About those biscuits
Never challenge a Cheddar Bay Biscuits baker to a thumb wrestling contest.
As Tommy Cockrell, the grill master at the Beavercreek Red Lobster on North Fairfield Road, tells it, a biscuit baker’s thumbs gets a workout from mixing up and scooping the all-time favorite.
His store alone pumps out about 1,600 Cheddar Bay Biscuits a day. The chain as a whole pumps out nearly 1.1 million biscuits daily. Chedder Bay Biscuit mix is now sold at Sam's Club.
Felicia Franley, director of operations for eight Red Lobster stores that includes locations in Dayton, Miamisburg, Beavercreek, Springfield, Piqua and Lima, said the biscuits have undeniable powers.
The biscuits that replaced Red Lobster’s hush puppies about 20 years ago have been used to settle tensions in the waiting area on high traffic days like Mother’s Day.
“It is amazing what biscuits will do,” Franley said.
Grilling fish can be a complicated matter.
Christine Hicks, general manager of the Beavercreek Red Lobster, knows this firsthand.
“Most people overcook fish,” she said.
Her restaurant’s cooks received specified training on heat zone before they are labeled “grill masters.”
Hicks, Tommy Cockrell, a grill master the Beavercreek location, and Felicia Franley, director of operations for the restaurant and seven others, shared few grill tips for backyard griller:
Oil on your grill
“That way (your fish) doesn’t stick and you get those nice marks,” Hicks said.
Used a clean grill
Build up should be removed, Cockrell said.
Baste the fish on the grill
“That way it holds in those intense flavors.” Hicks said. She likes to keep it simple, often sticking to salt, peeper and canola oil.
Be patient
Don’t rush your food,” Cockrell said. At 450 degrees it typically takes nine minutes to cook an 8 ounce piece of salmon. Cook it four and a half minutes on each side.
Let the fish speak for itself
Franley encourages home cooks to experiment with seasoning, but said that the natural fish flavor can be overpowered in the processes.
As a rule of thumb, hardier fish like salmon can take more seasoning than a light fish like tilapia.
Red Lobster announced its new menu late last year with a type of lunch and dinner time “voter” in mind.
“We call it the veto vote,” explained Felicia Fraley, director of operations for eight Red Lobster restaurants in the region, which includes locations in Dayton, Miamisburg, Beavercreek, Springfield, Piqua and Lima. “They say ‘Oh, I don’t eat fish.’ We have great burgers, chicken and we have pork chops.”
Read: Chicken pizza at Red Lobster? Restaurant updates menu options.
While still very much a seafood restaurant with meals featuring sweet and buttery lobster, Fraley said that the chain has revamped its menu and look.
The Beavercreek 223-seat restaurant and all others in Fraley’s territory, with the exception of the Findlay location, recently got face-lifts. The Findlay restaurant will be updated later this year.
Gone is the ’80s decor.
It has been replaced with a warm wood and dim lighting that gives the dining room more class.
Images of Maine lighthouse hang on the walls.
Despite new items such as Southwest Chicken Pizza, Seafood is still taken very seriously as evident by the finesse (see grill tips below) grill master Tommy Cockrell showed while preparing Bar Harbor Salad with grilled Atlantic salmon and grilled island mahi mahi and shrimp topped with pineapple salsa served with green beans and rice pilaf ($17.75).
At $9.99, the Bar Harbor with salmon I tried seems to be a steal. It is $7.99 with chicken or shrimp.
Dried berries, blue cheese crumbles and roasted pecans meshed well with juicy salmon Cockrell prepared over a wood grill.
He’s worked at the Beavercreek Red Lobster, 2803 N. Fairfield Road, for six years and has been one of its grill masters for four.
Christine Hicks, the store general manager, said that their grill masters are tested rigorously on recipes and grill temperatures.
There is little to no time for mistakes on the grill, particularly during busy times, Hicks said.
Beside offering more non-seafood choices, Red Lobster re-evaluated price points.
Hicks said 60 percent of menu options are less than $15. Forty percent was under $15 before the menu change in October.
People often think of Red Lobster as only a place for special occasions, but Hick said that isn’t the case.
“It is actually really affordable to go to Red Lobster,” she said.
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