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When I was growing up I was taught, "Cheaters never win and winners never cheat," and I've lived my life that way. Unfortunately I have to agree with you, I've noticed that often times cheaters do get ahead and even prosper. It's sad, but it seems like I read a stories on a regular basis about people getting ahead by doing things I consider unethical, questionable, and/or wrong.
Yes, too often they get ahead and even think they are really smart to have done so, but as pointed out; That is a formula to kill a career and an industry. They are thieves that grab and run. Hopefully, more want to leave a legacy of honesty and respectability.
So yeah like I said...cheating, deception, chasing pennies, bait-and-switch, sleight of hand, taking shortcuts...that *IS* how many, perhaps MOST businesses (and by extension-individuals) get ahead, if not survive.
You should turn yourself in to local authorities before they come grab you off the street. By the way, there was no housing bubble. There wasn't any dot-com bubble either. These are pop-culture buzzwords created by propagandists building cover stories for the guilty. And the bailouts were not to save Wall Street or the weasels there who caused the credit crisis. The bailouts were to save YOU -- your job, your income, your home, your hopes for the future. Sorry if you were too busy to notice.
It's sad, but it seems like I read a stories on a regular basis about people getting ahead by doing things I consider unethical, questionable, and/or wrong.
Sensationalized sound bites provided without context or followup. Just because there is so much of it is not a reason to start thinking that faux-journalism is something to believe in.
Every Olive Garden I have been to seems to be crowded at all hours. Even better, young and old seem to like it, which is pretty rare.
I can only imagine it is because every time someone has relatives visiting from Italy, the first place they want to go when getting here is Olive Garden. At least, that's what their commercials say.
I think some folks here are confusing "not profitable" with how busy a restaurant is. Olive Garden and Red Lobster may be very busy, but that does not mean they're profitable. If they can't price their food properly in an effort to provide affordable food and beverage to customers, they're not going to be profitable no matter how many people get in the door.
The seafood market is much more volatile these days. What used to be up is now down (N. Atlantic lobster, for instance) and what is now up is hard to get due to regulation. I can understand why Red Lobster might be having issues.
Personally, I think both are decent. I like them just fine. They're not ever my first choice for either type of cuisine, but I'm no snob--there's plenty of things to like at either. Plus, there's a nostalgia factor for many of us...
The big chain operations are very successful when compared to the local eateries that have suffered from their chain competitors popularity. I prefer to eat at the local establishments just for the fact that they seem to have a better fix on what their customers want in both service and flavor. American's don't have much of a local sense anymore, large spread out burbs have depleted any notions of small business loyalty, instead American's want the predictability that chains offer.
As for lawyers going after money, I'd have to ask what's new about that? it was pointed out that there must be reason to believe a valid case is there, and that the courts will probably agree. The thing that should be obvious is the fact of how structured big business needs to be, and therefore the policies and procedures are probably flawed with regard to wage, hours, and compensation. Management dictates in those large chains are almost always a matter of following corporate policy, and cost cutting is probably way up there on the priorities, much more than food quality.
Not sure about your Macaroni Grill, but at ours the salad is extra. What Italian food place doesn't include salad with their entrees???? I would rather have a salad included with my meal than free olive oil with a little bit of ground pepper in it (and not much of that). We only went there because my boss gave me a gift card. I got a survey from them and told them that once the GC ran out we wouldn't be back. They were surprised and wanted to know what they could do to get me back and I told them that I thought charging extra for salad was ridiculous, on top of the high entree prices, so there was nothing they could do. Haven't tried the Carrabas because it's located just a block down the street from the Olive Garden and we know that we like it.
We love the soup, salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden. Go for lunch and that's cheaper than a crap lunch at a fast food place. Or if we go for dinner, We get the soup and breadsticks and eat that for dinner and take the entree home for a second meal. I can truthfully say that I don't remember having a totally bad meal at an OG, and we have eaten at many of them.
Now Red Lobster I can take or leave, but then I don't like seafood. We usually only go there for hubby's birthday during the all you can eat shrimp. I get their chicken and it is pretty good, but I love their biscuits!
Olive Garden. It's that $15 plus bill for what amounts to a 45 cent dish of noodles and some breadsticks. The sedentary 280 pounders that flock to those places need those complex carbs like a hole in the head.
The problem with most mid-level chains is that, even if they start out decent, they mostly seem to follow the same model/path to destruction because they will inevitably hit a point of where profit is more important than quality. They will constantly pursue ways to make a dish less expensive to produce. While this may work well with fast food burgers, there is only so far you can dumb down Italian cuisine, steaks, seafood, etc. Inevitably, they play down to their competition and become direct competitors in poor quality. I remember when Macaroni Grill and Carrabba's were both relatively good for what they were (15 years ago for Macaroni Grill, 5 years ago or so for Carrabba's). Now, neither of them are really any good at all, but the price point is still there. The model becomes basically whatever cheapness they can get you to toss down your gullet at a constant or increasing profit. With Italian, that means cheap pastas and canned sauces heated up by culinary school dropouts and served with bottomless iceberg "salad" and breadsticks (i.e., the Olive Garden model). No thanks.
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