[vidarh]

Without ever having been to one, I'll note that as a European I know Red Lobster only from TV as a stereotypical place used as a joke about the type of places people presented as less sophisticated might consider fancy. It's used that way in Big Bang Theory, for example, though presumably because it is well known enough as at least a place that some people will consider fancy.

[pinkmuffinere]

TIL I’m not sophisticated lol

(Don’t worry, I’m not offended)

[vidarh]

Well, I've not seen one so for what I know it might be a complete mischaracterization anyway :)

But e.g Howard's mom going "Oh, Mr big shot with his Red Lobster": https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/5edf85de-e15f-4507-8c70-f1e2a63...

(after rejecting Olive Garden, I think? I might misremember. Olive Garden is another chain I only know of from TV)

[pinkmuffinere]

lol, as a kid the “date night” restaurants were Chilis, Olive Garden, Applebees, and random mom-n-pop places. I think places like outback, Texas Roadhouse, and red lobster were reserved for “you got a promotion”-esque events. I bet that’s pretty normal for low-middle-class Midwest folks