Red Lobster
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Red Lobster | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Division |
| Genre | Restaurants |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Founder | Bill Darden |
| Headquarters | Orlando, Florida |
| Products | Lobster, Shrimp, Steak, Chicken, Fries, Pasta |
| Parent | Darden Restaurants Inc. |
| Website | [1] |
Red Lobster is a U.S. chain of seafood restaurants. It also operates in Canada and Japan. It is aimed at the mid-level "casual dining" segment of the market. The menu includes a variety of specialty seafood and non-seafood entrees, appetizers, salads, and desserts.
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[edit] Company growth and franchises
Red Lobster was founded in 1968 by entrepreneur Bill Darden. Originally billed as a "Harbor for Seafood Lovers", the original restaurant in Lakeland, Florida was followed by several others throughout the Southeast. General Mills acquired Red Lobster in 1970 as a five-unit restaurant company and rapidly expanded the company nationwide. Today, there are over 600 Red Lobster locations throughout the United States and Canada. There are also a small number of Red Lobster restaurants located in Japan.
In 1995, Red Lobster (along with the Olive Garden, Smokey Bones (Smokey Bones was sold to Sun Capital Partners Inc. in 2007), and Bahama Breeze chains) became part of Darden Restaurants, which was spun off from General Mills as an independent, publicly traded corporation. Seasons 52 has since been added to the list of Darden owned and operated restaurants.
Red Lobster twice offered an endless snow crab leg promotion. However, in 2003 the promotion resulted in parent company Darden Restaurants taking a $3 million charge to third quarter earnings resulting in CEO Edna Morris' departure from the company. The ill-timed promotion was launched amid high wholesale crab legs prices. The chain also underestimated how many times guest would order more.[1] Further complicating matters at the restaurant level was the amount of time guests spent tableside in the restaurant cracking crab legs which increased wait times in the lobby and overall diminished guest capacity per hour.
There are currently 31 Red Lobsters in Canada (Red Lobster closed its Quebec locations in 1996), as well as Red Lobsters in 44 of the 50 states in the United States.
[edit] Red Lobster.com
Red Lobster.com offers a variety of features including information on restaurant locations, sea food recipes, and menu items. This can aid a first time visitor by allowing them to get an example of menu items that are found in their local restaurant. One may also view allergy information, to help prevent any unfortunate complication from shell fish allergies.
For the weight conscious, Red Lobster.Com offers a nutritional calculator for various menu items, so that patrons may see what they are eating before they venture into the restaurant.
[edit] Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Aside from its seafood and kids' toy treasure chest (since discontinued), Red Lobster is also known for its signature Cheddar Bay Biscuits which accompany a purchased entree; they are also available ala carte for carry out. The biscuits were introduced in the early 1990s; prior to that, Red Lobster served either garlic bread or hushpuppies.
The ingredients in the biscuits include a commercially available preblended biscuit mix and shredded cheddar cheese. After baking (in a convection oven which results in the finished product being of lighter consistency than using a conventional oven) they are brushed with a combination of "buttery sauce," consisting mostly of vegetable oil, salt, sugar and artificial coloring, and the same garlic seasoning powder used in the chain's shrimp scampi.
The preparation of the Cheddar Bay Biscuits is a complicated process. The biscuits must be mixed with ice water chilled to nearly 35 degrees. This is done to ensure that the biscuits rise properly to a rounded flaky delectable treat. The cheese is preportioned and the biscuits arrive at Red Lobster in a bag, similar to how one would find cake mix in a store. This package is then added to a bowl with the preportioned cheese and chilled water then mixed. The batter is scooped onto a pan and placed into the oven where they bake. The biscuits, in their final preparatory stage, are rubbed with scampi butter, the same as found on the "shrimp scampi,".
The Cheddar Bay Biscuits contain 160 calories and 9 grams of fat per biscuit.
[edit] References
- ^ Newton, Benita. "All-you-can-eat was too much", St. Petersburg Times, 2003-10-26.
[edit] External links
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