Red Lobster... (Oak Ridge, Maryville, Kingston: apartments, lease, home)

[bebette]

Hi aaronncas.......My hubby and I moved to Oak Ridge last month and we love the RL here! The staff is very friendly and the service has always been great. We eat there at least once a week, and the employees always seem to be happy, so that seems to me to be a good sign!!

Good luck with your move!!!

[gemkeeper]

Welcome to Knoxville, aaronncaus. (Don't look at my location!)

Are you going to have the opportunity to visit Knoxville for a few days before putting in your request for your transfer?

If it was me, I would visit each of the 3 locations. Being an employee already, you would know what to look for and what you would like to see happening everyday when you show up for work. A visit to each RL might help you make a decision flash-Gordon quick.

My family always loves RL and we have lived all over, including MI for 16+ yrs., and never ate in a bad one. They must have a great upper management team that keeps the quality and staffing pretty consistent everywhere.

[mysticfire0213]

I can attest to the food other than seafood-I don't like seafood from anywhere-and everyone here thinks I am strange because I live in MD and wont get within 10 ft of crab--or anything else seafood related! They however, DO have an AWESOME steak, if you are a steak fan! It has been a few years, but I loved it!

Good luck with whichever one you pick, and with your move to TN-we'll be doing the same soon, probably by the end of next month!

[charz]

I ate at the Merchants Drive location at Christmas. They were busy, but handled it well. We had very friendly customer service who dealt very well with our party (we had two children and an 85 and 90 year old who both kept telling our server information that no one wanted to hear, but the server was polite and courteous the entire time. I can't speak for the other location, but I was impressed with that one.

[JMT]

I've never had a bad experience at any Red Lobster I've ever eaten at. And since Red Lobster is pretty much my parents' favorite chain restaurant, we've eaten at a bunch of them. I've never eaten at the one in Oak Ridge, but the two in Knoxville have both been excellent. I think the one in Oak Ridge is a little smaller than the other two, and the one on Kingston Pike is probably the largest of the three in case that makes any difference in which one you choose.

Good luck!

[fallfanatic]

I have been to the one on Merchants dr many times over the years. We tend to go during the slower hours but even then it seemed to be busy and the food and service have always been great. I have been to many Red Lobesters across the U.S and they are always very good and very consistant. It must be the way the company is run and the standards they hold. I imagine you will be happy at any location. As suggested, visiting each one at different hours is probably a good way to decide. Congratulations on your move.

[joeblow1]

We eat at the Merchant Dr. one a few times a years. Its good but they have a bar and people smoke when I was their last so its not high on my list of places to eat.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by joeblow1

We eat at the Merchant Dr. one a few times a years. Its good but they have a bar and people smoke when I was their last so its not high on my list of places to eat.

People can't smoke in restaurants in Tennessee since October 1. Any restaurants.

[aaronncas]

I LOOOOOVE The no smoking rule states are now having!! Michigan still allows smoking in restaurants and its SOOOOOOOO gross!!! (no offense smokers, but its a nasty habit)

I'm still torn... I am going to have my GM help me out pulling up some numbers that we look at that might better determine which one to work at. We are going to be living in Oak Ridge, so part of me thinks just work there, save gas....but if its not a very busy/money maker then the drive to lets say, Merchants Dr. would be worth it....ahhhh who knows...I'll figure it out....

Thanks for all the great input...soon enough I'll probably be serving some of you

[joeblow1]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

People can't smoke in restaurants in Tennessee since October 1. Any restaurants.

Yep your right I called and its non smoking now. Much better!

OR is pretty cheap to live the rents are quite a bit less then Knox is. There school system is also quite good if you have kids and I think the high school building has just been upgraded.

There are a few negatives about OR you might want to look into as far as what they have done there in the past and present with the governement research etc.