Red Lobster Gift Certificates

Hey!...

Not so much "where should I eat", but "what should I eat (or not eat)"... My Sweetie an I are the recipiants of $100 worth of Red Lobster certs and she's chomping at the bit to go... It's been years since I've been to one and the memories are not that good... I remember their bloody mary schooner's being better than the meals...
I also read some of the past posts on this site and am not getting excited by the reviews...
It's gonna happen eventually (soon) and any advice would be greatly appreciated...
FYI: I checked their menu on the web and so far am going with the steak (NY Strip) and lobster tail with a side of crab legs (not sure if snow or king)... Please Help... thank you...

Naybe, you should just "regift"!

quote:

Originally posted by Greymo

Naybe, you should just "regift"!

Crossing off the gift list whoever gave the certificates might not be a bad idea.

Here is what you do.
1. Chop up the gift card into 8 pieces.
2. Dip it into egg.
3. Dredge it in some flour and some good spices
4. Deep fry it at 350 degrees
5. This appetizer will be better than anything you can order off the menu
....Russ

I understand there are now web sites that will give you something like 75 cents on the dollar for toady gift cards.

when i go to RL i get the cheesy biscuits and the grilled chicken tenders over rice!! thats it no more no less .. Not bad!

I gave Red Lobster the benefit of the doubt a year or two ago when they opened a new one by me. I found it to be as bad as I remembered, maybe even worse. The only thing good is the Bloody Mary with the shrimp and foliage. I would go in, sit at the bar, have a cocktail, get your $90 change and go have a good meal, and not fast food, grease dripping re-heated, cat food the Red Lobster serves. It's bad, has been for a long time, and in no way should be associated with good seafood.

Kiowa1----> The steak and lobster sounds like a good bet to me! With a generous $$$ amount like that on a gift card you & your sweetie can go all out!!!! Go and have a wonderful time together, and remember, IT"S FREE!!! I wish someone would give me & my wife a great gift like that!
We don't go to Red Lobster because when I've gone long ago I felt that they drown everything in so much butter, they ruin some of the seafood dishes by doing that. That's why I figure the steak & lobster should be a good choice.
If *I* were paying, I'd choose somewhere else. But, for FREE??
I'd be looking forward to it!

jimsock9,

You have a great atitude but ,alas, I could not handle a meal there even if it was free. I would rather sit home with a peanut butter sandwich.

Can somebody explain to me what is so bad at Red Lobster.I've been there two times and the food was OK.Nothing great,nothing awful,just OK.Iwouldn't seek it out,but if I had a gift card I certainly would use it

quote:

Originally posted by JakerDog

I would go in, sit at the bar, have a cocktail, get your $90 change

Kiowa1 refers to certificates, which often are good for 1 use only and can't be redeemed for cash. Buy $20 worth with a $25 certificate and it's gone with nothing back to the user. Now if they really received gift cards the cards probably carry a balance but like the certificates can't be converted into currency.

I think some of the replies were written without this particular sentence in mind:

"My Sweetie an I are the recipiants of $100 worth of Red Lobster certs and she's chomping at the bit to go..."

It's only OK to refuse to go after you get married...

And if she likes it it's an opportunity for Kiowa1 to say, "Next time let's go to this seafood restaurant I read about on Roadfood..."

Brad

quote:

Originally posted by j-mar

Can somebody explain to me what is so bad at Red Lobster.I've been there two times and the food was OK.Nothing great,nothing awful,just OK.Iwouldn't seek it out,but if I had a gift card I certainly would use it

My thoughts exactly. Anyone who thinks a peanut butter sandwich at home is preferable to anything RL has to offer is nothing more than a food snob. It's a FREE meal for cryin' out loud. Come down off your high horse and fill up on lobster. This "snob" attitude of some supposed "roadfooders" is probably the one thing that turns me off the most. Try surviving for a few weeks after a hurricane that's left you with no electricity or running water and not having a restaurant of any kind within driving distance and see how reluctant you'd be to dine at a Red Lobster. Hell, in Florida in 2004 after a week of canned crap heated up on a grill, I was overjoyed to be waiting in line at Arby's. pb

