Head of Red Lobster Replaced After All-You-Can-Eat Failure

Associated Press ^ | 9/24/03 | Richard Gibson

[jimbo123]

DES MOINES, Iowa (Dow Jones/AP) - Darden Restaurants Inc. Wednesday said it had replaced the head of Red Lobster, its biggest chain, after an all-you-can-eat crab promotion went awry.

Darden President and Chief Operating Officer Dick Rivera will succeed Edna Morris as president of Red Lobster.

Morris, who had been in that job just 18 months, left to pursue other interests, the company said.

Darden 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.

[JENNIFER_SMITH]

"One more after dinner mint, sir?"

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

"But it's only waffer thin."

[Fledermaus]

Aww, too bad. We'll make sure that only visually-approved people are allowed to be out in public.

Don't give the idiots on the left any ideas please! lol

[Fledermaus]

I don't know, but I worked at a Whirlpool factory in Ft. Smith, AR in the summer of 1978 and 1979.

You could buy any drug you wanted in that place.

[BufordP]

LOL!

[Crawdad]

I don't want to go anywhere and pay money to "share" anything.

[ThirstyMan]

I don't bother with 'all you can eat' menus because I'm not a greedy pig. They were stupid in the first place to offer 'all you can eat' in the fattest nation on the planet in the first place.

Red Lobster isn't the first restaurant chain to find this out. One or two food hogs showing up every night and not leaving can throw the profit margin way off.
KFC tried an all-you-can-eat buffet around here and it went "belly up" as well. ha!
Too many food hogs in America. Overheard at a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant, "You go home now. You no good. You too fat"

[AppyPappy]

Actually, I worked for a woman who ran a Chinese buffet. She said she always made money by the end of the week. The small eaters generally override the big eaters.

I remember her walking up to this big guy who was on his 5th plate saying "I like you. You big eater. You leave nothing on plate. Child in China die for that". It was hilarious because she really didn't speak pidgen like that.

[Skooz]

Bump for later, for some reason.

[Ichneumon]

"I like you. You big eater. You leave nothing on plate. Child in China die for that". It was hilarious because she really didn't speak pidgen like that.

I once read about a true incident many years ago involving a woman who was invited to a diplomat's dinner, back in the days when international travel still wasn't a routine thing and foreign visitors were considered rather exotic. Seated across from her was the US Ambassador from China, who she was told had just arrived in the United States. He remained quiet during the meal, and in an effort to make conversation and help him feel welcome, she motioned towards the soup bowl he was eating from and tentatively asked, "likee soupy"? He just smiled and nodded politely.

As the meal ended, it turned out that one of the after-dinner speakers was the Ambassador from China himself, who went to the podium and delivered an eloquent speech in flawless, cultured English.

When he ended his speech, he walked back to his seat, sat down, and asked the woman, "likee speechy?"

[willieroe]

I do not care what the article said. From personal experience, I was not willing to spend that amount of money for crab claws.

Well, bully for you, big guy. I understand now.

[KneelBeforeZod]

"Kitchen Confidential" might be a interesting read for you. Lots of drugs and scandals even in high end dining

[Pyro7480]

"Rock Lobster" is among the silliest and weirdest pop hits in history.

[Kieri]

That's why I generally skip Snow Crab, even though I enjoy all types of seafood. On the other hand, when King Crab is available, ooh baby... It's more expensive than Snow Crab, but a) it tastes better, and b) it's bigger, so each leg or claw segment gives up a much larger chunk of meat. Great stuff.

I love snow crab AND king, but my favorite has to be Dungeness. I had some at Friendly's Family Restaurant (not the chain) in southern Florida and it was the BEST crab I'd ever had.

Crab is the "great equalizer" for me. I had a gstric bypass 11+ years ago, and eat very slowly. Most of the time when I go out to dinner with friends and family, I'm still working on my entree when they bring the check. That gets tedious! Crab forces THEM to slow down, I don't fill up that fast and we finish at the same time.

The quality of crab at Red Lobster varies. The one we visited in Pontiac, MI was pretty poor, and they changed their regular shrimp in the scampi dishes to popcorn shrimp! What cheapskates! The RL in Jackson (our new home), on the other hand, is 100% better. The food is always hot and the service is consistently excellent. They should never fire that manager and the waitstaff deserves a raise.

[Old Professer]

The combined weight of myself, my wife, my 19 year old daughter, 2 Lab-mix male dogs and an Australian female dog is 540 pounds.

[Old Professer]

Sounds more like a way-station for indentured immigrant workers than a legitimate restaurant.

[BallandPowder]

Powder..Patch..Ball FIRE!

numerous skinned DOG carcasses in the meat freezer

Nothing wrong with a little beagle in your General Tsou if it is prepared correctly...(grin)

[metesky]

dennis, Red Lobster sucks out loud anyway. If anyone thinks they're getting fresh seafood from Red lobster, they're sadly mistaken.

Red Lobster had franchises in Hyannis and Bangor. Neither one could compete with real seafood and closed their doors.

Maybe it works in St. Louis, but not on the coast.

[rftc]

Nope, Red Lobster pretty much blows everywhere..

[AmishDude]

"All You Can Eat" is not an offer.

It's a challenge!