butter and a plastic rain slicker and watch those shells pile up! This is about my favorite food. This would be the only time I could be enticed into a Red Lobster.

Snow Crab legs on the other hand bite fuzzy monkey balls.

Edited September 26, 2003 by =Mark (log)

[tommy]

I heard that the NYC Red Lobster is a huge success.  I can't believe it's just the tourists eating there....

yeah, out of the 3 million people in NYC, i'm guessing that at least a few thousand would probably like the red lobster. maybe more.

although varmint is in town, so add 1 to that total.

Chicago is about 3 Million people. NYC is closer to 9 Million.

yeah yeah, that's what i meant.

[beans]

It most certainly is *not* Alaskan King Crab. It is mushy, skinny snow crab legs. Oh, btw, most crab and shrimp, at least in Alaska, are frozen in sea water.

I went to a Red Lobster some time back last Spring. It was a reunion of sorts for some old employees and a previous gathering, a few years back, was at an Olive Garden (easily located, large party/group gatherings friendly, middle of the road in price/food). In all honesty, the meals were not cheap and I was deilghted with the herbed fresh baked bisquits and baby lobster tails (langostinos probably) sauted and tossed with shallots, red bell peppers, garlic and carrots in an herbed butter sauce. They were sweet, succulent little creatures! Not rubbery or tough at all. I was pleasantly surprised. My old buddy had a baked Tilapia fillet that was mild and delicious.

Not that I'll choose to ever go back for dinner, unless of course those that are into planning our Opening Team reunions opt for the crusty, seafaring Red Lobster again!

Trust me, unfortunately, I've had worse at better restaurants....

[Human Bean]

Snow Crab legs on the other hand bite fuzzy monkey balls. 

Preach it, bro!

I've had snow crab several times, mostly at buffets, and still have no real idea what they taste like. The work/reward ratio is just too high. No way would I pay Red Lobster $20 for unlimited snow crab; if it were king crab, I'm there, they go broke, which almost seems to be what happened according to the article. $10 buffet is another matter; the crab is a sideshow.

Snow crab: Imagine a soda straw with a bit of meat inside. Except that the soda straw is made of bone, and it takes a relatively long time to get to the tiny bit of meat. No thanks.

King Crab: Takes some work to get to the meat, but once you're there, there are large chunks of tasty crab waiting for you. My main complaint about this one isn't the price; it's variable and has been more expensive recently. On sale, it's fabulous. But I've had some batches that were way too salty; I'm rather sensitive to excessive salt.

Dungeness Crab: The left-coast favorite. Takes a lot of time to clean, but the work is more than worth it; ambrosia translated to crab. Total oral-gasm.

[Jinmyo]

Sorry to disagree, but Olive Garden can't be called "cheap".  Perhaps "mid-range" would be a more appropriate term.  "Cheap", in comparison, would be Denny's, IHOP, etc.

Time out, please.

I understand cheap to be less than $40. Mid-range is about $80. High end around $150. For average per person, including wine.

How far off am I?

Is Olive Garden around $80 per person?

[Pan]

Jinmyo, you think $80/person is mid-range? Only something around $150 is high range? Maybe for millionaires everything less than $1,000/person is cheap, but what kind of world are most of us living in?

Even in New York, you're wrong. No way is $80 "mid-range." I think that the New York Times and most individual New Yorkers recognize that $40/person is not really cheap, considering the prices in Chinatown, for example. And if it's not cheap, but assuming we don't consider it expensive compared to restaurants in the $75-100/person range, it's mid-range. Don't get me started, because if you ask me, $30 isn't cheap either, and over $50/person is expensive - but that's based on what I can reasonably afford, rather than the actual structure of restaurant pricing in New York.

More importantly, $80/person is significantly more than the amount I'd pay at any Italian restaurant in the East Village including I Coppi, which is too expensive for me to go to unless someone else pays. I can get a very satisfying meal at Col Legno for under $30/person, and Lavagna and Il Bagatto are better and cost anywhere between about $35-55. Now, what about those prices at the Olive Garden again?

[tommy]

Time out, please.

I understand cheap to be less than $40. Mid-range is about $80. High end around $150. For average per person, including wine.

How far off am I?

Is Olive Garden around $80 per person?

i eat in NYC a lot. i don't consider 40 cheap. i consider 20 cheap. actually i consider 10 cheap. but i'll settle for 20.

perhaps a new thread on "what defines 'cheap' in NYC" would be appropriate?

Edited September 28, 2003 by tommy (log)

[Pan]

I agree with Tommy. Cheap is less than $15 or so. We have to make more categories than cheap, moderate, and high-end. How about cheap, inexpensive, moderate, expensive, very expensive? OK, he's right that it's time for a new thread, too...