My two grandsons love the place. When they wanna go, I have no choice. I enjoy their fresh hot cheese biscuits, Mamaw Smith enjoys their fried flounder and my daughter always gets a live lobster that is steamed. Their steamed veggies are also very good.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

You probably can use the card at any of the Darden owned restaurants, not just Red Lobster. FWIW, my MIL gives me $50 Red Lobster cards for every celebration. She likes going there, she comes from Central Illinois where the chains are a big deal and it makes her feel good about giving them to me. We go, their salmon salad is pretty good as are the broiled fresh fish items.

quote:

Originally posted by porkbeaks[
Anyone who thinks a peanut butter sandwich at home is preferable to anything RL has to offer is nothing more than a food snob. It's a FREE meal for cryin' out loud. Come down off your high horse and fill up on lobster. This 'snob' attitude of some supposed 'roadfooders' is probably the one thing that turns me off the most.

And the one thing that annoys me the most about Roadfooders is that a few of them (such as you) do not think anyone is entitled to their own opinion. I will state again 'I would rather sit home and eat a peanut butter sandwich than to eat at a Red Lobster'...........but thank you for your imput.

Yeah, disregarding the controversy here, my husband and I have the exact same problem which I talk about in another thread. Red Lobster was one of the gift cards we got, in fact -- I have not yet checked if their bar allows credit (which Jaker Dog was implying), but I know for a fact that they won't give you more than 10 dollars change back after your purchase. My husband is determined to swap all our cards out at leveragecard (I should probably make sure he's getting credit to someplace useful, actually...), I'm gonna re-gift a few, too.

If you are going to eat there...all I have to say is, enjoy, their cheese biscuits aren't terrible.

First off, from my numerous experiences receiving and using RL gift cards, a balance remains on it to be used later(much like any other merchants gift card that I know of.)I have never heard of a "certificate"? Secondly, IMO, the lobster fondue,stuffed (parchment wrapped)talapia, and shrimp scampi are downright delicious! Not to mention they do a VERY good Long Island iced tea!! Perhaps they do it better up here in my neck of the woods? Also, if you go for lunch on Tuesdays, you can pick 4 kinds of shrimp for like $12.99. Not bad eats IMO for a chain restaurant!

Here in landlocked north Texas, A salid, their famous bread w/ some extra butter, and the coconut shrimp, always makes me happy. And, I am not the only one here at Roadfood that likes that shrimp. It's about like Outback's coconut shrimp, but w/ a different dipping sauce.

That said;
I do not like their steaks.

I like the imitation lobster w/ garlic butter, that I make at home, better than their real lobster.

That said;
Kiowa, lets us know what you end up with.

There are also some other threads w/ some good info. The search might#%&? work to find them.
Joe

Well Kiowa ... This is pretty discouraging.

You can use the gift card at more than just Red Lobster.Just look on the back,and you can use it at Bahama Breeze,Olive Garden and several other places part of the Darden Group.
I ate there last Saturday for lunch,wasn't bad.But I was disappointed to find they didn't have on the menu the dish that had the lobster tail halves skewered with the large scallops.Yum,that was good.
They seemed to have changed the menu a bit,at least by me anyways.Want to go to joe's Crab Shack in the Alamo Quarry.Saw the ad on tv for their appetizers for 5 bucks,like mussels and some other stuff.

I saw that also Holly, and I made me wana go. The $5 crab nachos sound good. I am still mad at Joe's though, for taking Blue Crabs off the menu.
Joe

My wife likes to go out for lunch frequently so a RL lunch rolls around about one every 3-4 months. My standing order is a salad, tilapia in a bag, and 2-3 top shelf long island ice teas. A good time is had by all.

It's not great food...it's not bad food...it's just food. Go with somebody you like, let them enjoy the meal if they like the place, and that should be enough reason to eat drink and be merry imo.

Well said Larry! I must try one of those "Teas" next time.
Joe

Stand outside & scalp them...take the proceeds someplace that doesnt suck.

You must be part Native American like me Wm.
joe

Was forced into RL for a business meeting the other day - got the steak & shrimp - everything was good except the steak, and the service was exceptional.

