Is Harlem angling to be the next Times Square? Chain wise, maybe! Not only did the area just get the nation's first IHOP with a 24-hour takeout window but now the storied strip that is 125th Street is set to get Manhattan's first Red Lobster outside of the tourist trap on the Deuce. Soon, you'll be able to enjoy an Admiral's Feast before stopping by the Apollo. Yay? more ›

Olive Garden, home of unlimited breadsticks, and Red Lobster, purveyors of fine cheddar biscuits, are shaping up at Michelle Obama's request. more ›

A man who has been in state prison twice for at least three counts of robbery really wants to work at Red Lobster. So much so that he's suing the seafood chain to hire him, alleging that the manager at the Times Square branch rejected his application because of his criminal history which is discrimination. And the Post's experts "say he has a case." more ›

When you think of prix fixe dinners, do you think of absurdly expensive meals in white tablecloth restaurants or do you think of second-rate seafood served by flair-ridden waitresses in chain restaurants? Red Lobster hopes is banking on the latter—the fast casual chain has gone and added a $15 "Seafood Feast" four-course prix fixe to its repertoire. more ›

Nightmare: Ghost Stories is a walk-through haunted house by the creators of last year’s shriek-out hit Nightmare: Face Your Fear. Now doubled in size, the house boasts 23 different interconnected rooms of ghosts, psycho killers and gory, dismembered limbs – the sight of which prompted one girl in our group to declare, “No Red Lobster ever again!” An extra fee gets you entrance to a separate but much more frightening side-show: a dark labyrinth haunted by barely-visible specters flitting through the shadows. The maze – a more subtle, psychological scare than the main tour – is well worth the extra five bucks; we highly recommend getting separated from your friends and being followed by a clown through pitch-black corridors that culminate in a dead end. more ›

What do tourists like more than walking slowly in bunches, visiting Ground Zero, buying fake handbags in Chinatown, and wearing socks with sandals? Eating at restaurants they can find at home! The Post is reporting that IHOP (aka the International House of Pancakes) is in talks with Vornado to open a location at 1540 Broadway (btwn 45th and 46th). It would be the 2nd Manhattan location for the chain - the first location opened in 2004 at 135th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem. more ›

Gothamist loves you, Project Runway, for making sure Tim Gunn and Andrae made it to Red Lobster - even if the visit (to only the outside of the restaurant?) didn't make it on air. Forget Lobsterfest, that's the best advertising you've ever gotten. Anyway, let's talk about last night's finale. more ›

There are only six designers left on Project Runway, and their task was a doozy: Designing a dress for a garden party from plants and flowers in the Flower District. Well, the dresses weren't ENTIRELY made out of flowers - they used muslin and mesh as bases to attach flowers and leaves to, but you get the idea. While the challenge was interesting, it actually made for pretty boring TV in Gothamist's book. This episode was far better for the awesome social interaction between the remaining designers. For instance, the boys of 35D went to take pictures on the roof of the Atlas. Chloe teased Daniel about being so good at everything (he said he wasn't good at basketball). Chloe asked the guys when they came out and Daniel admitted he only came out last year. And Santino got busted for his Tim Gunn impersonation. You know, Santino truly is a mad genius - the story about Tim Gunn and Andrae going on a date at the Red Lobster is so twisted, it's brilliant. more ›

Franklin Crowe, Street Vendor / Chess Player more ›

As the West Village is happy that the City Planning Commission wants to prevent high-rises from being built (well, the measure needs the City Counci's okay),and Gothamist can only suspect it's part pre-emptive strike against huge outdoor advertisements. For example, the Queens Tower Condos in Rego Park are the target of many complaints for putting up a huge lingerie ad outside one of the buildings. The Department of Buildings has issued violations to the condo's president, as the ad "went up without a permit and in a zoning district where they are prohibited." The Buildings Department says they are just "too big and too high." The ads, for Elle MacPherson's lingerie line, were supposed to be taken down in October anyway, says the ad's marketing director, who added, "You usually don't see posters like that in Queens. You see them in Times Square, so we thought it would be a perfect place to stand out and get a little exposure." That's so weird - we went to Queens to get away from Times Square. But then again, Queens was the only place in NYC with a Red Lobster for a while. Gothamist can only assume that Buildings Department fasttracked these violations in fear that drivers on the LIE would get into accidents. more ›

Buy Food Court Druids, Cherohonkees, and Other Creatures at Amazon. And the Washington Post went to the Times Square Red Lobster with Lanham, who reveals he's trying to coming up with a name for "women who hate pretty girls." more ›

The Times' Marian Burros tries to understand why, in a city of so many wonderful and inexpensive restaurants, some New Yorkers would want to go to Applebee's, Olive Garden, Outback, or Red Lobster. Restaurant consultant Clark Wolf tells her, "New Yorkers as a group are not at the cutting edge and that's the dirty secret. As brutal as it sounds, these chains reflect the expectations of the community." more ›

Oscar Commentary
Oscar is celebrating its 75th anniversary, I'm celebrating my 25th anniversary of watching Oscar. more ›