Frank Padula

Review of Darden Restaurants, Inc.

Meal was sub-par, to say the least!!! Very disappo...

Meal was sub-par, to say the least!!! Very disappointed!! I had birthday gift cards my mother-in-law and sister-in-law had given me, for $75 and with the tip of between 18 and 20% it came to exactly $75. I had the ribeye which had no special flavor, marinade, NOTHING, and was almost tasteless.
My wife had the 1/2 rack of baby back ribs, and they had a minimal amount of meat, were dry, and the barbecue sauce tasted like it been bought at a grocery store, in the generic food section.
The margaritas we ordered were substandard, as well.
The lobster and shrimp chowder was devoid of lobster entirely, and had a minimal amount of shrimp, and was served lukewarm.
The redeeming qualities were that our waiter was outstanding, the corn on the cob was very good, and the wedge salad with blue cheese dressing was outstanding.
Unfortunately, these were gift cards that could be used at any of the Darden stores and we happened to choose poorly to have chosen Longhorns' meal in hopes to have a good steak and some ribs.
Credit that to Lessons Learned.
In the future, we will go to Olive Garden, or definitely Bahama Breeze, where we've always had good meals.
Sorry, this was very disappointing, both from a birthday present standpoint, because of the meal, and for the $62 cost of the meal ($75 w/tip), for two, the meal was atrocious! Just being frank and honest!