Red Lobster is Bringing Healthy Back

Besides being the sexiest restaurant in Times Square, Red Lobster will now also be the healthiest!

Read the article below, courtesy of my friend Erica who seems to love a good cheesy biscuit as much as I do. The article is about how Red Lobster is launching a new website to coincide with it's new healthier menus and fresh food choices. There is nothing I love more than healthy options at a stellar chain.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=66424&Nid=33681&p=293105

I can not wait to go back soon!

The Chains of Atlantic City

I love Atlantic City and I am not ashamed to admit it! It really has all the elements I love about a vacation. The beach, boardwalk, gambling (but I wish they had Sports betting), shopping and most importantly excellent chain restaurants. AC is really a chain restaurant meca. Below is my list of the best chains Atlantic City offers.

1) P.F. Chang's - Located in the Quarter at Tropicana Chang's gets my number one vote. I can go on for hours about why I love this place. The lettuce wraps, wonton soup, mongolian beef, double pan fried noodles. It really is a culinary extravaganza!

2) Carmine's -Also located at the Quarter at Tropicana this family style Italian restaurant is a NY gem that standouts in AC. Their chicken parm is my favorite.

3) Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - Located at Caesar's (not the pier) if you are going to have steak in AC I would do it here.

4) Hard Rock Cafe - Located at Trump Taj Mahal this classic chain serves up some of the best burgers and fries any chain has to offer.

5) House of Blues - Located at the Showboat hotel this fun chain serves up great soul food. I recommend the shrimp! It is much better than the new Southern Hospitality that opened here in NY. Sorry JT stick to stealing Jeter's ladies and singing songs about Brit Brit.

Other chains that did not make the top 5

(Applebee's, The Palm, Hooters, Rain Forest Cafe, Morton's)

Also I was unsure if I could count all the Steven Starr restaurants. Yes many of them have multiple locations but are they really national chains???? I guess they are. Next blog posting will just be about how much I love them all.

LC Loves Pinkberry Too!

OMG did you see the Hills last night?????????????????????

LC and Lo love and eat Pinkberry too. They were eating it in last nights episode.

LC if you are reading this, next time you are in NY, Pinkberry is on me!

Bergen County Restaurant Row - Keep Them Coming

The second of the Northern Bergen County Restaurant Row opened last week. I of course ran over to check it out and I was very pleased. PF Changs opened its doors and from what I saw things were going very well. On Saturday night it was packed. I was lucky enough to get a reservation. The food was like always amazing and the staff was very attentive. This is a wonderful addition to Bergen County. I can not wait for the next one to open!

I think if the Sopranos were still on the air there would definitely be an episode about Tony eating at PF Changs. As king of Bergen County I doubt he would have to wait.

Oh How I Wish I Was in Cali

Tonight is a big night in the world of chain restaurants. Restaurants and Institutions is having an awards ceremony at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California. What a night, three of my favorite things, chain restaurants, Ritz Carlton's and parites all rolled up in one night. I really wish I was in California because I would go to this event.
Below is a list of the winners. You will see some of my favorites are on the list as well as some of my least favorites. Let me know what you think.
BURGERS:
Culver's Platinum Winner
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Gold Winner
In-N-Out Burger Silver Winner
CAFETERIA/BUFFET:
Sweet Tomatoes Platinum Winner
Golden Corral Steak,
Buffet & Bakery Gold Winner
Ryan's Grill, Buffet & Bakery Silver Winner
CASUAL DINING:
P.F. Chang's China Bistro Platinum Winner
The Cheesecake Factory Gold Winner
California Pizza Kitchen Silver Winner
CHICKEN:
Chick-fil-A Platinum Winner
El Pollo Loco Gold Winner
Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits Silver Winner
COFFEE/SNACKS:
Starbucks Coffee Platinum Winner
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Gold Winner
Tim Hortons Silver Winner
FAMILY DINING:
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Platinum Winner
Bob Evan's Gold Winner
Mimi's Cafe Silver Winner
ITALIAN:
Olive Garden Platinum Winner
Carrabba's Italian Grill Gold Winner
Buca di Beppo Silver Winner
MEXICAN:
Baja Fresh Mexican Grill Platinum Winner
On the Border Mexican
Grill & Cantina Gold Winner
Chipotle Mexican Grill Silver Winner
PIZZA:
Papa Murphy's Take 'N Bake Pizza Platinum Winner
Pizza Hut Gold Winner
CiCi's Pizza Silver Winner
SANDWICH:
Panera Bread Platinum Winner
Jason's Deli Gold Winner
Subway Silver Winner
SEAFOOD:
Red Lobster Platinum Winner
Joe's Crab Shack Gold Winner
Captain D's Silver Winner
STEAKHOUSE:
Outback Steakhouse Platinum Winner
LongHorn Steakhouse Gold Winner
Famous Dave's Silver Winner
TREATS:
Cold Stone Creamery Platinum Winner
Haagen-Dazs Gold Winner
Jamba Juice Silver Winner

(Thanks Shirra for this information)

The Palm is not the Bomb but it is still pretty good.