I'd go back again,just wouldn't get the steak - has some kind of weird/nasty seasoning on it.

66Mike, not sure what makes their steaks not good. Maybe you'r right and it's the seasonings. I always thought it was the quility of meat they buy. It's ben years since I had one so I'm not sure. And... I am not a picky steak eater.

Luckely I do like their coconut shrimp and can just get that when I go. I have also had the grilled shrimp and it's not bad, but not great.

What kind of shrimp did you have Mike?
Joe

quote:

Originally posted by porkbeaks

quote:

Originally posted by j-mar

Can somebody explain to me what is so bad at Red Lobster.I've been there two times and the food was OK.Nothing great,nothing awful,just OK.Iwouldn't seek it out,but if I had a gift card I certainly would use it

My thoughts exactly. Anyone who thinks a peanut butter sandwich at home is preferable to anything RL has to offer is nothing more than a food snob. It's a FREE meal for cryin' out loud. Come down off your high horse and fill up on lobster. This "snob" attitude of some supposed "roadfooders" is probably the one thing that turns me off the most. Try surviving for a few weeks after a hurricane that's left you with no electricity or running water and not having a restaurant of any kind within driving distance and see how reluctant you'd be to dine at a Red Lobster. Hell, in Florida in 2004 after a week of canned crap heated up on a grill, I was overjoyed to be waiting in line at Arby's. pb

What a bunch of nonsense. Lawn clippings are free too but I’m not eating them. Just because someone is giving away crap doesn’t mean you should eat it. Under extreme conditions like hurricane survival, then you make do with whatever you have to survive, but give me a break. The premise was a dinner date at Red Lobster. And I would choose to not go to RL regardless of price because the food is bad, it’s sloppy, pre-frozen, breaking down, drowned in butter yuk. Free or not why waste the time. Maybe you like it, then in that case by all means go, and free is a bargain. But just because it’s free is a ridicules argument, then the survival stuff, come on, stay with the post. I give you a lot of credit for what you had to go through, and understand that sometimes you have to do what you have to do, we all have at some time. Give me a break.

quote:

Originally posted by Larry - RibRater - Jay

My wife likes to go out for lunch frequently so a RL lunch rolls around about one every 3-4 months. My standing order is a salad, tilapia in a bag, and 2-3 top shelf long island ice teas. A good time is had by all.

It's not great food...it's not bad food...it's just food. Go with somebody you like, let them enjoy the meal if they like the place, and that should be enough reason to eat drink and be merry imo.

Nicely said!

quote:

Originally posted by JakerDog

quote:

Originally posted by porkbeaks

quote:

Originally posted by j-mar

Can somebody explain to me what is so bad at Red Lobster.I've been there two times and the food was OK.Nothing great,nothing awful,just OK.Iwouldn't seek it out,but if I had a gift card I certainly would use it

My thoughts exactly. Anyone who thinks a peanut butter sandwich at home is preferable to anything RL has to offer is nothing more than a food snob. It's a FREE meal for cryin' out loud. Come down off your high horse and fill up on lobster. This "snob" attitude of some supposed "roadfooders" is probably the one thing that turns me off the most. Try surviving for a few weeks after a hurricane that's left you with no electricity or running water and not having a restaurant of any kind within driving distance and see how reluctant you'd be to dine at a Red Lobster. Hell, in Florida in 2004 after a week of canned crap heated up on a grill, I was overjoyed to be waiting in line at Arby's. pb

What a bunch of nonsense. Lawn clippings are free too but I’m not eating them. Just because someone is giving away crap doesn’t mean you should eat it. Under extreme conditions like hurricane survival, then you make do with whatever you have to survive, but give me a break. The premise was a dinner date at Red Lobster. And I would choose to not go to RL regardless of price because the food is bad, it’s sloppy, pre-frozen, breaking down, drowned in butter yuk. Free or not why waste the time. Maybe you like it, then in that case by all means go, and free is a bargain. But just because it’s free is a ridicules argument, then the survival stuff, come on, stay with the post. I give you a lot of credit for what you had to go through, and understand that sometimes you have to do what you have to do, we all have at some time. Give me a break.

And another foodsnob is heard from. pb