#evaluation essay

When I was in lunch, I saw that I received a phone call from my general manager at work, who wanted me to come in and work for someone who decided they didn't want to work that day. This presented a major problem for me, because I was already planning on coming into my work to eat, so I couldn't just be like, “Oh, I can’t work today. I’m coming into work to eat.” I was already going be there by the time they needed me, so when I went into eat, I was rushed for time because I had to work shortly after. Being rushed for time is not something you want when you go out to eat. Every minute that passes by feels like an hour. I wasn't looking forward to that at all.

As soon as school got out, I waited for the rest of my group to get out so that we could go and eat as fast as we could before I had to work. We were planning on going to eat at around three thirty, but instead we didn't reach the restaurant before four, loosing precious time to eat. When we reached the restaurant, the group member that we though wasn't going to show up because she had to babysit, was already there, and had been waiting for us for about fifteen minutes before we showed up.

We sat down, and our server appeared, taking our drink orders and letting us look at the menu. I knew what I was going to order, the wood grilled chicken with wild rice and green beans, and waited for everyone to decide what they wanted, and how we were going to pay. I was expecting to get my food fast, and be able to enjoy it with enough time to spare to get dressed and ready for work, which shouldn't have been hard, since the restaurant was pretty empty. Everyone started pulling out their phones and started taking pictures and selfies, and I did as well. The restaurant was pretty dim, and my phone doesn't take the best of pictures, so I only took a couple. We then got our drinks and some biscuits, placed our orders, and then waited for our food.

We were seated at a round table in the middle of restaurant, between two tables that were occupied by some really loud and obnoxious old people, who ate their food with their mouths open, and talked to each other like their hearing aids were on the fritz. I noticed that there weren't that many people eating in, and I wondered why they still needed me to work. All that was really on my mind was about how I was going to finish my meal before I had to work.

We got our two orders of fried green beans, salads, and some more biscuits, and we started eating and slightly chit chatting with one another. The green beans were delicious. Slightly breaded, with a jalapeno dipping sauce beat TGI Friday's fried green beans as my favorite.

It got darker outside, and it made the restaurant even darker. I ate my food fast, still rushed on time and patience. I kept checking my phone every few minutes, seeing what time it was, and how much time I had left. It just added to my nerves and annoyances. Everything just added up, and was making my dining experience that I wanted to be good, get worse and worse.

There was a long awkward silence before our food finally showed up at about quarter to five, and our main concern wasn't the food, it was paying for the bill with the short amount of time we had. We flagged down our waitress, who was always ensnared by the loud table of old people next to us. As she got the bill, we each quickly sampled each other's dishes.

We each got different dishes: mozzarella sticks and chicken strips, tilapia with broccoli and a baked potato, parmesan crusted chicken with corkscrew noodles and broccoli, and wood grilled chicken with wild rice and green beans.

The mozzarella sticks and chicken strips were tasty. just about as good as fried food can get. The mozzarella stick's cheese was very gooey and hot. The chicken strips were crispy, covered with enough breading, and weren't dry, but instead were very juicy . The sauces she got as well, a mustard and marinara sauce, added more flavor to them, and were very good.

The tilapia was good, and that's coming from a person that isn't a big fish fan. I really don't know how to describe it besides that it tasted like fish, but it was rich in flavor, besides fish flavor, and the texture was strange but tolerable. The baked potato with lobster sauce was really good. The sauce made the potato super flavorful, and it was something I never had before, as well as tilapia.

My wood grilled chicken was very savory and juicy, even though on the outside it looked like it was going to be dry. The rice was a bit dull, not much flavor to it, and needed a sauce or something. The green beans were cooked perfectly. They were buttery and flavored just right with a few seasonings. A good dish, but maybe would of been even better if I got a sauce on it.

The parmesan crusted chicken was the best dish I tried. The chicken was delicious, crunchy from the cheese on it, but full of flavor. The noodles and broccoli mixed together underneath the chicken were delicious, going together well with the chicken. Overall it had an amazing texture with the crunchiness, and a delightful cheesy taste.

After a debate and struggle on how much everyone owed, we payed, while a member of our group left early to head to classes, she was rushed for time as well.

Then we had to figure out how much to tip.

(An example on the new suggestion on the bottom of a receipt from Red Lobster)

There is a new thing that Red Lobster has done in order for their customers to know exactly how much they should tip their waiters and waitresses. They give a "Suggested amounts for tipping" right at the bottom of the bill. They give a percentage, and then the amount you should tip based on the percentage and the total of your bill. They added this after the law passed getting rid of gratuity for larger parties. So now it just suggest the amount that you should tip, and that helped us out a ton. I really like that I didn't have to calculate how much I had to tip, but instead saw it at the bottom of the receipt, and put the amount needed to tip correctly. We each 

tipped our share, boxed our leftovers, and then headed our separate ways.

My overall experience wasn't that bad. But it was just a few categories that didn't meet my criteria.

Service: 9/10

The service was good. Our server made sure to check up on us, get us what we needed, and was very friendly to all of us. She even chatted with us for a bit, and asked about our project and what we were doing.

Food: 5/10

The food was delicious and piping hot. Although the food was good, it did take its time to make it from the kitchen to the table. The restaurant wasn't busy at all, so our food should have come faster than it did. That is why it received such a low score.

Seating: 7/10

I didn't mind that we were at a table, but I didn't like that we were next to really loud old people who didn't know how to shut up. The first person that arrived to the restaurant before us said she waited a while before she was greeted, so I factored that into the score as well.

Cleanliness: 9/10

Bathrooms were cleaned and stocked. The restaurant looked very nice and organized. Everything seemed in place and was running smoothly.

Cost: 7/10

My meal: an appetizer, soda, and entree was about $20 with my employee discount. I spent the money I saved on my meal on my share of the tip. So it was pretty costly, about 4 hours pay for me.

Overall Rating: 7.4/10

Compared to other times that I have dined at Red Lobster, this was below satisfactory. Granted, I was in a bigger group then any of my previous times, this time it didn't meet my personal standards, most likely because of the time crunch I was in. I enjoyed my meal, but I couldn't enjoy it the same because I didn't have the time too. Make sure to have time to savor your food, enjoy the dining in experience, not rush it and ruin the entire experience.

Learn from my mistake/bad experience.

1. Make sure you are not on a time crunch.

2. Look at the restaurant's menu and get an idea of what you want.

3. Be prepared to pay, or otherwise plan out your meal and cost.

4. Make sure that you limit the amount of complications that can occur by planning and coordinating with the other members of your party.

5. Ask for the kind of seating that you want. And if you like a certain server, you can request them if they are working.