I recently had lunch at the Palm and I have to say, it is good, but it is certainly not the bomb.

The service is really what brings this place down a bit, at least the one I just went to. Our waiter pretty much told us that because a table of 10 is coming soon he is kind of going to have to pay more attention to them. What, who says that.?? Sadly, he did pay more attention to them

Ok, on to the food. To start I must give props to the bread basket. It is everything a steak place bread basket should be. There are lots of choices like garlic rolls, walnut raisin bread, breadsticks, etc.

There are lots of appetizers and salads to start which is nice because I like options. For my most recent visit I ordered a salad off the special summer menu and it was very eh. It was really just lettuce and watermelon in a light dressing. It was good but not outstanding. Next time I would like to try the shrimp appetizer or a house salad. Those looked good. For my entree I got a small Filet which was very good, cooked perfectly so I was happy with that. The annoying part of the entree portion were the sides. I again ordered off of the special summer menu which I think was a mistake. I got this slaw thing because it said it had apples in it. When it came out it was this weird purple thing that did not taste so great. Note to self, just eat apples as apples, you do not need them in your slaw. We also ordered truffle fries. They were essentially fries covered in Parmesan cheese. I liked them because I like fries and I like Parmesan cheese. Next time though I would stick with the staples like homefries (hmm those looked good) and mashed potatoes.
For dessert they bring out this huge tray with all of the options on it. Wow, everything looked so delicious, especially the carrot cake. I did not get any but it looked good!

The Palm is still family owned, probably one of the only chain restaurants around that still is. I think that is pretty cool.

Pinkberry - A Nice Treat

After a long run on Saturday I decided to treat myself to some Pinkberry. For those of you not in the know, Pinkberry is all the rage in California and is not making its imprint here in NY. What it is, is a pure frozen yogurt place, not fake chemical stuff (not that I mind that). They only have two flavors vanilla and green tea. I of course got vanilla. I love vanilla which is kind of ironic because I think my personality is so not vanilla. So because this is actual frozen yogurt it does not really taste like ice cream, instead it is more like actual yogurt and therefore a little sour. I think it takes a while to get used to it but once you do it is very tasty and refreshing. The awesome thing about this place is all the fresh toppings they offer. They pretty much have every fruit plus granola and cereal, yup cereal. I love cereal!

So, here is the annoying thing about Pinkberry, it is kind of expensive. It cost me close to 6 bucks for a small cup with pineapple and granola. Also because there are only a few locations in NY, the line here can be very long. Luckily I went early and did not have to wait in line.

Ruby Tuesday's Great Bar (Salad Of Course)

I recently went to Ruby Tuesday's and I have to say I was quite impressed. I used to love going to this place with my hetero-lifemate back when I was in college but since then I kind of forgot how good it is. Lucky for me, I was reunited last weekend.

No, this is not a Cheesecake Factory, Houston's kind of place, not at all. I would compare it more to a Friday's or an Applebee's.

The best thing about Ruby Tuesday's is definitely its salad bar. It is a vast bar of great options. I am really not a huge vegetable fan and I was still was able to find many things that I like. They had every kind lettuce to choose from. On my salad I got crasins, sunflower seeds, some yummy brown croutons. cous cous, cucumbers and edamame. I love that they had edamame. It was so trendy of them. For my dressing I got a low fat balsamic that was quite tasty. If you are normal and actually eat veggies they have lots of options for you as well as some fun pasta salads. They only thing missing from this salad bar was chocolate pudding and pineapple chunks. Back in the day I am pretty sure both of these things were on the bar.

A great feature of this place is that you can get some food options with your salad bar at a reasonable price. For example you can get the salad bar and then two mini burgers and fries for 9 bucks. That is great! I got a delicious White Bean Soup and the salad bar for around $8.50. I think that is a great deal.

Of course the menu is not just the salad bar. They had lots of great appetizers like Spinach Artichoke Dip, Thai Shrimp, Dumplings and Quesidillas. The that stuck out to me were the shrimp and salmon dishes as well as the multiply hamburger choices. What is most impressive is that they serve whole wheat buns on the burgers. Really, every place should do that, it is very smart.

Overall, I think this is a great chain. One is opening up very soon in Times Square and I hope to go there a lot! If you are lucky, maybe I will take you. We can sing some Rolling Stones songs along the way. Goodbye Ruby Tuesday. Who Could Hang A Name On You? When You Change With Every New Day Still I'm Gonna Miss You.