Pizza Italian vs. Prima Potti

[Jerry Moran]

I don't have a problem with chain or downscale restaurants, provided the food is well prepared.  As a matter of practice, I would always choose a small privately owned place over a chain.

My 90 year old mother insisted on going to Golden Corral in OP a few weeks ago.  I had never been, and most of the stuff was pretty good.  Decent salad offerings, meatloaf, chicken, baked fish and pot roast were good. Had some stir fry pork that was basic but tasty.  Excellent yeast rolls.  Fresh vegetables, including brussel sprouts.  The key was that the majority of the food was fresh and well prepared.

Interesting service style.  Multiple stations with cooks continually replenishing the service trays.  Couldn't beat the price at $5.50.  If I were retired and broke and on social security and my wife/maid/nurse/whatever had croaked, I would probably be there every day.

[ChriswUfGator]

I don't have a problem with chain or downscale restaurants, provided the food is well prepared.  As a matter of practice, I would always choose a small privately owned place over a chain.

My 90 year old mother insisted on going to Golden Corral in OP a few weeks ago.  I had never been, and most of the stuff was pretty good.  Decent salad offerings, meatloaf, chicken, baked fish and pot roast were good. Had some stir fry pork that was basic but tasty.  Excellent yeast rolls.  Fresh vegetables, including brussel sprouts.  The key was that the majority of the food was fresh and well prepared.

Interesting service style.  Multiple stations with cooks continually replenishing the service trays.  Couldn't beat the price at $5.50.  If I were retired and broke and on social security and my wife/maid/nurse/whatever had croaked, I would probably be there every day.

Yeah yeah yeah, whatever, you're being polite now. It's the same thing as doctors and lawyers all hating to criticize another one's work. There is no defense for raving about Red Lobster and bashing La Cena and Prima Piatti. I once got dragged (funny you mentioned this age group in connection with this type of restaurant) to Red Lobster by my grandmother. I decided to brave the surf and turf special and asked for medium rare on the steak. The reply; "We're out of the medium rare, but I can bring you a filet and then up charge for a side lobster tail."

Naturally, now I was somewhat puzzled. I said "but I thought you just said you were were out of the steak?" whereupon it was explained to me that they get most of their stuff pre packed and precooked from corporate, and all they do at the restaurant is pretty much just heat it up and plate it with sides. When she said they were out of the medium rare, she really meant they were out of the medium rare.   

My point, Jerry, was the credibility gap that arises in my mind when someone bashes the quality of the two best Italian restaurants in the city and then gives good reviews to Red Lobster and Hungry Howie's.

I know to each their own, but I can't make sense of this one. 

[fsujax]

Kostas Pizza Italian in 5 Points is great. Good food, cheap prices and usually too much to eat. I go there quite often with my grandparents. They love it.

[Jerry Moran]

Red Lobster is a prime example of no cooking going on.  At the Corral, the steaks, looked like hip (sirloin) steaks, were being grilled right there. Also, the desserts, though none appealed to me, were being put together by a cook. Batter and such being poured into cake pans and shoved in an oven, so at least the Corral is trying.  At places like Red Lobster, everything comes in a box or package, and is simply finished by heating in some manner or plated.

[SecularHumanist]

My goodness, such rage directed at an innocent software engineer who expresses his personal opinions on his dining experiences!    I always thought that sites like Urbanspoon and Yelp were forums for the community, the public, to express their opinions.

I'm sorry if you, or anyone else, finds it difficult to believe that a person who eats at Allegro in Prague one week might have a meal at Red Lobster or Golden Corral the next week.   Having grown up very poor but then having had my circumstances change significantly, I always thought that I brought a unique perspective to dining.

Rather than engage in pointless ad hominem attacks, why not present logical, dispassionate evidence to dispute my claims?   I think it is because you have none.   In any argument, when one side has nothing of substance to say, they will resort to attacking their opponent.  Questioning their identity, perhaps even their birth certificate!   

I've never made a secret of my identity, and have been quite open in general.   For this site, and some others, I have chosen a 'screen name' of Secular Humanist because it amused me, and it is a characteristic which distinguishes me from a lot of other residents down here.   This is actually a common practice on discussion boards, especially for software engineers.

[cayohueso]

Moon River.

There...I fixed it.