Yep. Our uninspiring (though tasty) Summer grilled seafood promotion will soon close. The Honey-Citrus Seafood Grill would be my suggestion if anyone is going to check this out before they pull the promo items off the menu. And I'd suggest avoiding the magic ghetto panty eraser - aka Berry Mango Daiquiri - unless you are trying to kill your diabetic date.
2 comments:
Lobster boy,
I was just wondering how many line cooks there are on a given lunch and dinner shift at red lobster. Also what are the cooks stations like? Are these cooks experienced or is most of the food microwaved and put on convention ovens?
Thanks
There are a metric butt-load of variables that make your question(s) difficult to answer. First it varies from store to store. Both because of volume and because of equipment.
I have spent time in just over a handful of Red Lobsters, so my experiences cover a nice sample, but don't take this as absolute.
During the slowest periods in mid-afternoon, some restaurants have a single cook. This would be someone with a good bit of experience, not someone new (in my experience). This person runs the fryers, grills, convection ovens, plus whatever might be microwaved. During a high volume time, there is generally someone working as Expo, someone grilling, someone frying, someone running the convection oven, and then at least 2 people assembling - which also means they run the microwaves as needed. This doesn't count any food prep people, this is just the cooks on the line. It is not uncommon to have a manager mixed into the line during volume as well (beyond the people listed). So it is a pretty large range, as on slower evening volume periods you can get by with 3-4 people depending on the night and the store (and the quality of the staff).
As for for whether the cooks are experienced, I suppose that depends on your definition of experience (no I am not Bill Clinton!). I have worked with some very well trained people, and with some who had only had experience at RL. I've had people running the line with 25+ years experience, and other people with just a year or so. Experience is important, but competency is even more important. I've had the fortune to work with some GREAT line people, and the misfortune to work with people would would struggle with walking and chewing bubble gum at the same time.
The cook stations vary depending on the store, the shift, and the volume. There's nothing special per say about any stations, just industrial cooking equipment and cookware.
As for the Microwaves - they are used far less than you might imagine. They are used primarily to heat noodles for pasta (which have been previously cooked), some vegetables, and for heating sauces - maranara etc. Very little beyond that ever goes into a microwave at Red Lobster (not including deserts). Microwaves are not very friendly with seafood proteins. Nuke a lobster and you get rubber. Crab legs dry out and get rubbery. Fish dries out and gets hard - and so on. So generally entree items don't get microwaved. There are steam ovens, broilers, convection ovens, grills, stoves, fryers, baking ovens all in use, so the microwaves don't get to do much work.
Hope that answers your questions and helps!
Lobster Boy
Post a Comment